Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, early this morning declared the start of a “special military operation” in Ukraine. Minutes later, large explosions were visible near Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. Blasts were reported in Kyiv, the capital, and other parts of the country. Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said that Russian troops had landed in Odessa and were crossing the border. Follow the latest updates, The New York Times reports.
Russia’s ambassador to the U.N. said the country was not targeting the Ukrainian people but the “junta” in power. Russia’s defense ministry said it was using “high-precision weapons” to disable Ukrainian military infrastructure, air defense facilities, military airfields and planes, according to reports in RIA Novosti, the news agency operated by the Russian state.
Hours earlier, Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, called for Russia to avoid war, appealing directly to the Russian people and their nations’ shared history and culture. “Listen to the voice of reason,” he said early this morning in Kyiv. “The Ukrainian people want peace.” He said he had tried to contact the Russian president Vladimir Putin but was met with silence.
From the White House: President Biden described Putin’s actions as a “chosen premeditated war that will bring a catastrophic loss of life and human suffering.” He vowed to “hold Russia accountable.”
Sanctions: E.U. sanctions will target Putin’s inner circle, and President Biden announced new sanctions against a subsidiary of the Kremlin-controlled company Gazprom that is building the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. The Biden administration is also preparing a ban on American technology exports to Russia. More sanctions will likely follow.
From Opinion: Putin is making a historic mistake, writes Madeleine Albright, the U.S. secretary of state from 1997 to 2001.