Russia Invades Ukraine, World War III Prelude?

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  • Russia invades Ukraine as Putin declares war to ‘demilitarise’ neighbour
  • Stay or flee? Kyiv comes to terms with disaster of Russian invasion
  • Russia has invaded Ukraine: what we know so far
  • UK PM promises massive sanctions to ‘hobble’ Russian economy

Ukraine’s government said it faced “a full-scale attack from multiple directions.” World leaders condemned President Vladimir Putin’s actions, reports the Guardian.

Extremely tense situation

The Guardian’s correspondent Luke Harding, who is in Kyiv, has spoken to Andriy Zagorodnyuk, Ukraine’s former defence minister.

Zagorodnyuk describes multiple ground invasions on several fronts. He said, “The situation is extremely tense, obviously. The first shock this morning was when there were missile attacks, rocket strikes and drone strikes. Some of the buildings in our armed forces are simply destroyed. All of them are military infrastructure.”

He added, “They [the Russians] are trying to break the border and to enter into the country with their ground forces. Ukrainian armed forces are trying to stop them. The city of Mariupol is pretty quiet. There is no breakthrough attempt. At the joint forces operation line [between Ukrainian and separatist forces] there is lots of artillery but no attempt to break through.”

Four killed in hospital attack

Ukraine’s military command has said four people were killed and 10 injured when a Russian shell hit a hospital in Vuhledar in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine. The injured were said to include six doctors.

Ukraine has said Russia has carried out 203 attacks since the start of the day with fighting going on across almost the entire territory, Reuters reports.

In a separate update from Ukraine’s foreign ministry, issued at 2pm local time, officials said one Russian K-52 helicopter and three helicopters near Gostomel were shot down in the Kyiv region near Mezhyhirya.

Fighting is going on in Luhansk region, near the town of Schastye and “the enemy continues to suffer losses” the statement said.

War with Ukraine is Russia’s disgrace

Sofya Rusova’s sign reads: “War with Ukraine is Russia’s disgrace.” Any protest is a brave act, given the restrictions on public demonstrations and readiness of the police to step in.

Impact of the sanctions to be debated

Following a meeting with Jens Stoltenberg, Nato’s secretary general, Ursula von der Leyen, the European commission president, spoke about the planned impact of the sanctions that will be debated by EU leaders later on Thursday, reports Daniel Boffey in Brussels.

She said, “These sanctions will suppress Russia’s economic growth, increase the borrowing costs, raise inflation, intensify capital outflow and gradually erode its industrial basis. Our measures will weaken Russia’s technological position in key areas from which the elite makes most of their money – this ranges from high-tech components to cutting-edge software.”

Stoltenberg said, “I welcome the coordinated actions announced by the European Union, Nato Allies and partners. This sends a strong message of unity. He was speaking shortly before a virtual meeting of leaders of the G7, the forum for the world’s seven largest economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US.”

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Source: The Guardian