Russia's Putin announces 'military operation' in Ukraine
MOSCOW, Russia — Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Thursday a military operation in Ukraine to defend separatists in the east of the country, and "demilitarise and de-nazify" its pro-Western neighbour.
"I have made the decision of a military operation," he said in a surprise statement on television shortly before 6 am (0300 GMT).
He went on to denounce what he called a "genocide" orchestrated by Ukraine in the country's east, as well as NATO's aggressive policy towards Russia.
"For this, we will strive to achieve demilitarisation and de-Nazification of Ukraine," said Putin, promising to bring "to court those who have committed many crimes, responsible for the bloodshed of civilians, including Russian citizens".
The Russian leader addressed the Ukrainian military, calling on soldiers to "lay down your arms", before issuing an assurance that they could "leave the battlefield without hindrance".
He said that he did not want an "occupation" of Ukraine, but its "demilitarisation".
Putin then addressed those "who would try to interfere with us... they must know that the response of Russia will be immediate and will lead to consequences that you have never known before".
"I am sure that the soldiers and officers of Russia will fulfil their duty with courage," he said, adding "the security of the country is guaranteed."
The Russian leader did not specify the scope of the military operation, or whether it would be limited to eastern Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday secured Turkey's crucial backing for Ukraine's NATO aspirations after winning a US pledge for cluster munitions that could inflict massive damage on Russian forces on the battlefield.
Washington's decision to deliver the controversial weapons — banned across a large part of the world but not in Russia or Ukraine — dramatically ups the stakes in the war, which entered its 500th day Saturday.
Zelensky has been travelling across Europe trying to secure bigger and better weapons for his outmatched army, which has launched a long-awaited counteroffensive that is progressing less swiftly than Ukraine's allies had hoped. — AFP
Washington's decision to supply Ukraine with ATACMS long-range missiles is "a grave mistake", Russian ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov says Wednesday.
"The White House's decision to send long-range missiles to Ukrainians is a grave mistake. The consequences of this step, which was deliberately hidden from the public, will be of the most serious nature," he says in a statement. — AFP
President Vladimir Putin says Sunday that Russian forces had made gains in their Ukraine offensive including in Avdiivka, a symbolic industrial hub.
"Our troops are improving their position in almost all of this area, which is quite vast," he says in an interview on Russian television, an extract of which was posted on social media on Sunday. "This concerns the areas of Kupiansk, Zaporizhia and Avdiivka." — AFP
The regional governor says debris from a drone destroyed over the Russian region of Belgorod, which borders Ukraine, fell on homes and killed three people, including a young child.
The air defense system "shot down an aircraft-type UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) approaching the city", says Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, adding that the falling debris destroyed several homes.
"Most importantly, three people were killed, one of them a small child," he writes on the Telegram messaging app, accompanied by pictures of a house reduced to a pile of rubble behind red and white police tape. — AFP
Ukraine's air force says on Tuesday that it had destroyed 27 of 36 Russian attack drones overnight in the south of the country.
Ukrainian forces downed 27 "Shahed-136/131" drones in the southern Kherson, Mykolaiv and Odesa regions, the air force said on the messaging platform Telegram.
In all, Moscow had launched 36 of the Iranian-made drones from the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014, it says. — AFP
The Kremlin claims on Friday Russian forces never targeted civilian infrastructure after Ukraine blamed Moscow for a missile attack that killed over 50 people in the eastern village of Groza.
"We repeat that the Russian military does not strike civilian targets. Strikes are carried out on military targets, on places where military personnel are concentrated," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says in his daily briefing. — AFP
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