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Russia on Thursday launched a military assault against Ukraine, President Biden said, with explosions occurring across a wide swath of the country, in what the president called an “unjustified attack” that signals “a premeditated war.”
The explosions could be heard in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, and Kharkiv, in the country’s northeast. A senior Ukrainian official said there were also explosions at the country’s largest airport, in Kyiv. Air raid sirens were going off in the capital, though the official said that they were intended to wake up residents and that there were no indications of incoming warplanes.
The attacks came as Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the launch of a “special military operation” to carry out the “demilitarization and denazification” of Ukraine and end eight years of war in the country’s east, where Kyiv government forces have been fighting Russian-backed separatists.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has declared martial law, a Ukrainian government official said Thursday. Biden and his Ukrainian counterpart were speaking on the phone just before midnight Eastern time, according to a White House official.
In a statement, Biden said that 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,” he said. “The world will hold Russia accountable.”
Here’s what to know
- Biden plans to speak early Thursday afternoon and will address “further consequences” that the United States and its allies plan to impose on Russia, the White House said.
- Zelensky pleaded with the Russian people late Wednesday to stop their leadership from sending troops across the border and into his country.
- Members of the U.N. Security Council made a succession of pleas for peace and dialogue in an emergency session that laid bare the limits of the world body’s influence.
- Civil aircraft flights across Ukraine’s airspace were suspended Thursday because of “potential hazard to civil aviation,” according to a notice to airmen.
- U.S. markets sank again Wednesday as uncertainty over the conflict in Ukraine continued to plague investors. The growing threat of war in Ukraine also moved oil prices higher.
UNDERSTANDING THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE CRISIS
In speech, Putin warns opponents of grave consequences
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation against Ukraine in an address carried on Russian state television early Thursday, as the Kremlin attacked military targets across Ukrainian territory in what President Biden called “premeditated war” against Russia’s western neighbor.
Putin described the goal of the military operation as ending the “genocide” against the people in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas, where Russia-backed separatists have been at war with Ukrainian forces since 2014.
“Its goal is to protect people who have been abused by the genocide of the Kyiv regime for eight years,” Putin said. “And to this end, we will strive for the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine. We will also bring to justice those who committed the numerous bloody crimes against civilians, including citizens of the Russian Federation.”
Though Putin said the operation was about the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of eastern Ukraine, the Russian military proceeded to attack a wide range of targets across the country, including in the capital, Kyiv, and the eastern city of Kharkiv.
Putin said Russia didn’t plan to occupy Ukrainian territory but made references to the right to self-determination by local peoples, suggesting that Moscow could be planning to organize referendums in areas of Ukraine after the military campaign.
The Russian leader made mention of the referendum that Russia held in Crimea in 2014, subsequently annexing the piece of Ukrainian territory located on the Black Sea.
Putin also directly addressed members of the Ukrainian armed forces, calling on them to lay down their arms and refuse to take orders from their superiors in Kyiv.
He also warned anyone considering interfering with Russia’s plans of grave consequences, appearing to threaten the use of nuclear weapons.
“Whoever tries to interfere with our actions should know that the Russian response will be immediate and will lead to the kind of consequences you have never experienced in your entire history,” Putin said. “We are ready for any scenario of events.”
He said Russia could no longer tolerate a Ukraine that he said had been taken hostage by forces hostile to Russia.
Putin said Russia “cannot feel safe and develop and exist with the constant threat coming from the modern territory of Ukraine.”
Therefore, he said, he had no choice but to authorize a military operation. He noted, “We simply weren’t given any other option to defend Russia and our people other than that which we will use today.”
American politicians, Trump react to attack
As news of Russia’s attack on Ukraine rippled across the Atlantic, officials in both U.S. political parties vowed to stand with Ukraine. Some offered their prayers, others urged for greater action against Russia and still others interjected partisan politics.
“Putin’s decision to invade is an evil, panicked move of weakness and will be his defining mistake,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) wrote on Twitter. “The Ukrainian people will fight for as long as it takes to secure their nation from this foreign tyrant, and the United States will stand with them in this fight.”
Warning that Russian President Vladimir Putin had plans to use “this crisis to try to divide Americans from each other and to separate America from our allies,” Murphy urged both parties to come together against a common threat to democracy worldwide.
“This is not a moment for politics to trump security,” he wrote.
In an interview with Fox News, former president Donald Trump said Putin had undertaken the military maneuver “because of a rigged election” in the United States. In the days leading up to Russia’s attack — amid escalating tensions — Trump had praised Putin, saying it was a “smart move” by the Russian president to send “the strongest peace force I’ve ever seen” to the Ukraine border.
“Kyiv and Kharkiv are being bombed,” Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) wrote on Twitter. “The largest invasion on our planet since WW2. Republicans are rooting for the Russians. God be with Ukraine and democracy.”
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) said Russia’s actions amounted to “an invasion of a sovereign nation” — one that “cannot go uncontested.”
“I hope you’ll join me tonight in praying for the people of Ukraine and for a unified allied response,” he wrote.
Echoing some of his counterparts’ calls for a strong stance against Russia, Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.), who leads the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the assault on Ukraine had brought decades of general peace in Europe to an end.
“While there is still an opportunity for Russia to reverse course, we can no longer hold out hope that this standoff will be resolved peacefully,” Warner said in a statement. “Therefore, we must all, on both sides of the aisle and both sides of the Atlantic, work together to demonstrate to Putin that this aggression will not be allowed to go unpunished.”
Distant booms heard in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city
KHARKIV, Ukraine — Just after Russian President Vladimir Putin finished his speech announcing military action against Ukraine, distant booms could be heard in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, which is 50 miles from the Russian border.
It’s unclear what caused the explosion or what targets were hit.
Russian troops, tanks and missile launchers had been massing in Belgorod, a Russian city 90 minutes from downtown Kharkiv. This is a majority Russian-speaking city that was long considered a target in a full-scale invasion by Moscow.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has declared martial law, according to a Ukrainian government official.
As the sun rose, some people in the city reacted with confusion. At one hotel, a staff member asked a guest what was happening. Told this was likely a Russian invasion, she cursed.
“I don’t watch the news,” she said.
Outside of the hotel, a mother and child packed their car to leave Kharkiv. There were commuters with suitcases on the subway and people were in line at a water-filing station near the city center.
Central Kyiv appears calm as explosions are heard
KYIV, Ukraine — A series of loud booms were heard in the Ukrainian capital early on Thursday as Ukrainian officials announced that Russian attacks on their country had begun.
The booms just after 5 a.m. could be heard from central Kyiv, but they appeared to be relatively far from major urban centers. As dawn broke here, traffic moved relatively normally and calmly. But later in the morning, air raid sirens started going off.
Russia has ‘launched a full-scale invasion,’ Ukrainian official says
Ukraine’s minister of foreign affairs says Russia has “launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.”
“Peaceful Ukrainian cities are under strikes,” Dmytro Kuleba tweeted early Thursday morning local time. “This is a war of aggression.”
He said that Ukraine “will defend itself and will win” and urged the world to “stop Putin.”
In a later tweet, he called for the world to immediately impose further sanctions on Russia, as well as dispatch weapons and equipment, humanitarian assistance and financial support to Ukraine. “Fully isolate Russia by all means, in all formats,” Kuleba wrote.
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
The world must act immediately. Future of Europe & the world is at stake. To do list:
1. Devastating sanctions on Russia NOW, including SWIFT
2. Fully isolate Russia by all means, in all formats
3. Weapons, equipment for Ukraine
4. Financial assistance
5. Humanitarian assistance— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) February 24, 2022
Anton Herashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s ministry of internal affairs, said troops are in Odessa — one of Ukraine’s most populous cities — and are crossing into Kharkiv, a city in the country’s northeast, according to NBC.
War criminals ‘go straight to hell,’ Ukrainian ambassador tells Russian counterpart at U.N.
correction
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield addressed the U.N. Security Council twice on Wednesday night. An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the day. The article has been corrected.
Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations confronted Russia’s representative Wednesday at an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, daring him to acknowledge that a massive invasion was underway.
“Should I play the video of your president?” Ukrainian Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya asked his Russian counterpart, Vassily Nebenzia, brandishing a cellphone. Kyslytsya said he been planning to ask for confirmation that Russian troops would not start firing that day — but it all “became useless 48 minutes ago,” he said, when Putin announced his attack.
“So now,” Kyslytsya continued, “I would like to ask the ambassador of the Russian Federation to say on the record that at this very moment your troops do not shell and bomb Ukrainian cities. That your troops do not move in the territory of Ukraine. You have a smartphone.”
If Nebenzia could not give that confirmation, Kyslytsya said, he should pass the responsibilities of Security Council president to “a legitimate member.”
“There is no purgatory for war criminals,” he told Nebenzia. “They go straight to hell, ambassador.”
Nebenzia reiterated Russia’s blaming of Ukrainian “provocations” for the crisis and cast Russia as a defender of the Donbas region, where Moscow has backed two separatist enclaves. He acknowledged that Putin had spoken during the Security Council meeting about a “special military operation in the Donbas.”
He said that “the occupation of Ukraine is not in our plans,” though he said “we don’t know all the details today.”
Addressing the Security Council for the second time Wednesday night, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that “at the exact time as we are gathered in the Council, seeking peace, Putin delivered a message of war in total disdain for the responsibility of this Council.”
“The world will hold Russia accountable,” she said.
Representatives from other countries had spent much of the meeting appealing to Putin to pull back. “It’s too late, my dear colleagues, to speak about de-escalation,” Kyslytsya said. “Too late.”
U.N. Security Council calls for peace as explosions rock Ukrainian cities
As explosions ripped through cities in Ukraine in a Russian military offensive, members of the U.N. Security Council made a succession of pleas for peace and dialogue in an emergency session Wednesday night that laid bare the limits of the world body’s influence.
The United States and its allies condemned Russia’s actions, while other nations such as China, Brazil and India urged de-escalation — calls Russian President Vladimir Putin ignored as he announced a military operation to achieve the “demilitarization and denazification” of Ukraine.
Russia’s ambassador, Vasily Nebenzya, lashed out at Western nations, accusing them of “arming” and “egging on” Ukraine’s government to attack the separatist-controlled regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. He insisted Russia was not attacking the people of Ukraine, but the military “junta” in Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv.
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield accused Putin of exhibiting “total disdain” for the United Nations by ordering military action “at the same time we’re gathered in the council seeking peace.” She called the moment a “grave emergency.”
Ukraine’s ambassador, Sergiy Kyslytsya, called out to Russia’s envoy in a testy exchange, urging him to telephone Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and “do everything possible to stop the war.”
Nebenzya declined, saying that “waking up Mr. Lavrov is not something I plan to do.”
The most scathing criticism of Russian action came from European envoys representing Britain, France, Ireland and Norway.
“France strongly condemns the strategy of provocation to war of the Russian president,” said French envoy Nicolas de Rivière. “We hear the call of the Ukrainian people. … Ukrainians want peace.”
“Russia has been holding a gun to Ukraine’s head. Now, President Putin’s finger is on the trigger,” said Britain’s ambassador, Barbara Woodward. “The world is calling for peace, but Russia is not listening.”
China’s envoy, Zhang Jun, called for “enhanced dialogue,” while India’s ambassador, T. S. Tirumurti, urged “immediate de-escalation.” But in a council where all resolutions are subject to a veto of the permanent members, no action was proposed and therefore none taken.
Russia ‘alone’ responsible for death and destruction in Ukraine, Biden says
Russia “alone is responsible for the death and destruction” its military action in Ukraine may bring, according to a statement President Biden released late Wednesday after Russian leader Vladimir Putin announced plans to launch a “special military operation” in the country.
“President Putin has chosen a premeditated war that will bring a catastrophic loss of life and human suffering,” Biden’s statement read. “ … The world will hold Russia accountable.”
Biden also spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on a phone call, during which the U.S. leader called Putin’s military activities “unprovoked and unjustified.” Responding to Zelensky’s request that the world’s leaders speak out against Russian’s “flagrant aggression,” Biden pledged that the United States and its allies will coordinate their responses in a “united and decisive” fashion.
Ukraine closes country’s airspace, shutters airports
Civil aircraft flights across Ukraine’s airspace were suspended Thursday because of “potential hazard to civil aviation,” according to a notice to airmen released Wednesday night.
The move came as tensions escalated between Ukraine and Russia — with Russian President Vladimir Putin announcing that the Kremlin had decided to carry out a “special military operation” in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region. Explosions have been heard throughout Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, and Kharkiv, in the country’s northeast.
Before shuttering its entire airspace, Ukraine closed airports in the cities of Dnipro, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia, according to the notices to airmen, or NOTAMs.
Fears about an impending attack grew as Russia closed the airspace surrounding its border with eastern Ukraine “in order to provide safety” to civil flight, according to notices. Ukrainian aviation authorities declared these areas as “danger zones,” citing Russian attempts to take control of their country’s airspace.
Safe Airspace — an air conflict zone and risk database — urged airlines to avoid flying into Ukraine’s airspace due to two areas of concern: the conflict in the far east of the country and the “double claim” by Russia and Ukraine over airspace in Crimea, Safe Airspace posted on its website Wednesday.
“The situation in Ukraine has now become a larger conflict that is currently developing,” Safe Airspace said. “Regardless of the actual movements of Russian forces into Ukraine, the level of tension and uncertainty in Ukraine is now extreme. This itself gives rise to significant risk to civil aviation.”
The conflict zone monitor elevated Ukraine’s risk of flying to Level 1 — deeming it a “Do Not Fly” location. According to Safe Space, aircraft flying into the country risk an “unintended targeting of civil aircraft by military, including misidentification … or confusion” and cyberattacks.
‘President Putin, stop your troops’: Leaders urge Russia to pull back at U.N. meeting
The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations said Wednesday night that Russia has brought the world “to the brink of a conflict that will produce an untold amount of human suffering,” as leaders gathered for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council.
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said officials believe a “full-scale further invasion into Ukraine by Russia is imminent,” with Russia closing airspace and moving its forces into “combat ready positions.” She also described reports of malware “placed on hundreds of computers and executed on at least some.”
“This is a perilous moment,” she said. “And we are here for one reason, and one reason only. To ask Russia to stop. Return to your borders.” She joined other countries in condemning Russia’s actions and said its diplomats have “laughed in the face” of human suffering.
Earlier, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said he had never believed rumors of an imminent attack on Ukraine, “convinced that nothing serious would happen.”
“I was wrong,” he said.
He acknowledged that “an operation is being prepared” and addressed Russian President Vladimir Putin, looking into the camera.
“From the bottom of my heart, President Putin, stop your troops from attacking Ukraine,” Guterres said. “Give peace a chance. Too many have already died.”
The Security Council has five permanent members: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Widening Ukraine conflict risks deadly toll on civilians
With the world absorbed by months of geopolitical brinkmanship, high-stakes diplomacy and scrutiny of Russia’s military encirclement of Ukraine, lost in the din has been this sobering fact: If President Vladimir Putin proceeds with a large-scale invasion, thousands will probably die.
U.S. officials estimate a major assault could leave as many as 50,000 civilians dead or wounded, as Western nations warn of Putin’s intent to drive deeper into the former Soviet state.
Experts and humanitarian groups have assessed the conflict could take a particularly devastating toll on noncombatants due to Moscow’s massive arsenal, its record of targeting civilians and the wider potential for punishing urban battles. Such a state-to-state showdown would represent a break from the insurgencies of recent decades, one that could usher in a new era of deadly modern warfare.
Trump and his supporters praise Putin and dismiss Biden as crisis unfolds
As the United States seeks to rally its allies and impose tough penalties for Russia’s aggression toward Ukraine, a vocal group of Republicans and right-leaning commentators is expressing praise and admiration for the president’s strength and shrewdness. President Vladimir Putin, that is.
While most congressional Republicans back Biden’s tough line against Moscow — or argue it should be even tougher — a faction made up of conservative Republicans, supporters of former president Donald Trump and conservative media figures says Putin should be left alone, or even congratulated, by Americans.
Trump complimented Putin on Tuesday, saying it was a “smart move” by the Russian president to send “the strongest peace force I’ve ever seen” to the Ukraine border.
Russia at ‘final point of readiness’ for full-scale invasion, Blinken says
Russian forces are “at the final point of readiness” for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday night on NBC News.
“Everything seems to be in place for Russia to engage in a major aggression against Ukraine,” he told NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt.
Holt had asked if Blinken had “reason to believe that before this night is over Russian forces will be engaged in something akin to a full invasion of Ukraine.” Blinken said yes, but soon clarified that he “can’t put a date or an exact time” on such an escalation.
Speaking on CBS Evening News, Blinken pushed back on suggestions that warnings of an imminent invasion signal a “failure of American diplomacy.”
“To the contrary — first of all, diplomacy succeeded very effectively in bringing the world together, the United States and Europe together, in standing up to Russian aggression,” Blinken told anchor Norah O’Donnell. “At the same time, we’ve made it clear that if Russia continues to escalate, if it engages in a full-scale invasion of Ukraine beyond what it’s already doing, we’ll escalate too.”
He noted Germany’s decision to halt authorization of a natural gas pipeline from Russia, a major project that Blinken said Russia “was counting on to be a cash cow for selling energy to Europe.”
“Why is … the world going to wait for this to happen?” O’Donnell asked. “And do you believe Putin will stop at Ukraine?”
Blinken insisted: “We’re not waiting. We’re acting.”
U.N. Security Council to meet at 9:30 p.m. to discuss Ukraine
The U.N. Security Council will hold an emergency meeting in New York on Wednesday night in a session requested by Ukraine, said a U.N. diplomat familiar with the matter.
The push for the gathering — which is expected to begin at 9:30 p.m. Eastern time — comes amid fears of a Russian military invasion deep into Ukraine and beyond its separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. Russia is currently the president of the Security Council.
The meeting is expected to be open and televised, said the diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic moves.
Earlier on Wednesday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that his country had requested an urgent meeting of the Security Council in response to the Kremlin claiming that two separatist leaders had asked Russia for help in countering Ukrainian forces’ “aggression.”
Kuleba tweeted that the plea was “due to the appeal by Russian occupation administrations in Donetsk and Luhansk to Russia with a request to provide them with military assistance, which is a further escalation of the security situation.”
Ukraine denies any aggression, and the United States and the West have characterized these claims as false-flag operations that are a possible pretense for a full-scale military invasion.
María Luisa Paúl contributed to this report.