Putin Announces Special Military Operations in Eastern Ukraine

Moscow, MINA – Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation on Thursday morning in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.

In a televised address, Putin said the Donbas people were asking for Russia’s help, according to the Russian news agency TASS.

“In this regard … I decided to carry out a special military operation,” he added.

Following Putin’s announcement, large explosions were reported in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and Kramatorsk.

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Previously, separatist leaders in eastern Ukraine had asked Putin for help in repelling aggression from the Ukrainian army, the Kremlin said late Wednesday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the leaders of the breakaway Donetsk and Luhansk regions in Ukraine wrote to Putin asking for help.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he was confident that Russia could launch an invasion of Ukraine before the night was over.

Putin announced Monday that Moscow recognized the two eastern Ukrainian regions that broke away from Luhansk and Donetsk as “independent” countries, followed quickly by sending troops to “maintain the peace” there.

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The announcement drew widespread global condemnation as a violation of the UN Charter and international law, with Western countries announcing new sanctions against Russia.

Putin’s latest move follows the gathering of 100,000 Russian troops and heavy equipment in and around his neighbour, with the US and other Western countries accusing him of setting the stage for an invasion.

Russia denies that it is preparing for an invasion and instead claims that the West has undermined its security through NATO’s expansion into its borders.

“Russia alone is responsible for the death and destruction this attack will cause,” Biden said after receiving reports that Putin was ordering military operations in Ukraine. (T/RE1)

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Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)