Putin orders military operations in Ukraine, demands Kyiv forces surrender
Russian forces fired missiles at several cities in Ukraine and landed troops on its south coast on Thursday, officials and media said, after President Vladimir Putin authorised what he called a special military operation in the east.
Shortly after Putin spoke in a televised address on Russian state TV, explosions could be heard in the pre-dawn quiet of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.
Gunfire rattled near the capital's main airport, the Interfax news agency said, and sirens were heard over the city.
"Putin has just launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Peaceful Ukrainian cities are under strikes," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter.
"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."
US President Joe Biden, reacting to an invasion the United States had been predicting for weeks, said his prayers were with the people of Ukraine "as they suffer an unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces".
Russia has demanded an end to NATO's eastward expansion and Putin repeated his position that Ukrainian membership of the US-led Atlantic military alliance was unacceptable.
He said he had authorised military action after Russia had been left with no choice but to defend itself against what he said were threats emanating from modern Ukraine, a democratic state of 44 million people.
"Russia cannot feel safe, develop, and exist with a constant threat emanating from the territory of modern Ukraine," Putin said. "All responsibility for bloodshed will be on the conscience of the ruling regime in Ukraine."
The full scope of the Russian military operation was not immediately clear but Putin said: "Our plans do not include the occupation of Ukrainian territories. We are not going to impose anything by force."
Speaking as the UN Security Council held an emergency meeting in New York, Putin said he had ordered Russian forces to protect the people and appealed to the Ukrainian military to lay down their arms.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia had carried out missile strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure and border guards, and that explosions had been heard in many cities.
He said that martial law had been declared and that he had spoken by telephone to Biden. Reservists were called up on Wednesday.
Media reported that military command centres in Kyiv and the city of Kharkiv in the northeast had been struck by missiles while Russian troops had landed in the southern port cities of Odessa and Mariupol.
A Reuters witness later heard three loud blasts in Mariupol.
Russian-backed separatists said they had launched an offensive on the Ukrainian-controlled town of Shchastia in the east, Russia's Interfax news agency said, and explosions also rocked the breakaway eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk.
Hours earlier, the separatists issued a plea to Moscow for help to stop alleged Ukrainian aggression - claims the United States dismissed as Russian propaganda.
Global stocks and US bond yields dived, while the dollar and gold rocketed higher after Putin's address. Brent oil surged past US$100/barrel for the first time since 2014.
'Decisive way'
Biden said Putin had chosen a premeditated war that would bring a catastrophic loss of life and human suffering.
"Russia alone is responsible for the death and destruction this attack will bring, and the United States and its Allies and partners will respond in a united and decisive way. The world will hold Russia accountable," he said.
While he has ruled out putting US troops on the ground in Ukraine, he said he would announce further sanctions against Russia on Thursday, in addition to financial measures imposed this week.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg strongly condemned Russia's "reckless and unprovoked attack" on Ukraine and said NATO allies would meet to tackle the consequences of Moscow's "aggressive actions".
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made a last-minute plea to Putin to stop the war "in the name of humanity', after the Russian leader announced the military operation.
"President Putin, in the name of humanity, bring your troops back to Russia," Guterres said, speaking after the Security Council meeting.
The consequences of a war would be devastating for Ukraine and far-reaching for the global economy, he said.
Russia's UN envoy said his country was not being aggressive against the Ukrainian people but against the "junta" in Kyiv.
Ukraine earlier restricted civilian flights in its airspace hours after a conflict zone monitor warned airlines should stop overflights over the risk of an unintended shooting down or cyber attack.
Shelling had intensified since Monday when Putin recognised two separatist regions as independent and ordered the deployment of what he called peacekeepers, a move the West called the start of an invasion.
In response to Putin's Monday announcement, Western countries and Japan imposed sanctions on Russian banks and individuals but have held off their toughest measures until an invasion began.
The United States stepped up the pressure on Wednesday by imposing penalties on the Russian firm building the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and its corporate officers.
Germany on Tuesday froze approvals for the pipeline, which has been built but was not in operation, amid concern it could allow Moscow to weaponise energy supplies to Europe.
- Reuters
This is a hypocritical Leftie bullshit version.
ReplyDeleteThe USA was squarely focused on preventing the delivery of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba.
No invasion or attack on Cuba was carried out.
In the case of Ukraine, there are No US forces in Ukraine, no NATO mmbership, no US missiles.
Of course NATO is not going to accede to precluding future membership of Ukraine under duress.
If anything, events confirm the long term validity of NATO expansion as a bulwark against the return of Soviet (gone) / Russian domination of Eastern Europe.
Without being members of NATO, the Eastern European former Soviet vassal states will forever be under threat of having to kowtow to Russia, the same way Ukraine is facing armed aggression right now.
why is US forces in Romania, Poland, Estonia, Poland etc etc etc?
DeleteUS forces invited by Sovereign governments in Romania, Poland, Estonia, Poland etc etc etc who are scared shit about the threat of becoming Soviet (gone) / Russian vassal states again.
DeleteAll these Leftie Hypocrites who have been foaming in the mouth lecturing about anti-Colonialism.
Here is a blatant piece of 2022 Colonial aggression being carried out, and the Left-Wing Hypocrites are cheering on Russia.
IF "US forces invited by Sovereign governments in Romania, Poland, Estonia, Poland etc etc etc who are scared shit about the threat of becoming Soviet (gone) / Russian vassal states again", THEN why must them getting US involved?
DeleteWhy not just bandwagoned together with EU as in economic consideration as the now defunct COMECON?
Is it bcoz it's a military power in the match of Russia?
Thus willingly to fall into a state of vassalize nationhoods of US!
US involvement, politically & militarily, in Europe is a legacy of WWII that has transmogrified into NATO via US manipulated political fearmongorings of the formation of Soviet Union.
According to the Soviet view the "Anglo-American bloc" and "American monopolists ... whose interests had nothing in common with those of the European people" had spurned East-West collaboration within the framework agreed within the United Nations, that is, through the Economic Commission for Europe.
With the dissolution of Soviet Union in 1991, the once ambitious & powerful SU has reduced to just Russia - not even a tenth of the former SU in terms of its current military power.
Thus, is NATO still a necessity in the current EU sopo configuration?
Bcoz of Russia?
That's what the Yank want all those European states to believe as in yr farted opening statement!
Yes, colonialism under the cloak of demoNcracy, spilling the fear of Russko bear raising its grizzly paws all-over Europe AGAIN!
Mfer, u want to know hypocrisy yet u refuse to understand the underlying theme of the example u have so conveniently quoted!
Putin does what's necessary to protect Russia national interests in the face of encircling NATO eastward expansion waves. He does in exactly the same mode of thinking as Kennedy threatened a nuclear war when the Cuban missile site was discovered!
Ideological labeling & name calling r yr kind of mindless chants in venting yr know-nothingness!
Right on the spot! This monster-twist is so brainwashed that to him white is right so he can even accept Russia can change but not China, thus his comment :
Delete"Today's Russia is not by any stretch of imagination a Socialist country ........."
His sacred belief, my guess is : "Democracy is the ultimate system", as in “The End of History?” by Francis Fukuyama
Wakakakakaka…
DeleteHas the predictions underlined within “The End of History?” by Francis Fukuyama come true?
One word - in the same class of fart as The Coming Collapse of China by Gordon G. Chang.
With NATO and the US unwilling to fight the Russians, and only willing to impose sanctions, it looks like a replay of Crimea 2014.
ReplyDeleteThese sanctions will also likely hurt their (US and Europe) own economies.
There will be a lot of posturing by the US and NATO but the Russians will simply roll over them.
With their veto power, Russia and China will block any action against Russia by the UN.
China will be observing and learning from the Russia move vis-a-vis Taiwan although the 2 situations are not 100% similar.
DON'T just read the news reported from the western media!
ReplyDeleteIf u do that, then there is invasion from Russia in Ukraine from just a single source.
This is very bias & easily falling under the influence of propagandas!
When the dust of Ukraine invasion settles in just a few days, this piece of reporting would be a glaring example of the diabolical single source of truth (SSOT) of these western media!
This video titled " Ukraine Crisis Explained " did better 'explaining' in 3 minutes than all the Western media put together for the WHOLE YEAR :
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/d6HdxeAJtL0
Towards the end of last year, Russia had proposed to the US via a draft of treaties in which it had asked the Biden administration to consider and recognize Russia's security needs.
ReplyDeletePutin's had repeatedly stressed that if Ukraine joined NATO, then Russia would have to face a situation whereby NATO missiles would be placed inside Ukraine, which is only 5 - 7 minutes flying time from striking Moscow.
Did Biden listen to Putin's plea ? Did NATO ?
Biden simply refused to respond ! NATO, in a separate reply, claimed that any nation in "good standing", including Ukraine, could join NATO.
Well, Putin is certainly not the type that will slink away and just shrug his shoulders in dismay and sigh " let's just leave it to fate " :)
Putin is pushing back against the West for pushing NATO too close to Russian borders and when the protracted discussion hit a brick wall, he saw no point in further continuing negotiations with the US and NATO. When patience runs out, the gauntlet is thrown and here we are, we woke up one morning and saw Putin's " special military operation ".
A replay of Crimea 2014!!
ReplyDeleteNo… no NO!
A more likely repeat of the Russo-Georgian war of 2008!
Resulting in Georgia losing the control of South Ossetia and Abkhazia under the verbal diarrheas from US/EU in international forum while them refusing to fulfill their vowed HELPS to Georgia!