KYIV / OSLO (VG) Russian forces have landed near Odessa and are now crossing the border into Ukraine. There have also been airstrikes against Kyiv, according to the Ukrainian Interior Minister.
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In a TV speech to the people on Thursday night, just before 04.00 Norwegian time, Russian President Vladimir Putin announces that he has approved a military operation in the two breakaway regions of Luhansk and Donetsk in Ukraine. It reports the news agency Reuters, which quotes the Russian news agency RIA.
In the speech, Putin says that the circumstances require immediate action from Russia.
According to Reuters, Putin says clashes between Russia and Ukrainian forces are inevitable – it is only “a matter of time”, he claims.
On Thursday morning, explosions were reported in a number of places in Ukraine. Including in Mariupol, Kramatorsk, Kharkiv, Donetsk and Odesa. Also in the capital Kyiv.
Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to the Ukrainian interior minister, told several media outlets via a Whatsapp group that Russian forces had landed in the city of Odessa and that they were crossing the border into the city of Kharkiv. He also says that there have been airstrikes against the capital Kyiv.
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VG’s reporters in Kyiv say that they have also heard a loud bang, almost a roar. VG’s reporter in Kyiv says at 05.50 local time that the streets are empty, there are few cars outside.
Russian forces have landed at Odesa and Mariupol, and Kharkiv has been subjected to rocket attacks, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry and the Interfax news agency reported according to Reuters at 05.10 on Thursday morning.
– Full-scale invasion
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba announced on Twitter at 04.55 that Putin has started a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
– Peaceful Ukrainian cities are under air attack. This is a war of aggression, he writes.
– Ukraine will defend itself and win. The world can and must stop Putin. It’s time to act.
– There are attacks not only in Kiev, but also in Kharkiv and Dnepropetrovsk, writes Anton Gerashchenko, adviser at the Interior Ministry in a message sent to VG and other journalists.
– Afraid of my family
Alex (38), from a town near Kharkiv, has been on a business trip in Kiev, but is now fleeing the capital.
– I am afraid of my family and travel there to save them, he says to VG.
– My friends called me and said it was a war, and a big explosion near their city. I think it’s missiles.
– Putin is a fanatic. I think a big war will start, he says to VG.
–Explosion reports
CNN reporter Matthew Chance says in their live broadcast from Kyiv that they have heard several bangs. Sky News also reports the same.
According to witnesses Reuters has spoken to, shots have also been heard near Kyiv’s airport Boryspil.
Putin says in the speech that Russia will not occupy Ukrainian territory. He asks Ukrainian soldiers to immediately lay down their arms and go home, writes the Russian news agency TASS according to Reuters.
He says that any interference from other countries will be answered immediately.
In a message addressed to the Ukrainian military, he said according to Sky News that your “parents and grandparents did not fight so that you could help neo-Nazis.”
“It clearly looks like an invasion of Ukraine has begun,” an unnamed NATO official told Reuters.
US President Joe Biden says Russia alone is responsible for the loss of life and suffering that may come.
He says he is following the situation closely and will talk to G7 members on Thursday.
NATO condemns
– I strongly condemn Russia’s ruthless and unprovoked attack on Ukraine, which endangers many civilian lives. Once again, despite our repeated warnings and attempts at diplomacy, Russia has chosen aggression against a sovereign and independent state.
This is what NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg wrote on Twitter on Thursday morning.
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