Vladimir Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine on Thursday, with airstrikes and the entry of ground forces, including in the direction of the capital Kiev, killing dozens of people in the early hours, according to the Ukrainian authorities.
The attack immediately triggered an outcry from the international community, particularly on the Western side, with emergency meetings planned in several countries: the 27 members of the European Union were meeting for a summit in Brussels on Thursday afternoon, while NATO was calling a videoconference summit for Friday.
The Russian president gave the signal for hostilities Thursday at dawn, after recognizing the independence of Ukrainian separatist territories in Donbass on Monday, then having an intervention validated by the Russian Parliament on Tuesday.
“Eliminate the Nazis”
“I have made the decision for a special military operation,” the Kremlin master announced in a surprise statement on television before 6:00 a.m. (10:00 p.m. in Quebec). “We will strive to achieve demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine,” he added, sitting at a dark wooden desk.
“We do not have in our plans an occupation of Ukrainian territories, we do not intend to impose anything by force on anyone”, he assured, calling on the Ukrainian soldiers “to lay down their arms”.
He justified himself by repeating his unfounded accusations of a “genocide” orchestrated by Kiev in the pro-Russian separatist territories, and by arguing a call for help from the separatists and the aggressive policy of the NATO, which would instrumentalise Ukraine against Russia.
The Russian president received Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday in Moscow.
His spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, specified at midday that “the duration [de l’opération] would be determined by its results and its relevance”.
To review:
The attack is aimed at eliminating the “Nazis” who, according to Moscow, are at work in Ukraine. Mr Peskov declined to answer when asked if Moscow considers Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a “Nazi”.
The specter of World War II was also raised by Volodymyr Zelensky, who compared the Russian invasion to the 1941 Nazi offensive against Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union.
Bombings and Russian military in Kiev
From dawn, just after Mr. Putin’s speech, a series of explosions were heard in Kiev, in Kramatorsk, a city in the east which serves as the headquarters of the Ukrainian army, in Kharkiv (east) , the second largest city in the country, in Odessa (south), on the Black Sea, and in Mariupol, the main port in the east of the country. Air-raid sirens sounded every 15 minutes in Lviv, the western city where Canada, the United States and several other countries have moved their embassies, and in Odessa.
Promising to “win”, the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, proclaimed martial law in the country, called on his fellow citizens to “not panic”, before announcing the break in diplomatic relations with Moscow.
Around noon (5 a.m. in Quebec), a member of his team indicated that “more than 40 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed, dozens injured” and that “nearly 10 civilians [avaient été] you are beautiful “.
The authorities of the Odessa region, in the south of the country, have also indicated that 18 people had been killed in a village by strikes, without it being known whether these victims had been counted in the overall toll.
Around 2:00 p.m. (7:00 a.m. in Quebec), the offensive seemed to be aimed directly at Kiev: the Ukrainian authorities indicated that Russian ground forces had entered the vicinity of the capital, and that a Ukrainian military plane had crashed in the region with 14 people on board.
Ukraine, then neighboring Moldova, closed their airspace for civil aviation. Flights were canceled from airports in major cities in southern Russia, close to Ukraine.
Moscow has closed the Sea of Azov, which borders Ukraine and Russia, to navigation.
“I told him to leave”
In Kiev, at dawn, residents crowded into the metro to take shelter or try to leave the capital.
“I was woken up by the sound of bombs, I packed bags and I fled,” Maria Kachkoska, 29, told AFP, crouching in shock at one of the stations.
Cars full of families sped out of town, west or into the countryside, furthest from the Russian border, 400 km away.
In Chuhouiv, near Kharkiv, a woman and her son mourned a man killed by a missile, one of the first victims of this attack. “I told him to leave,” repeated the son, not far from the crater dug by the projectile that fell between two five-storey buildings.
“I didn’t think such a thing could happen, that it would happen in my lifetime,” said Elena Kourilo, a 52-year-old educator.
On the main roads of eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian army was everywhere. A civil defense spokesman said civilian evacuation operations were hampered by heavy artillery fire and poor communications.
The Russian army claimed to have destroyed air bases and Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense, while ensuring that it only targeted strategic sites.
“Ukrainian civilians have nothing to fear,” the Russian military said.
Both sides were making unverifiable claims from independent sources: the Ukrainian army claimed to have killed “about 50 Russian occupiers”, while the spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that the separatists had already gained a few kilometers of ground in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
Both sides were making unverifiable statements: the Ukrainian army said it had killed “about 50 Russian occupiers”, and the spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that its troops were gaining ground in the east of the country.
In the streets of Moscow, some expressed their concern, others their support for their president.
“I’m not happy, I’m completely worried,” said Nikita Grouschine, a 34-year-old manager, before adding that she couldn’t say “who is right or wrong.
Ivan, a 32-year-old engineer, professes his loyalty to Putin: “I’m not going to discuss an order from the Supreme Commander, if he thinks it’s necessary, it should be done that way. »
“Reckless Attack”
The Russian attack, after months of tension and diplomatic efforts to avert a war, sparked a torrent of international condemnation.
“President Putin, in the name of humanity, bring your troops back to Russia! launched the Secretary General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres, visibly tried, during an emergency meeting of the Security Council.
US President Joe Biden has denounced an “unjustified attack” which will cause “suffering and loss of human life”. “The world will hold Russia to account,” he promised. He also spoke early Thursday with the Ukrainian president, pledging his support.
French President Emmanuel Macron, President-in-Office of the Council of the European Union, has called on Europeans to “unity”.
“Russia’s leaders will face unprecedented isolation” and the “most severe [train de sanctions] never implemented”, warned Josep Borrell, head of diplomacy of the European Union.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg condemned a “reckless and unprovoked attack” by Russia.
He indicated that the Atlantic Alliance had activated “its defense plans” to deploy additional forces in allied countries in Eastern Europe, but underlined that NATO had no troops in Ukraine and “no plan” to deploy it.
China, with close relations with Moscow, said it was following the situation “closely” and called for “restraint by all parties”.
Panic in the markets
The attack comes eight years after Moscow annexed Crimea and sponsored the takeover of parts of the Donbass by pro-Russian separatists, sparking a regional conflict that has claimed more than 14,000 lives.
Many fear that it will lead to the most serious conflict in Europe since 1945. The attack “endangers the lives of countless innocent people” and “calls into question the peace” in Europe, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Thursday. .
Mr. Putin warned those “who would try to interfere”: “They must know that Russia’s response will be immediate and will lead to consequences that you have never experienced before. »
The invasion caused panic in world markets, causing stock markets to plunge and commodities to ignite, led by oil and gas.
Oil rose above $100 a barrel for the first time in more than seven years.
The Moscow Stock Exchange plunged by more than 30% and the ruble hit a historic low against the dollar, before the intervention of the country’s central bank.
The United States was to table a draft resolution on the table of the UN Security Council on Thursday condemning Russia for this “war”.