New Delhi: Russia launched a massed attack Thursday on neighbouring Ukraine by land, air and sea, and destroyed 74 military facilities, including 11 air bases, news agency AP said quoting the country’s defence ministry.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said Ukrainian soldiers will be treated with respect and those who lay down their weapons would be allowed to go back safely.
An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Reuters that 40 Ukrainian soldiers and 10 civilians had been killed in the attack.
Ukrainian police also told Reuters that Russia had carried out 203 attacks since morning, with fighting going on almost everywhere throughout Ukraine’s territory. State border guards said the military was fighting Russian forces near the eastern city of Sumy. Ukraine’s defence minister said some Russian forces had been taken prisoner in heavy fighting.
Reports said there was heavy fighting near the former nuclear power plant Chernobyl as Ukrainian forces struggled to push back the Russian military.
Reuters reported that parts of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region were no longer under Kyiv’s control.
Capital Kyiv was also placed under overnight curfew, Ukrainian television channels quoted Mayor Vitaly Klitschko.
Reports also said a Ukrainian military plane was shot down in the evening and five people were killed, quoting the Ukrainian police and the state emergency service.
Zelensky has severed all diplomatic ties with Russia after the massive offensive was launched by Vladimir Putin. In a nationally televised appearance early Thursday morning, Putin announced he would conduct military operations in Ukraine’s pro-Moscow breakaway region Donbass to push back what he considers an attempt by NATO to expand in the east.
Putin’s announcement coincided with an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council convened by Ukraine and ironically chaired by Russia.
There was an international outcry as soon as Putin’s army moved in, with the West slapping cascading sanctions on Russia. NATO said it would shore up its forces in the east, warning Russia that it would “pay a very heavy economic and political price”.
NATO has also planned a virtual leaders’ summit on Friday after Putin warned that any interference would “lead to consequences you have never seen in history”.
China’s Foreign Ministry refused to categorise Russia’s attack as an “invasion”.
China’s Assistant Foreign Minister Hua Chunying was asked whether Russia’s attacks were an invasion. She told a reporter: “The U.S. has been fuelling the flame, fanning up the flame, how do they want to put out the fire,” CNBC reported.
India’s second rescue flight had to return midway after Ukraine closed its airspace. Till late Thursday evening, officials were devising alternate routes to evacuate citizens from the besieged country.
The Ministry of External Affairs tweeted that embassy teams from Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Romania were on their way to land borders with Ukraine.
He put out telephone numbers of Indian embassy staff in these four countries for citizens to get in touch.
To assist in the evacuation of Indian nationals from Ukraine,MEA Teams from @IndiaInHungary, @IndiainPoland, @IndiaInSlovakia & @eoiromania are on their way to the adjoining land borders with Ukraine.
Indian nationals in Ukraine near the border points can contact these teams ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/OSd90I4DGH
— Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) February 24, 2022
Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security to discuss the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Modi told officials that the government’s top priority was the safety and security of Indian nationals, including students in Ukraine, Foreign Secretary Harsh V Shringla said.
Ukraine has said it was “deeply dissatisfied” with the position India has taken on the crisis unfurling between Moscow and Kyiv. The country’s envoy to India, Igor Polikha, urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin, stressing that the situation would also adversely impact all countries in the region, including India.
Following the day’s disastrous attack, Wall Street opened 2% lower following a global drop in markets. The price of oil soared above $100 a barrel.
Till reports last came in, explosions were heard all across the vast country. Several airports were on fire, including in west and south Ukraine. Emergency fire workers were seen trying to put out flames in explosive-struck residential buildings. Civilian casualties are expected to go higher.
BBC reporters on the ground said it was a matter of time before Russia captured Ukraine’s airspace.
Also read: Ukraine ‘dissatisfied’ with India’s stand on Russia invasion, ‘pleads’ to Modi to talk to Putin