Russian President Vladimir Putin is aiming to ‘decapitate’ the current Ukrainian government and install one more favorable to Moscow, a grim prediction from the US Defense Department read on Thursday.
Two waves of Moscow’s soldiers are headed for Kiev after entering Ukraine through Belarus in the north and from the south via Crimea, according to the New York Times. A third wave detected from the Pentagon could be heading to another part of the country, hours after Putin personally gave the green light for his forces to move in.
Their movements are the ‘initial phase of a large-scale invasion,’ a Pentagon official told the outlet.
‘Our assessment is they have every intention of decapitating the government and installing their own method of governance.’
The Pentagon also said that 75 Russian jets entered Ukraine in the early hours of Moscow’s invasion, and 100 missiles have been fired into the sovereign nation’s territory.
Putin disparaged Ukraine’s government in early Thursday remarks local time, calling them Nazis and their country a ‘colony.’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is Jewish, accused Putin of building a new Iron Curtain in his latest round of remarks on Thursday and implored his citizens to aid in making sure ‘this curtain does not fall across our land.’
Zelensky promised any Ukrainian who wanted to stand and fight would be armed to do so.
The US official said Pentagon didn’t have ‘perfect knowledge’ of Russia’s movements but warned that if intelligence reports are correct, the conflict could break into the bloodiest fight Europe’s seen since the second world war.
‘We haven’t seen a conventional move like this, nation-state to nation-state, since World War II, and if it unfolds the way that hereto we believe it will come to, it has every potential to be very bloody, very costly, and very impactful on European security writ large,’ they said.
In other developments:
- China stands as the lone superpower that has not condemned Russia for the attack. Instead, Beijing approved Russian wheat imports, a move that could reduce the impact of Western sanctions
- Global financial markets tanked and oil barrel prices rose above $100 for the first time since 2014
- President Joe Biden is holding an emergency meeting at the White House with his national security team
- Russian forces have reportedly been targeting military bases, air bases and airports in its assault that Kiev claims has already cost civilian lives
- A Ukrainian military plane with 14 people aboard crashed south of Kiev on Thursday, local authorities have said. It’s still not confirmed how many people were killed
photo provided by the Ukrainian President’s office appears to show an explosion in the capital city of Kiev early Thursday, February 24
Russian forces have entered Ukraine by land, air and sea as explosions are heard across the country and roads are deadlocked with traffic of people trying to flee
President Joe Biden met with his fellow Group of 7 leaders on Thursday morning, after which the economic powers issued a statement claiming Putin is on the ‘wrong side of history.’
Russia launched total war on Ukraine Thursday, with missiles raining from the sky, tanks rolling across the border from Belarus, and masses of attack helicopters swarming on Kiev after Putin gave the order to attack. Kremlin forces are also landing on the southern coasts from the Black Sea and Azov Sea.
Hours later Russian forces took control of the Chernobyl exclusion zone, amid concerns that a severe enough attack from Moscow on the defunct nuclear plant could trigger a cloud of radiation across Europe.
‘Hundreds’ of Ukrainian troops have already been killed in early clashes, an official said, as the fight came to them on all fronts at a moment’s notice. Cruise missiles, guided bombs and GRAD rockets took out targets from east to west – aimed at airfields, military bases, ammo dumps, and command posts including in the capital.
The first sign an invasion was imminent came at just before 12am Ukrainian time (10pm in the UK), when Russian-backed rebel leaders in eastern Ukraine issued a request for military assistance from Moscow in what is being widely seen as a ‘False Flag’ operation to justify Putin’s decision to attack.
A view of the debris of a privet house and a burned car in the aftermath of Russian shelling, outside Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 24
Emergencies personnel work at the crash site of a Ukrainian military plane south of Kyiv on February 24. A Ukrainian military plane with 14 people aboard crashed south of Kyiv on Thursday, the emergencies service said. The service said it was “still determining ‘how many people died.’
Attack helicopters are pictured flying over the Kiev region of Ukraine after dozens of Russian aircraft attacked the city
An image captured near Kiev shows what appears to be the wreckage of a downed Russian attack helicopter with a soldier parachuting out of it (to the left of the frame)
Moments later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered a defiant message to the nation, vowing his countrymen would ‘fight back’ in the event of an invasion, telling Moscow: ‘When you attack us, you will see our faces, not our backs.’
A frenzied string of diplomatic manoeuvres, including an emergency UN Security Council meeting in New York, were not enough to dissuade Putin, who declared a ‘special military operation’ at around 3am Ukraine time.
At around 6am, Zelenskyy declared martial law in a video message filmed on his phone, urging his people ‘not to panic’ and promising: ‘We will win over everybody because we are Ukraine.’
As Europe faced its worst military crisis for decades, here is how this morning’s dramatic events unfolded, minute by minute. All times are shown first in Ukrainian time with the GMT equivalent following in brackets.
12:00am (10pm)
‘We will fight back’: Ukrainian president delivers emotional TV address
Volodymyr Zelenskyy vows the Ukrainian people will ‘fight back’ if Putin launches a full-scale invasion.
His comments follow a request by Moscow-backed rebel leaders in the east of the country for military assistance to fend off Ukrainian ‘aggression’ – considered by the West to be a ‘false flag’ to justify an invasion.
A solemn President Zelenskyy says: ‘The people of Ukraine and the government of Ukraine want peace.
‘But if we come under attack, if we face an attempt to take away our country, our freedom, our lives and the lives of our children, we will defend ourselves. When you attack us, you will see our faces, not our backs.’
View of a damaged building in the aftermath of Russian military operation in Kharkiv. The Pentagon is concerned that Putin is aiming with his invasion to install a new government in Ukraine
The Ukrainian president says he tried to call Putin earlier in the evening, but there was ‘no answer, only silence’, adding that Moscow has around 200,000 soldiers by Ukraine’s borders.
At Ukraine’s request, the United Nations Security Council quickly schedules an emergency meeting – the second in three days.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba calls the separatists’ request ‘a further escalation of the security situation.’
Ukraine readies for conflict and enters a month-long state of emergency, effective at midnight.
3:30am (1:30GMT)
Explosions heard in strategically important port city of Mariupol
Residents in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol are woken up at 3.30am by the sound of explosions.
Video footage appears to show clouds of smoke rising up into the night sky nearby, but it is unconfirmed whether this is as a result of shelling.
Mariupol, located on the Black Sea 50 miles from the Russian border, handles 50 per cent Ukraine’s steel and mineral exports.
Taking the strategic location would give the people’s republics of Donbas access to the sea, and choke off a vital economic artery for Ukraine’s legitimate government.
4:30am (2:30am GMT)
UN meeting where Ukraine’s ambassador tells Russian counterpart: ‘war criminals go straight to hell’
The UN Security Council holds an extraordinary emergency meeting in New York to try to dissuade Russia from sending troops into Ukraine.
During the charged session, Ukrainian ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya implores the council, chaired by Russia, to ‘do everything possible to stop the war’.
He demands that Russia’s ambassador relinquish his duties as chair.
‘There is no purgatory for war criminals. They go straight to hell, ambassador,’ a visibly emotional Kyslytsya says.
At a charged UN Security Council meeting, Ukrainian ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya told his Russian counterpart: ‘There is no purgatory for war criminals. They go straight to hell, ambassador’
Secretary General Antonio Guterres urges Putin to stop his tanks.
‘If indeed an operation is being prepared, I have only one thing to say from the bottom of my heart,’ he says.
‘President Putin, stop your troops from attacking Ukraine. Give peace a chance. Too many people have already died.’
Mr Guterres says he is witnessing, ‘the saddest moment in my tenure as Secretary General of the United Nations’ and that Europe risks, ‘the worst war since the beginning of the century’.
Afterwards, he warns Russian action would not only be ‘devastating for Ukraine’ and ‘tragic’ for Russia ‘but with an impact we can not even foresee in relation to their consequences for the global economy.’
‘In a moment when we are emerging from Covid and so many developing countries absolutely need to have space for the recovery, which would be very, very difficult with the high prices of oil, with the exports of wheat from Ukraine and with rising interest rates caused by instability in international markets,’ he adds.
5am (3am GMT)
Putin’s announces ‘special military operation’ and threatens West
Putin announces a ‘special military operation’ in eastern Ukraine, claiming it’s intended to protect civilians.
In a televised address, Putin says the action comes in response to threats coming from Ukraine.
He claimed Russia wanted to ‘de-Nazify, not occupy’ Ukraine. Putin says the responsibility for bloodshed lies with the Ukrainian ‘regime.’
Putin warns countries that any attempt to interfere with the Russian action will lead to ‘consequences they have never seen.’
The strongman could be seen wearing the same suit and red tie he wore on Monday to lay out his factually inaccurate version of Ukraine’s history, saying essentially that it was always part of Russia.
In hindsight, Putin’s attempts to rewrite history at his convenience, could be interpreted as evidence that he had already decided to invade Ukraine, and that he misled leaders in the West who pleaded with him for diplomacy.
5:30am (3:30am GMT)
Explosions are heard in Kiev just minutes after Putin’s speech ends
Following the end of Putin’s speech, explosions are reported in Kiev, Odessa, Ukraine’s third-largest city, as well as the city of Kramatorsk in the eastern Donetsk region.
A CNN reporter in Kiev says: ‘I just heard a big bang right here behind me. I’ve never heard anything like it.’
Matthew Chance, Senior International correspondent for the network, says he heard between seven and eight blasts.
Chance quickly put on his flak jacket and headgear while he continued to report from a balcony in the Ukrainian capital.
A CNN reporter in the Ukrainian capital Kiev puts on a flak jacket as he hears explosions just after 5.30am
‘There are big explosions taking place. I can’t see them or explain what they are. but I will tell you the U.S has warned the Ukrainian authorities there could be air strikes and ground attacks as well around the country, including the capital.
‘I don’t know if that’s what’s occurring now but it’s a remarkable coincidence that the explosions come just minutes after Putin gave his speech,’ Chance explained.
‘This is the first time we’ve heard anything. It has been absolutely silent. This is the first time. It has to be more than just a coincidence.
‘I think it’s safe where I am. I have a flak jacket,’ Chance remarked before ducking down to put on his protective gear.
He suggested that the blasts he heard were still some distance away from the centre.
6am (4am GMT)
Ukrainian president declares martial law
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy imposes martial law and urges his people to stay at home and not panic as Russian troops pour into the country.
In a video message published shortly after the Kremlin began its attacks across Ukraine, Zelenskyy says Russia has carried out missile strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure and border guards, and that explosions have been heard in many cities.
The Ukrainian President also says he had spoken by telephone to US President Joe Biden.
He pleads: ‘Dear Ukrainian citizens, this morning President Putin announced a special military operation in Donbas. Russia conducted strikes on our military infrastructure and our border guards. There were blasts heard in many cities of Ukraine. We’re introducing martial law on the whole territory of our country.
‘A minute ago I had a conversation with President Biden. The US has already started uniting international support. Today each of you should keep calm. Stay at home if you can. We are working. The Army is working.
‘The whole sector of defence and security is working. No panic. We are strong. We are ready for everything. We will win over everybody because we are Ukraine.’
6:48am (4:48am) onwards
Tanks and troops pour into Ukraine
A livestream – seen by CNN – captures a column of Russian military vehicles entering Ukraine across the border from Belarus, an ally.
The footage was filmed at a crossing between Senkivka in Ukraine and Veselovka in Belarus at around 6:48am local time.
Reports suggested the border with Belarus had first come under attack with artillery at 5am.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Border Guard Service release a video showing tanks and trucks crossing unchallenged over a crossing from Crimea.
Russia also announces it has suspended shipping in the Azov Sea, a major trade route for Ukraine, from 4am.
11:40am (9:40am GMT) – approx
Dozens of Russian helicopters swarm Antonov Airport
Ukrainian officials confirm Antonov international airport has fallen to the Russians after footage captured a large air assault by dozens of Mi-8 helicopters – some of which are shot down by Ukrainian MiG jets.
The cargo airport is of significant strategic importance given its location just 15 miles west of Kiev’s ring road.
One officials says ‘hundreds’ have been killed in early fighting, while another puts the death toll at 40 Ukrainians and 50 Russians.
2pm (12GMT)
Boris Johnson gives address to the nation, condemning ‘wanton and reckless aggression’
In an address to the nation, the PM says Vladimir Putin cannot be allowed to ‘snuff out’ freedom in Ukraine with an act of ‘wanton and reckless aggression’.
He says Putin has ‘unleashed war’ on the continent and the West must respond to ensure the eventual ‘failure’ of his offensive ‘diplomatically, politically, economically, and eventually, militarily’.
In a hard message to Germany and Italy among others, Mr Johnson also calls for countries to wean themselves off gas and oil supplies from Moscow.
‘Today, in concert with our allies we will agree a massive package of economic sanctions designed in time to hobble the Russian economy. And to that end, we must also collectively cease the dependence on Russian oil and gas that for too long has given Putin his grip on Western politics,’ he said.
‘Our mission is clear. Diplomatically, politically, economically, and eventually, militarily, this hideous and barbaric venture of Vladimir Putin must end in failure.’
Openly branding Mr Putin a ‘dictator’, the premier admitted that the months ahead might be ‘grim’, but the ‘flame of freedom’ will ‘blaze bright again in Ukraine’.
5pm (3pm GMT)
‘Russians troops are trying to take Chernobyl,’ says Zelenskyy
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russian forces are trying to seize the Chernobyl nuclear plant.
The plant was the site of the world’s worst nuclear accident when a nuclear reactor exploded in April 1986, spewing radioactive waste across Europe. The plant lies (80 miles north Kiev.
The exploded reactor has been covered by a protective shelter to prevent radiation leak and the entire plant has been decommissioned.
Zelenskyy said on Twitter that ‘our defenders are giving their lives so that the tragedy of 1986 will not be repeated.’ He added that ‘this is a declaration of war against the whole of Europe.’
Russia’s Defense Ministry says its military has destroyed 74 Ukrainian military facilities, including 11 air bases.
