ISLAMABAD Feb 24, (APP): Russian forces on Thursday launched an invasion of Ukraine after President Vladimir Putin authorized a special military operation in the east.
Russian forces fired missiles at several cities in Ukraine and landed troops on its coast.
Russian President Vladimir Putin in a statement said that he had ordered Russian forces to protect the people and appealed to the Ukrainian military to lay down their arms.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in his statement said Russia carried out missile strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure and border guards and explosions had been heard in many cities.
Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops to “maintain peace” in two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine, hours after the Russian president recognised Donetsk and Luhansk as independent entities.
In two official decrees, Putin on Monday instructed the country’s defence ministry to assume “the function of maintaining peace” in the eastern regions.
The West had repeatedly warned Russia not to recognise the separatist regions in Donetsk and Luhansk – a move that effectively buries a fragile peace process in the region.
Putin’s announcement paved the way for Russia to openly send troops and weapons to the long-running conflict pitting Ukrainian forces against Moscow-backed rebels.
US backed urgent UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine
The United States said it supported Ukraine’s call for an urgent UN Security Council meeting, calling Russia’s recognition of two Ukrainian breakaway regions an “unprovoked violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
“The Security Council must demand that Russia respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, a UN Member State,” US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in a statement.
In a phone call on Monday, the leaders of the US, France and Germany discussed how they “will continue to coordinate their response on next steps” against Russia.
“The leaders strongly condemned President Putin’s decision to recognize the so-called DNR and LNR regions of Ukraine as ‘independent’,” the White House said in a statement.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Russia had violated the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine by recognising Donetsk and Luhansk as independent entities, a spokesperson said.
“The United Nations, in line with the relevant General Assembly resolutions, remains fully supportive of the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine, within its internationally recognized borders,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
