Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation in Ukraine on Thursday with explosions heard soon after in the capital and other parts of the country, prompting outrage from United States President Joe Biden who warned of a “catastrophic loss of life”.
Weeks of intense diplomacy and the imposition of Western sanctions failed to deter Putin, who had massed between 150,000 and 200,000 troops along the borders of Ukraine.
“I have made the decision of a military operation,” he said in a surprise statement on television shortly before 6am (0300 GMT).
Putin warned other countries that any attempt to interfere with the Russian action would lead to consequences they have never seen.He accused the United States and its allies of ignoring Russia's demands to stop Ukraine from joining Nato and offer Moscow security guarantees. He said he wanted a “demilitarisation” of the former Soviet state but not its occupation.
Putin said all Ukrainian servicemen who lay down arms will be able to safely leave the zone of combat.
“All responsibility for bloodshed will be on the conscience of the ruling regime in Ukraine,” Putin said.
Russia targeting Ukraine military facilities
The Russian defence ministry said it was targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure with precision weapons after President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation against the country.“Military infrastructure, air defence facilities, military airfields, and aviation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are being disabled with high-precision weapons,” the defence ministry said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies.
Ukraine imposes martial law
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Russia was attacking his country's “military infrastructure” and border guards, but urged citizens not to panic and vowed victory.
In a video message posted on Facebook after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the launch of a military operation against Ukraine, Zelensky also introduced martial law across the country, adding that he had spoken by phone with US President Joe Biden.
'Act immediately,' Ukraine appeals to world
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Russia has launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and is targeting cities with weapons 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," Kuleba said in a tweet.Shortly after Putin spoke, 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.
Explosions also rocked the breakaway eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk and civilian aircraft were warned away.AFP correspondents also heard blasts in the Black Sea port city of Odessa.
Explosions also rang out in Kharkiv, a large city 35 kilometres south of the Russian border.
Four loud blasts rang out in Kramatorsk, a frontline city that serves as the Ukrainian government's effective capital for the eastern war zone, and more were heard in the eastern port city of Mariupol, AFP reporters said.The scope of the Russian military operation was not immediately clear. Moscow has long denied that it has plans to invade despite massing tens of thousands of troops near its neighbour.
'Unprovoked, unjustified attack'
US President Joe Biden said his prayers were with the people of Ukraine “as they suffer an unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces”.
“President Putin has chosen a premeditated war that will 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 he would announce further sanctions on Russia on Thursday, in addition to financial measures imposed this week.
The Russian operations began as the United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting on the Ukraine crisis in New York.
A draft resolution calling out Moscow over its actions towards its neighbour is doomed to fail due to Russia's veto power, however, a Security Council diplomat said it would put Russia on notice that it is “not in compliance with international law”.
Ukraine's president appeals to Russians
Putin's statement on Thursday came after the Kremlin said rebel leaders in eastern Ukraine had asked Moscow for military help against Kyiv.
In response, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky made an emotional late-night appeal to Russians not to support a “major war in Europe”.
Speaking Russian, Zelensky said that the people of Russia are being lied to about Ukraine and that the possibility of war also “depends on you”.
“Who can stop (the war)? People. These people are among you, I am sure,” he said.
Zelensky said he had tried to call Putin but there was “no answer, only silence”, adding that Moscow now had around 200,000 soldiers near Ukraine's borders.
Earlier the separatist leaders of Donetsk and Lugansk sent separate letters to Putin, asking him to “help them repel Ukraine's aggression”, Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
The two letters were published by Russian state media and were both dated February 22.
Their appeals came after Putin recognised their independence and signed friendship treaties with them that include defence deals.
Tens of thousands of Russian troops are stationed near Ukraine's borders, and the West had said for days that an attack was imminent.