Moscow, (dpa/GNA) – Russian President Vladimir Putin, unleashed a long-anticipated military assault on neighbouring Ukraine on Thursday, with a multi-pronged attack on positions across the country.
The “full-scale invasion” of the country, as Ukraine’s foreign minister called it, came after weeks of high-level diplomacy to avert what leaders fear could be the biggest war in Europe since 1945.
The military operation was announced by Putin in an overnight address to the nation. A short time later, Russia’s air and ground attack began.
Explosions could be heard in the capital Kiev, the north-eastern city of Kharkiv and in Lviv, in the far west of the country near Poland, according to local media.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Ukraine’s air defenses were knocked out with “precision-guided” strikes on military bases. No airstrikes on urban centres had taken place, it said, claiming there was “no threat to the civilian population.”
In the first hours of the invasion, the Ukrainian government said at least seven of its soldiers had died. Another 15 soldiers were reported wounded and 19 were missing, the Interior Ministry said.
Ukrainian authorities said military ammunition depots had been hit, as well as a television tower in the western city of Lutsk. In addition, army barracks were reportedly attacked in the western region of Vinnytsia and near the capital Kiev.
The Ukrainian military said it has shot down five Russian planes and one helicopter in the Luhansk area, but those claims were contested by Moscow.
Russian tanks rolled across the border into Luhansk, one of the two separatist regions backed by Russia. The tanks were spotted near the communities of Krasna Talivka, Milove and Horodyshche.
Separatists in Luhansk calimed they had taken control of the small towns of Stanytsia Luhanska and Schastia.
The leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, the other separatist region, promised that “liberation movement will be over pretty quickly.”
“I can say this will end soon,” said Denis Pushilin, noting that the military venture is in full force and that all cities and villages in the region will be freed soon.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kiev had severed its diplomatic ties with Russia.
Nearly as soon as the attack began on the Western-friendly government in Kiev, the US and Europe threatened their reprisals.
The European Union said it was preparing new sanctions to block Russian banks’ access from European financial markets. The 27-member bloc already announced Wednesday sanctions against senior Kremlin officials, including Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
EU leaders will discuss the crisis in an emergency summit later on Thursday.
US President Joe Biden, who sanctioned Russia’s financial sector earlier this week, said that Putin had “chosen a premeditated war” and that further consequences would soon come.
“The prayers of the entire world are with the people of Ukraine tonight as they suffer an unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces,” Biden said in a statement.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned Russia’s “blatant breach of international law” and said it “cannot be justified by anything.”
His foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, later said Russia will be hit with the “full package of the most massive sanctions.”
This week, Scholz had announced Berlin was halting certification of the Russia-to-Germany Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline, in a heavy blow to Russia’s energy sector.
Britain was set to announced a raft of new sanctions later on Thursday, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling Russia’s actions “horrific.”
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte spoke of a “dark day for Ukraine, Europe and the whole world.”
In his address, Putin said his goal was “to protect the people who have been subjected to mistreatment and genocide for eight years.”
He has repeatedly claimed, without any evidence, that Ukraine is carrying out a “genocide” against the Russian-speaking population in the east. Putin has claimed that the ex-Soviet republic is not a legitimate state and the government in Kiev is a “puppet” of the US.
After months spent amassing troops on Ukraine’s borders, Putin on Monday announced that Russia would recognise the independence of the two breakaway areas of Ukraine, a move that paved the way for Thursday’s military invasion.
On Tuesday, the Russian leader said the long-stalled Minsk peace plan for eastern Ukraine, which has been at war since 2014, was dead. Russia also started evacuating its diplomatic staff.
Helga Schmid, the head of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), said the lives of “millions” of people had been endangered by Russia’s actions and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities.
Norway and Sweden temporarily moved their embassy staff in Ukraine from the capital Kiev to Lviv in the west of the country. Turkey said it was preparing evacuations plans for the 15,000 Turkish citizens in Ukraine.
The Italian Foreign Ministry summoned Russia’s ambassador to express its condemnation.
The Russia-friendly government in Hungary declared its solidarity with Ukraine, but has not criticised Moscow.
“We stand by Ukraine, we stand up for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine,” Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in a video posted on his Facebook page on Thursday morning.
Unfortunately, the war in Hungary’s eastern neighbour “could not have been prevented by the diplomatic efforts of even the biggest and strongest countries,” he added.
GNA