Russia launches attack on Ukraine, ground and air intervention! Seven killed and nine wounded

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said this morning that Russia had begun invading his country.

In a Twitter post, Kuleba wrote that Russian President Vladimir Putin has launched “full-scale occupation of Ukraine.”

He said Ukraine would defend itself and that “the world can and must stop Putin.”

“QUkraine’s peaceful states are under attack. This is a war of aggression. “said Kuleba.

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that Russia has carried out missile attacks on the infrastructure of Ukraine and on the border guards.

Through a Twitter post, he said he had talked to Western allies and called on them to help Ukraine with defense and finance.

View from the attack in Ukraine

Zelenskyi said he was declaring a state of war, urging citizens to remain calm.

The Russian president confirmed that he had launched, as he said, a “special” operation for the “demilitarization” of Ukraine.

Explosions and gunfire were reported in Kiev and other cities.

Ukrainians leaving the country

According to reports from Western news agencies, numerous cities are under attack. According to CNN explosions in at least seven cities.

Gunshots were heard near Kiev’s main Boryspil airport shortly after Russia announced the operation, the Interfax news agency reported, citing local media.

Russia’s Defense Ministry denied that it had attacked Ukrainian cities, saying it targeted “military infrastructure, air defense and air force with high-precision weapons,” the Russian news agency RIA reported.

Ukrainians are leaving their country by any means, as the images show long queues of cars.

Heavy traffic seems to be all moving west, away from where explosions were heard this morning, while few cars are heading east.

Ukrainians leaving Kiev

In a televised address to the nation, Putin tried to justify the operation, claiming it was necessary to prevent Ukraine from securing nuclear weapons, although Ukraine has not expressed such intentions.

“Circumstances call for us to take decisive and immediate action.”Putin said, adding that Russian-backed separatists in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine have sought help.

He called on the Ukrainian military to lay down its arms and said that Russia “does not intend to invade Ukrainian territory”.

US President Joe Biden condemned the operation, calling it an “unprovoked and unjustified” attack on Ukraine, adding that the world “will hold Russia accountable”.

He said Russia would be responsible for “the catastrophic loss of life and human suffering.”

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has condemned what he called Russia’s “reckless” attack on Ukraine.

He announced that NATO allies would meet to discuss “Russian aggression”. Ukraine is not a member of NATO, but is in line with the West.

“This is a serious violation of international law and a serious threat to Euro-Atlantic security“, Wrote Stoltenberg on Twitter.

“We strongly condemn Russia’s unjustified attack on Ukraine“, Said the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell.

In recent weeks, Russia has amassed more than 150,000 armed forces and heavy military equipment on its border with Ukraine, which NATO has described as the largest military gathering on the European continent since the end of the Cold War.

Tensions escalated this week when Putin decided to recognize the separatist regions of Ukraine, Donetsk and Luhansk, as independent entities and ordered the deployment of Russian forces there.

Putin has denied for weeks that he intends to invade Ukraine, despite claims by Western intelligence that he is preparing for war.

The Russian leader is trying to prevent Ukraine’s membership in NATO, which he has described as an existential threat, and to stop the Western alliance expanding eastward.

Ukraine has been aiming to join NATO since Russia annexed its Crimean peninsula in 2014 and sparked a separatist insurgency in its eastern provinces.

Ukrainians leaving the country