Vladimir Putin announces a military operation in the country, Joe Biden castigates an “unjustified attack”

In a surprise statement on television, the Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Thursday February 24 the start of an offensive in Ukraine. “I have decided to carry out a special military operation, the purpose of which is the protection of people who for eight years suffered the abuses and genocide of the Kiev regime“, declared the head of the Kremlin. The latter justified his decision by a call for help that would have been sent to him by the pro-Russian separatists. He assures that he does not want to occupy Ukraine, but just to demilitarize it.

The response from the United States was quick. In a statement, President Joe Biden denounced a “unwarranted attack“.”Russia alone is responsible for the death and destruction this attack will cause“, he said. At the UN, the Ukrainian ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya begged the institution to intervene as soon as possible. A few hours earlier, Ukraine voted a state of emergency and announced the mobilization of 40,000 reservists Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also, in a speech in Russian, called on the people to put pressure on their leaders.