Ukraine said more than 40 people have died so far in what it called “full-scale war” launched by Russia from the east, north and south of the neighboring country. Hours later, the media reported another twenty deaths.
The Ukrainian Border Guard said that Russian ground forces had entered the Kiev region, the capital.
In response, the NATO agreed to bolster its air, ground and sea forces on the eastern flank of the US-led military alliance, near the Ukrainian and Russian borders.
Ukraine’s Border Guard released footage of what it said were Russian armor entering the country, and loud explosions were heard in Kiev, in the eastern Kharkov and in the southern Odessa and MariupolCNN reported.
The bombing warning sirens were also activated in Lviv (Lviv), where the United States and other countries had moved their embassies.
Russian troops seized the strategic airport in the city of Gostomel, located near Kiev, and shortly after they did the same with the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Ukrainian authorities reported.
In both attacks, Russian soldiers entered from Belaruswhich borders Ukraine to the north and whose border is just three hours from Kiev by road, officials said.
The Russian military claimed it destroyed 74 Ukrainian military ground installations, including 11 airfields, three command posts and 18 radar stations for anti-aircraft missile systems, the British newspaper The Guardian reported.
Russian forces also said that separatists in the east, in the regions of Lugansk and Donetsk which Moscow recognized last Monday as independent states, are advancing and taking control of territories.
Kiev announced that more than 40 soldiers and a dozen Ukrainian civilians were killed, although the figure is expected to rise throughout the day.
He also confirmed that there have already been ground incursions by Russian forces to the north, from Russia and Belarus, but also to the south in the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Moscow in 2014.
Belarus, an ally of the Kremlin, assured that it was not participating in the operation.
the ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyannounced a law martial throughout the country, but asked the population not to panic.
This did not prevent massive evacuations from starting in different cities and the UN’s request that neighboring countries “maintain their borders open” to welcome the exodus of people seeking “safety and protection”.
The Ukrainian president also urged the international community to create an “anti-Putin coalition” to force Moscow to respect peace and decided to cut diplomatic relations with Russia, which had been maintained despite the annexation of Crimea.
Putin, for his part, pointed out that “what is happening is a forced measure, they did not leave us any possibility to act differently.”
The president told a group of businessmen that Russia remained a central part of the world economy, after several countries announced sanctions against Moscow.
The Ukrainian authorities closed the airspace to civil aviation for security reasons, while Russia closed maritime transport in the Russia assured that the civilians of Ukraine “have nothing to fear”, but in the Kiev metro, dozens of people they were looking for shelter or a way out of the city by train or road.
In the middle of the night, the capital’s traffic was typical of rush hour. Vehicles full of families were seeking to leave the city, heading west, as far as possible from the Russian border, located 400 km away.
The reactions to the beginning of the invasion were immediate. The American President, joe Bidenwho called Zelensky to express his “support”, condemned “the unprovoked and unjustified attack by the Russian military forces” and assured that “the world will hold Russia responsible”.
“President Putin has chosen a premeditated war that will bring catastrophic loss of life and human suffering,” Biden noted that he virtually participated in the meeting of G7 leaders who condemned the invasion.
Chinaclose to Russia, indicated that it was “closely following” the situation and urged the parties to “moderation”.
Source: Ambito
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