Russian aircraft bombard targets in Kiev, Kharkov, Kherson and other Ukrainian cities
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has sent a message this morning announcing the beginning of a massive attack of his armed forces with Ukraine. He assures that, “in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter, with the approval of the Federation Council -Russian Upper House-, I have decided to carry out a special military intervention.” In his words, “we will fight for the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine. Our plans do not include the occupation of the Ukraine. We do not force anyone to do anything.”
“I want to put outside forces on notice, no matter who tries to create threats to Russia, the response will be immediate. No one should have any doubt that a direct attack on Russia will lead to defeat and will have dire consequences for a potential aggressor », warns Putin in his speech in direct reference to his country’s nuclear arsenal. He also sends a message to the Ukrainian troops stressing that “you swore an oath to the people, not to the junta, I urge you to lay down your arms immediately and go home.”
Echo of Moscow radio and various Russian media outlets show photographs of photos and videos of aerial bombardments on the outskirts of Kharkov, but also in Kiev, Mariupol, Kherson, Ivano-Frankivsk and Kramatorsk. According to the Ukrainian press, the surroundings of the port city of Odessa is being invaded by forces arriving aboard a Russian landing ship.
At the same time, the rebel forces in Donbass have launched an operation to seize land from the Ukrainian Army beyond the “line of contact”, in the areas hitherto under the control of Kiev. According to the agencies, the separatist forces have already taken several villages. The Ukrainian president, Volodímir Zelenski, has telephoned his American counterpart, Joe Biden, established a state of war in the country and sent a message to the citizens.
Zelenski assures that his country wants peace, but now he will have to face the offensive. He has condemned Russia’s destruction of infrastructure and border posts. Indeed, according to images spread through social networks, numerous airports throughout Ukraine are being attacked. Ukrainian border guards maintain that the operation is also being carried out from the territory of Belarus. CNN has shown tanks entering Ukraine from Belarus.
US warning
US intelligence had already been warning for weeks that Putin was planning an attack on Ukraine. Diplomatic efforts and numerous high-level meetings in recent months have been useless to prevent the current catastrophe.
On Monday, the Russian president signed a decree recognizing the independence of the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, ordered their territories to send “peace troops”. Putin said on that day that “modern Ukraine was created entirely by Bolshevik Russia.” He called Lenin “Ukrainian author and architect” and recalled that the neighboring country then benefited from “gifts to Ukrainian nationalism from territories historically belonging to Russia” such as, according to him, the case of Donbass, which was “incorporated into Ukraine at shoves».
He then reiterated that the Maidan revolt, which culminated in February 2014, was a “bloody coup” orchestrated by the West which, in his opinion, “did not bring democracy” and once again denounced the threat that Russia would pose if Ukraine will join NATO. Putin again accused the Ukrainian leaders of refusing to comply with the Minsk agreements and accused them of creating the “critical” situation prevailing at the present time in Donbass due to their armed actions.
On Tuesday, Putin already warned that Donetsk and Lugansk will have to recover their real borders, not the ones they currently have according to the failed Minsk agreements. Deputy Alexánder Borodái, deputy chairman of one of the parliamentary committees and former Donetsk prime minister, acknowledged that in Ukraine there are “Russian volunteers” carrying out “mobilization activities, ready to defend the Russian population of Donetsk and Lugansk with weapons in hand. » as they already did in Crimea and in Donbass itself eight years ago. He stated that the part of Donbass held by Kiev “must be liberated” and annexed to Russia.
The deputies of the Duma ratified on Tuesday the agreements of “friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance” with the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk included in the decree signed by Putin and whose main component is the military. The agreement between Russia and the self-proclaimed republics of Donbass contemplates the deployment of military bases in their territories and the sending of troops and weapons, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko explained at the time. So, the Federation Council (Upper House) authorized Putin to use the Russian Armed Forces outside the country.
Ukraine confirms the first deaths
The Ukrainian Armed Forces have reported the first casualties after the military invasion ordered at dawn by Russian President Vladimir Putin, with seven Ukrainian soldiers killed in the Odessa region and dozens of “enemies” killed in a town in Lugansk.
The Army has confirmed an “intense bombardment” in areas of eastern Ukraine and Zelenski has already given orders to “inflict the maximum possible losses on the invaders,” according to statements collected by the UNIAN agency. Forces loyal to Kiev have also reported the alleged shooting down of several Russian aircraft, something Moscow denies.
According to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, they have managed to repel an attack by Russian troops in the Lugansk region, controlled in part by separatist rebels, and have estimated 50 dead “enemies”, in a warlike context in which the president Volodymyr Zelensky has ordered everything to be done against the «occupation».
#Putin #launches #massive #military #intervention #Ukraine