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<\/a>Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation in Ukraine on Thursday with explosions heard soon after in the capital and other parts of the country, prompting outrage from Joe Biden who warned of a “catastrophic loss of life.”<\/p>\nWeeks of intense diplomacy and the imposition of Western sanctions failed to deter Putin, who had massed between 150,000 and 200,000 troops along the borders of Ukraine.<\/p>\n
“I have made the decision of a military operation,” Putin said in a surprise television announcement shortly before 6:00am (0300 GMT) in Moscow.<\/p>\n
He also called on Ukrainian soldiers to lay down their arms, claiming he wanted a “demilitarisation” of the former Soviet state but not its occupation.<\/p>\n
An AFP reporter in Kyiv heard explosions within about 30 minutes of Putin’s announcement. Explosions were also heard in the eastern city of Mariupol, according to AFP.<\/p>\n
U.S. President Biden announced he would address the nation Thursday on “consequences” for Russia and said the world would “hold Russia accountable” for its actions.<\/p>\n
He said a Russian attack would cause “catastrophic loss of life and human suffering.”<\/p>\n
Putin’s announcement statement came after the Kremlin said rebel leaders in eastern Ukraine had asked Moscow for military help against Kyiv.<\/p>\n
In response, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky made an emotional late-night appeal to Russians not to support a “major war in Europe”.<\/p>\n
Speaking Russian, Zelenskiy said that the people of Russia are being lied to about Ukraine and that the possibility of war also “depends on you.”<\/p>\n
“Who can stop (the war)? People. These people are among you, I am sure,” he said.<\/p>\n
Zelenskiy said he had tried to call Putin but there was “no answer, only silence,” adding that Moscow now had around 200,000 soldiers near Ukraine’s borders.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday the separatist leaders of Donetsk and Lugansk sent separate letters to Putin, asking him to “help them repel Ukraine’s aggression,” Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.<\/p>\n
The two letters were published by Russian state media and were both dated Feb. 22.<\/p>\n
Their appeals came after Putin recognised their independence and signed friendship treaties with them that include defence deals.<\/p>\n