Missiles Rain Down on Kiev And Amphibious Assault is Launched on Odessa After Putin Ordered ‘Special Military Operation’ in Ukraine to ‘Denazify’ It: Biden Leads Condemnation of ‘Unprovoked And Unjustified’ Invasion as Ukrainian Forces Fight Back
- Missiles Rain Down on Kiev And Amphibious Assault is Launched on Odessa After Putin Ordered ‘Special Military Operation’ in Ukraine to ‘Denazify’ It: Biden Leads Condemnation of ‘Unprovoked And Unjustified’ Invasion as Ukrainian Forces Fight Back
by HARRIET ALEXANDER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM and NICK CRAVEN IN KIEV and WILL STEWART IN MOSCOW and RACHEL BUNYAN FOR MAILONLINE, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/
* Vladimir Putin in an early morning address on Thursday said that he had invaded Ukraine
* Putin said that it was a ‘special military operation’ in the Donbas region to ‘demilitarize’ the area
* Putin insisted that it was not an occupation, as explosions reported in Kiev, Mariupol, Kharkiv and Odessa
* Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted a video message to the nation early on Thursday morning, declaring martial law and urging people to stay at home
* Zelenskyy said: ‘We are working. The army is working. Don’t panic. We are strong. We are ready for everything. We will defeat everyone. Because we are Ukraine’
* Ukraine’s interior ministry said there have been hundreds of casualties, CNN reported – despite Russia insisting that it was avoiding populated areas and only attacking military targets
* Unconfirmed reports on Twitter appeared to show a huge seaborne landing by Russian forces in the Black Sea port of Odessa, involving large landing craft and helicopters shortly before 6am local time
* Ukraine’s border force said early on Thursday that they were attacked from the north by a joint Russian-Belorussian force
* Biden will address the nation at midday on Thursday and issued a statement saying: ‘President Putin has chosen a premeditated war that will bring a catastrophic loss of life and human suffering’
* Boris Johnson, the British prime minister, said he was ‘appalled by the horrific events in Ukraine’ and added: ‘The UK and our allies will respond decisively’
* Ukraine was earlier on Wednesday placed on a war footing with state of emergency declared; 200,000 military reservists called up; border areas restricted and citizens given right to arm themselves
* Video footage appeared to show clouds of smoke rising up into the night sky near Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, but it was unconfirmed whether it was as a result of shelling
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