Vladimir Putin has ordered a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine and demanded Kyiv’s army lay down its weapons, launching what could be the largest conflict in Europe since the second world war.
In an address broadcast on Russian state television shortly before 6am on Thursday, Russia’s president claimed that he was not planning to occupy Ukraine but vowed Moscow would punish all those who stood in its way.
“The goal is to defend people who have been victims of abuse and genocide from the Kyiv regime. And we will strive to demilitarise and de-Nazify Ukraine,” Putin said. “All responsibility for the possible bloodshed will be fully and completely on the conscience of the ruling regime,” he added.
In Kyiv before dawn on Thursday, Financial Times reporters heard explosions in what appeared to be a sign of military action. Social media users in Ukraine reported hearing blasts in other cities, including Kharkiv and the Ukrainian-controlled city of Kramatorsk in the disputed eastern Donbas region.
Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter: “Putin has just launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Peaceful Ukrainian cities are under strikes. This is a war of aggression. Ukraine will defend itself and will win. The world can and must stop Putin. The time to act is now.”
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky has called for martial law, a measure that would need to be upheld by a parliamentary vote, the country’s Ukrainska Pravda news website reported.
Brent crude prices rose above $100 a barrel for the first time since 2014 in the minutes following Putin’s announcement. The international oil benchmark hit $100.07, up about 3 per cent, before trading lower again.
Stock markets fell on the news with Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng index down 2.6 per cent, Japan’s Topix dropping 1.7 per cent and futures pointing to heavy losses for European and UK shares.
In his broadcast, Putin appeared to be dressed in the same suit and tie he wore on Monday when delivering a different speech, in which he recognised two separatist territories in Donbas, suggesting the video could have been pre-recorded.
The Kremlin on Thursday published letters from two separatist leaders who asked Putin to use Russia’s armed forces to drive back “Ukrainian aggression”.
Russia claims, based on little or no evidence, that Ukraine is attacking the separatist-held territories in the Donbas, where more than 14,000 people have died in a once slow-burning conflict that broke out after Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014.
Putin warned other countries against “the temptation of meddling in the ongoing events” and said Russia’s response will “lead you to consequences that you have never encountered in your history”.
“Today’s events are not tied to harm the interests of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. They are about defending the interests of Russia itself against those who have taken Ukraine hostage and try to use it against our country and its people,” Putin said.
US president Joe Biden said the “prayers of the entire world are with the people of Ukraine tonight” as he accused Putin of launching a “premeditated war that will bring a catastrophic loss of life and human suffering”.
“The United States and its allies and partners will respond in a united and decisive way,” Biden said in a statement several minutes after Putin spoke on Russian television.
Biden said he would meet G7 counterparts on Thursday morning and would then reveal further measures to punish Russia for the invasion.
Ukraine’s ambassador to the UN Sergiy Kyslytsya demanded that Russia relinquish its presidency of the UN Security Council at an emergency meeting of the body. He accused Putin of declaring war on Ukraine in a terse exchange with Moscow’s envoy.
“The ambassador of the Russian Federation, three minutes ago, confirmed that his president declared a war on my country,” said Kyslytsya. “Should I play the video?”
Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, responded: “This isn’t called a war. This is called a special military operation in the Donbas.”
But Kyslytsya said, as a closing remark: “There is no purgatory for war criminals. They go straight to hell, ambassador.”
In a second speech to the UNSC emergency meeting, US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield acknowledged that Putin had “ordered that last step” as the council sat.
“The council will need to act and we will put a resolution on the table tomorrow,” said Thomas-Greenfield.
The invasion followed months of concern that Putin was preparing to launch a military offensive. Until as recently as this week, Russia had rejected claims that it was deploying forces near Ukraine for a possible invasion.
The US and its allies imposed a slew of sanctions on Russia on Tuesday in a final effort to urge Putin to back down. They also signalled that they would unleash more punishing economic measures if Putin launched a full-scale invasion of the country.