Russia-Ukraine crisis LIVE Updates: 'According to the Joint Forces Command, today, February 24, in the area of the Joint Forces operation, five planes and a helicopter of the aggressors were shot down,' the army general staff said.
Women show posters in support of the Ukraine as they attend a demonstration along the street near the Russian embassy to protest against the escalation of the tension between Russia and Ukraine in Berlin, Germany. AP
Russia-Ukraine crisis LATEST Updates
Air India plane enroute to Kyiv, Ukraine, to bring back Indians turns back mid-way and returns to Delhi after Ukraine closed its airspace for commercial flights, says airline spokesperson.
— PTI
Russia-Ukraine crisis LATEST Updates
Flights from cities in southern Russia near Ukraine were cancelled Thursday after President Vladimir Putin announced his army had begun a military operation in the country.
Flights from 11 airports in southern Russia and one airport in Moscow-annexed Crimea were cancelled, Russia's main aviation authority Rosaviatsia said in a statement.
These include large cities such as Sochi, Krasnodar and Anapa. It said the restrictions will be in place until 2 March.
Russia-Ukraine crisis LATEST Updates
Ukraine is coming under artillery attack along its northern border with Russia and Belarus, the border guard service said on Thursday, adding that Ukrainian forces were returning fire.
The statement was issued as a Ukrainian interior ministry official reported the Ukrainian government-held town of Shchastya had fallen to Russian-backed eastern insurgents.
Russia-Ukraine crisis LATEST Updates
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday described the Russian military operation in Ukraine as "a glaring violation" of international law on a "dark day" for Europe.
"Germany condemns in the strongest possible terms this unscrupulous act by President Putin. Our solidarity goes out to Ukraine and its people," he added in a statement.
Russia-Ukraine crisis LATEST Updates
Air raid sirens rang out in downtown Kyiv on Thursday as cities across Ukraine were hit with what Ukrainian officials said were Russian missile strikes and artillery. This implys that the capital city is under attack. The sirens were heard in multiple live television reports from Ukraine.
Citizens were headed for underground metro stations to take shelter, AFP correspondents saw, as authorities declared martial law in the face of what they fear is a full-scale invasion
Air raid sirens as refugee convoy hits traffic on outskirts of Kyiv. This is very, very real now. pic.twitter.com/XzPK7BpCqj
— Max Hunder (@Max_Hunder) February 24, 2022
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Moscow's Stock Exchange said Thursday it was "suspending" trading Thursday, hours after President Vladimir Putin announced the beginning of a special military operation in Ukraine.
"Trading on all markets has been suspended. A resumption will be announced later," it said in a statement on its website.
Russia-Ukraine crisis LATEST Updates
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy introduced martial law, saying Russia has targeted Ukraine’s military infrastructure and explosions are heard across the country. Zelenskyy said he had just talked to President Joe Biden and the U.S. was rallying international support for Ukraine. He urged Ukrainians to stay home and not to panic
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President Zelensky says Russia is attacking military installations across the country. Ukraine is launching its own defensive measures. He urges Ukrainians to stay calm and stay home. He says he spoke to President Biden. pic.twitter.com/jt4cLOBHyJ
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) February 24, 2022
Russia-Ukraine crisis LATEST Updates: The Ukrainian military claimed on Thursday to have downed five Russian planes and a helicopter in the east of the country near a rebel-held enclave. "According to the Joint Forces Command, today, February 24, in the area of the Joint Forces operation, five planes and a helicopter of the aggressors were shot down," the army general staff said.
Ukraine is coming under artillery attack along its northern border with Russia and Belarus, the border guard service said on Thursday, adding that Ukrainian forces were returning fire.
Moscow's Stock Exchange said Thursday it was "suspending" trading Thursday, hours after President Vladimir Putin announced the beginning of a special military operation in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy introduced martial law, saying Russia has targeted Ukraine’s military infrastructure and explosions are heard across the country. Zelenskyy said he had just talked to President Joe Biden and the US was rallying international support for Ukraine. He urged Ukrainians to stay home and not to panic
Asian stock markets have plunged and oil prices surged after President Vladimir Putin announced Russian military action in Ukraine. Market benchmarks in Tokyo and Seoul fell 2% and Hong Kong and Sydney lost more than 3% Thursday. Oil prices jumped nearly $3 per barrel on unease about possible disruption of Russian supplies.
Explosions were heard before dawn Thursday in Ukraine's capital Kyiv and the eastern port city of Mariupol, shortly after Russia's President Vladimir Putin announced an operation to "demilitarise" the country.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday announced a military operation in Ukraine and warned other countries that any attempt to interfere with the Russian action would lead to “consequences they have never seen.”
He said the attack was needed to protect civilians in eastern Ukraine – a claim the US had predicted he would falsely make to justify an invasion
In a televised address, Putin accused the US and its allies of ignoring Russia’s demand to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO and offer Moscow security guarantees. He said Russia's goal was not to occupy Ukraine.
U.S. President Joe Biden denounced the “unprovoked and unjustified” attack on Ukraine and said the world will “hold Russia accountable.”
As Putin spoke, big explosions were heard in Kyiv, Kharkiv and other areas of Ukraine.
A full-blown Russian invasion could cause massive casualties and topple Ukraine’s democratically elected government. And the consequences of the conflict and resulting sanctions levied on Russia could reverberate throughout the world, affecting energy supplies in Europe, jolting global financial markets and threatening the post-Cold War balance on the continent.
He said the Russian military operation aims to ensure a “demilitarization” of Ukraine. Putin urged Ukrainian servicemen to “immediately put down arms and go home.”
Putin announced the military operation after the Kremlin said rebels in eastern Ukraine asked Russia for military assistance to help fend off Ukrainian “aggression." The announcement immediately fueled fears that Moscow was offering up a pretext for war, just as the West had warned.
A short time later, the Ukrainian president rejected Moscow’s claims that his country poses a threat to Russia and said a Russian invasion would cost tens of thousands of lives.
“The people of Ukraine and the government of Ukraine want peace,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an emotional overnight address, speaking in Russian in a direct appeal to Russian citizens. “But if we come under attack, if we face an attempt to take away our country, our freedom, our lives and lives of our children, we will defend ourselves. When you attack us, you will see our faces, not our backs.”
Zelenskyy said he asked to arrange a call with Putin late Wednesday, but the Kremlin did not respond.
In an apparent reference to Putin’s move to authorize the deployment of the Russian military to “maintain peace” in eastern Ukraine, Zelensky warned that “this step could mark the start of a big war on the European continent.”
“Any provocation, any spark could trigger a blaze that will destroy everything,” he said.
The United Nations Security Council quickly scheduled an emergency meeting on the night of 23 February, 2022, at Ukraine's request. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called the separatists' request "a further escalation of the security situation."
Anxiety about an imminent Russian offensive against its neighbor soared after Putin recognized the separatist regions' independence on Monday, endorsed the deployment of troops to the rebel territories and received parliamentary approval to use military force outside the country. The West responded with sanctions.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the rebel chiefs wrote to Putin on 23 February, 2022, pleading with him to intervene after Ukrainian shelling caused civilian deaths and crippled vital infrastructure.
As the Russia-Ukraine crisis worsens, the US, the European Union and other countries have enforced a wide range of financial and economic sanctions against Moscow
This, as UK foreign minister Liz Truss said on Wednesday that Russian president Vladimir Putin is highly likely to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and attack Kyiv
