Russian troops have entered the country from various points and are a few kilometers from Kiev, after shelling Ukrainian military posts and airfields at dawn.
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The Russian Army has started this Thursday the invasion of Ukraine. The President of Russia, Vladimir Putinhas appeared at dawn to announce “a special military operation” in Ukraine and thus confirm what Western governments had been fearing for several weeks.
It is an invasion that, under the premise of helping the independentists in eastern Ukraine, transcends to other territories and has even put the security of the capital, Kiev, in check.
Putin acknowledged on Monday the independence of Donetsk and Lugansk oblastsgiving the self-proclaimed ‘people’s republics’ a status that allowed them to request military aid from Russia without having to hide, as it has been.
The Russian president has felt legitimized to “protect people who have been subjected to abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.” “Any responsibility for possible bloodshed will fall entirely on the conscience of the Ukrainian regime,” Putin stressed, a supporter of “denazifying” the neighboring country.
Nor has he spared criticism of Western governments and blocs, which he has been asking for months to agree to requirements that seemed clearly impossible. Thus, in his speech he has again charged against NATO for not giving up its “expansion” in Eastern Europe.
Putin, who has assumed “justice and truth” on his part, believes that it is time for “decisive action.” The Kremlin has denied that the objective is to occupy all of Ukraine, although in the first hours after the announcement there have been explosions and operations in different parts of Ukraine, not only in the east.
For his part, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, has ordered to act with everything against the “invaders”, ‘a priori’ militarily much more powerful. At dawn, shortly after Putin’s speech, he appeared to announce the imposition of martial law, make it clear that the country was at war and demand that citizens stay at home.
“We will give arms to all those who want to defend their country. Let’s defend Ukraine from the squares of our cities”Zelenski has claimed in a subsequent statement in which he has advocated adding “all possible support” to the cause.
Kiev has already severed diplomatic relations with Russia and hopes that its allied countries will also follow these steps. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dimitro Kuleba, has assured that, if they do so, “they will show that they are on the side of Ukraine and will categorically reject the most flagrant act of aggression in Europe since the Second World War”.
Kiev’s allies advocate a coordinated and forceful response
For the time being, what all of Kiev’s allied governments do agree on is that Putin’s latest challenge deserves a more forceful response than the one agreed upon this week, with a view to weighing down strategic sectors of the Russian economy and not just limiting trips or freeze accounts of senior officials.
The common message is to call for unity and presidents like the American Joe Biden put the spotlight on Putin: “President Putin has chosen a premeditated war that will bring catastrophic loss of life and human suffering.”
The European Union, which this Thursday will bring together the heads of state and government in an extraordinary summit, has also promised “massive” sanctions. These measures will be “at the height” of the “act of war” initiated by Putin, according to French President Emmanuel Macron, while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has warned that the Russian president “has made a serious mistake” .
The NATOfor its part, has activated the Defense plans and will be able to deploy response forces to the Russian invasion, although “there are no plans” for now to enter Ukraine.
Putin-allied governments, for their part, dodge any criticism. Chinafor example, has limited itself to asking for restraint from all parties and in a conversation at the level of foreign ministers has not hesitated to blame Kiev for the origin of all this escalation, accusing it of breaching the Minsk Agreements signed in 2015.
Source: Eitb
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