Europe\u2019s \u2018darkest hours\u2019 since WWII
\nOur plans do not include the occupation of Ukrainian territories, says President Putin
\n KYIV
\nRussia launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine by land, air and sea on Thursday, the biggest attack by one state against another in Europe since World War Two and confirmation of the worst fears of the West.
\nRussian missiles rained down on Ukrainian cities. Ukraine reported columns of troops pouring across its borders into the eastern Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Luhansk regions, and landing by sea at the cities of Odessa and Mariupol in the south.
\nExplosions could be heard before dawn in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. Gunfire rattled out near the main airport and sirens blared across the city.
\nA resident of Ukraine\u2019s second largest city Kharkiv, the closest big city to the Russian border, said windows in apartment blocks were shaking from constant blasts. The city was gripped by panic as people tried to flee, said the resident, who asked not to be identified.
\nUkraine\u2019s President Volodymur Zelenskiy said Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin\u2019s aim was to destroy his state.
\n\u201cPutin has just launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Peaceful Ukrainian cities are under strikes,\u201d Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter.
\n\u201cThis 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.\u201d
\nAt least eight people had been killed and nine were wounded by the Russian shelling, an advisor to the Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs said.
\nPutin declared in a televised address that he had ordered \u201ca special military operation\u201d to protect people, including Russian citizens who had been subjected to \u201cgenocide\u201d in Ukraine, an accusation the West has long described as absurd propaganda.
\n\u201cAnd for this we will strive for the demilitarisation and denazification of Ukraine,\u201d Putin said. \u201cRussia cannot feel safe, develop, and exist with a constant threat emanating from the territory of modern Ukraine…All responsibility for bloodshed will be on the conscience of the ruling regime in Ukraine.\u201d
\nPutin, who denied for months that he was planning an invasion, has called Ukraine an artificial creation carved from Russia by enemies, a characterisation Ukrainians call shocking and false.
\nUS President Joe Biden said his prayers were with the people of Ukraine \u201cas they suffer an unprovoked and unjustified attack\u201d while promising tough sanctions in response.
\nHe would be meeting with G7 leaders, he said.
\nEU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell also promised the toughest financial sanctions the bloc had ever imposed.
\n\u201cThese are among the darkest hours of Europe since the Second World War,\u201d Borrell said.
\nThe full scope of the Russian military operation was not immediately clear but Putin said: \u201cOur plans do not include the occupation of Ukrainian territories. We are not going to impose anything by force.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Europe\u2019s \u2018darkest hours\u2019 since WWII Our plans do not include the occupation of Ukrainian territories, says President Putin KYIV Russia launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine by land, air and sea on Thursday, the biggest attack by one state against another in Europe since World War Two and confirmation of the worst fears of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":246363,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[189,338,456],"class_list":{"0":"post-246333","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-attack","9":"tag-russia","10":"tag-ukraine"},"yoast_head":"\n