Russia’s President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia will conduct “a special military operation” to “demilitarize” Ukraine, de facto declaring a war on Ukraine.
In a televized announcement that aired just before 5 a.m. Kyiv time, Putin said that NATO was threatening the existence of Russia and that to protect it, he is sending Russian military into Ukraine.
Immediately after, people in many Ukrainian cities, including Kharkiv and Odesa, began reporting hearing loud explosions.
“There have just been missile strikes on the centers of the military administration, airfields, military depots, near Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Dnipro. There is shelling of our borders” Anton Geraschenko, an adviser for the Interior Minister of Ukraine wrote on Facebook.
Ukraine introduced martial law, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an impromptu video address he released on Facebook. Zelensky also said he held a phone call with US President Joe Biden. “The United States already began consolidating international support,” Ukraine’s President added.
The declaration comes days after Russia recognized its enclaves in eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk Oblast and Donetsk Oblast as independent states on Feb. 21. Russia has been occupying territories in eastern Ukraine and the peninsula of Crimea since 2014.
Following the “recognition,” the Kremlin-installed leaders of the occupied areas of eastern Ukraine requested that Russia provides military protection from the supposed attack of the Ukrainian army, of which there has been no evidence.
Responding to their address, Putin announced the beginning of the “special military operation.”
Biden said he will be meeting with leaders of the G7 on Feb. 24, adding that the US and its allies will be imposing “severe sanctions” on Russia. He also said Russia’s attack on Ukraine was “unprovoked and unjustified”.
At the same time, Kyiv City Administration said there was an air threat in Kyiv and urged Kyivans to immediately find shelter when they hear sirens. Users on social media have posted videos of air raid sirens already sounding in Kyiv.
Kyiv City Council also said schools and kindergartens are now closed, while all medical infrastructure begins operating on high alert.
Putin has just launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Peaceful Ukrainian cities are under strikes. This is a war of aggression. Ukraine will defend itself and will win. The world can and must stop Putin. The time to act is now.
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) February 24, 2022
