KYIV, Ukraine — The Russian Protection Ministry has confirmed that its floor forces have moved into Ukraine from Crimea, the primary affirmation from Moscow that its floor forces have moved in.
Russia beforehand stated solely that it unleashed air and missile strikes on Ukrainian air bases, air protection batteries and different army amenities. The ministry stated it has destroyed 83 Ukrainian army amenities.
For the primary time for the reason that begin of the motion, Protection Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov confirmed the Russian floor troops had rolled into Ukraine, saying they superior towards town of Kherson, northwest of Crimea.
Kherson sits on reservoir offering the majority of contemporary water for Crimea till Ukraine reduce it off with a dam in 2017 in response to Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.
Konashenkov stated that the Russian troops’ transfer allowed to renew water provide to Crimea.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows beneath.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched a wide-ranging assault on Ukraine on Thursday, hitting cities and bases with airstrikes or shelling, as civilians piled into trains and automobiles to flee. Ukraine’s authorities pleaded for assist because it stated Russian tanks and troops rolled throughout the border in a “full-scale warfare” that would rewrite the geopolitical order.
President Vladimir Putin ignored world condemnation and cascading new sanctions as he unleashed Moscow’s most aggressive motion for the reason that 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and chillingly referred to his nation’s nuclear arsenal. He threatened any international nation attempting to intrude with “penalties you could have by no means seen.”
Ukrainian officers stated their forces have been battling Russians on a sequence of fronts.
“Russia has launched into a path of evil, however Ukraine is defending itself and will not hand over its freedom,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted.
Later, he provided Russia an finish to the hostilities.
“It wasn’t Ukraine that selected the trail of warfare, however Ukraine is providing to return to the trail of peace,” he stated.
Zelenskyy, who earlier reduce diplomatic ties with Moscow and declared martial regulation, described Russian forces advancing on a number of fronts, together with a “tough scenario” growing in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest metropolis, simply over 20 kilometers away from the japanese border with Russia, and Russian troops slowly advancing from the north on town of Chernihiv. He stated a Russian airborne unit at an airport simply exterior Kyiv, the capital, was being destroyed.
He appealed to world leaders, saying that “if you happen to do not assist us now, if you happen to fail to supply a robust help to Ukraine, tomorrow the warfare will knock in your door.”
Zelenskyy stated Russian forces have been attempting to grab the Chernobyl nuclear plant, website of the world’s worst nuclear catastrophe. Massive explosions have been heard within the capital and in different cities, and folks massed in prepare stations and took to roads, as the federal government stated the previous Soviet republic was seeing a long-anticipated invasion from the east, north and south.
The chief of the NATO alliance stated the “brutal act of warfare” shattered peace in Europe, becoming a member of a refrain of world leaders who decried the assault, which might trigger large casualties, topple Ukraine’s democratically elected authorities and upend the post-Chilly Battle safety order. The battle was already shaking world monetary markets: Shares plunged and oil costs soared amid issues that heating payments and meals costs would skyrocket.
Condemnation rained down not solely from the U.S. and Europe, however from South Korea, Australia and past — and plenty of governments readied new sanctions. Even pleasant leaders like Hungary’s Viktor Orban sought to distance themselves from Putin.
A senior U.S. official stated the U.N. Safety Council was anticipated to vote Friday on a decision condemning Russia for the assault and demanding the rapid withdrawal of its forces. The vote will proceed despite the fact that the legally binding measure will nearly definitely be vetoed by Russia, stated the official, who wasn’t licensed to debate the matter publicly and spoke on situation of anonymity.
Whereas some nervous Europeans speculated a couple of potential new world warfare, the U.S. and its NATO companions have to this point proven no indication they’d take part a warfare towards Russia. They as an alternative mobilized troops and tools round Ukraine’s western flank — as Ukraine pleaded for protection help and assist defending its airspace.
In Washington, President Joe Biden convened a gathering of the Nationwide Safety Council on Ukraine because the U.S. prepares new sanctions. Biden administration officers have signaled that two of the measures they have been contemplating most strongly embody hitting Russia’s largest banks and slapping on new export controls meant to starve Russia’s industries and army of U.S. semiconductors and different high-tech parts.
The assaults got here first from the air. Later Ukrainian authorities described floor invasions in a number of areas, and border guards launched footage exhibiting a line of Russian army autos crossing into Ukraine’s government-held territory. European authorities declared the nation’s airspace an lively battle zone.
In a worrying improvement, Zelenskyy stated Russian forces have been attempting to grab the Chernobyl plant, and a Ukrainian official stated Russian shelling hit a radioactive waste repository and a rise in radiation ranges was reported. The official spoke on situation of anonymity to debate the delicate matter.
Different governments didn’t instantly corroborate or verify the claims.
The plant was the location of the world’s worst nuclear accident when a nuclear reactor exploded in 1986, spewing a radioactive cloud throughout Europe. The plant lies 130 kilometers (80 miles) north of the capital of Kyiv.
After weeks of denying plans to invade, Putin launched the operation on a rustic the scale of Texas that has more and more tilted towards the democratic West and away from Moscow’s sway. The autocratic chief made clear earlier this week that he sees no purpose for Ukraine to exist, elevating fears of potential broader battle within the huge area that the Soviet Union as soon as dominated. Putin denied plans to occupy Ukraine, however his final targets stay hazy.
Ukrainians who had lengthy braced for the prospect of an assault have been urged to shelter in place and to not panic.
“Till the final second, I did not consider it will occur. I simply pushed away these ideas,” stated a terrified Anna Dovnya in Kyiv, watching troopers and police take away shrapnel from an exploded shell. “We now have misplaced all religion.”
With social media amplifying a torrent of army claims and counter-claims, it was tough to find out precisely what was occurring on the bottom.
Related Press reporters noticed or confirmed explosions within the capital, in Mariupol on the Azov Sea, Kharkiv within the east and past. AP confirmed video exhibiting Russian army autos crossing into Ukrainian-held territory within the north from Belarus and from Russian-annexed Crimea within the south.
Russian and Ukrainian authorities made competing claims about injury they’d inflicted. Russia’s Protection Ministry stated it had destroyed scores of Ukrainian air bases, army amenities and drones, and confirmed the lack of a Su-25 assault jet, blaming it on “pilot error.” It stated it was not focusing on cities, however utilizing precision weapons and claimed that “there isn’t any risk to civilian inhabitants.”
Ukraine’s armed forces They reported a minimum of 40 troopers useless, and stated a army airplane carrying 14 folks crashed south of Kyiv.
Poland’s army elevated its readiness degree, and Lithuania and Moldova moved towards doing the identical. Border crossings elevated from Ukraine to Poland, which has ready facilities for refugees.
Putin justified his actions in an in a single day televised deal with, asserting that the assault was wanted to guard civilians in japanese Ukraine — a false declare the U.S. had predicted he would make as a pretext for an invasion. He accused the U.S. and its allies of ignoring Russia’s calls for to stop Ukraine from becoming a member of NATO and for safety ensures.
He known as the army motion a “pressured measure” stemming from rising safety dangers for Russia.
Anticipating worldwide condemnation and countermeasures, Putin issued a stark warning to different international locations to not meddle.
In a reminder of Russia’s nuclear energy, he warned that “nobody ought to have any doubts {that a} direct assault on our nation will result in the destruction and horrible penalties for any potential aggressor.”
Amongst Putin’s pledges was to “denazify” Ukraine. World Battle II looms giant in Russia, after the Soviet Union suffered extra deaths than any nation whereas combating Adolf Hitler’s forces.
Kremlin propaganda paints members of Ukrainian right-wing teams as neo-Nazis, exploiting their admiration for WWII-era Ukrainian nationalist leaders who sided with the Nazis. Ukraine is now led by a Jewish president who misplaced kin within the Holocaust and angrily dismissed the Russian claims.
Putin’s announcement got here simply hours after the Ukrainian president rejected Moscow’s claims that his nation poses a risk to Russia and made a passionate, last-minute plea for peace.
The assault started even because the U.N. Safety Council was assembly to carry off an invasion. Members nonetheless unaware of Putin’s announcement of the operation appealed to him to face down. U.N. Secretary-Normal Antonio Guterres opened the emergency assembly, telling Putin: “Give peace an opportunity.”
However hours later, NATO’s Jens Stoltenberg indicated it was too late: “Peace on our continent has been shattered.”
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Isachenkov and Litvinova reported from Moscow. Angela Charlton in Paris; Geir Moulson and Frank Jordans in Berlin; Raf Casert and Lorne Prepare dinner in Brussels; Robert Burns, Matthew Lee, Aamer Madhani, Eric Tucker, Ellen Knickmeyer, Zeke Miller, Chris Megerian and Darlene Superville in Washington contributed.
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Observe AP’s protection of the Ukraine disaster at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
