Bloody fighting between Russians and Ukrainians raged late Thursday night, even within a few kilometers of Kiev, as the Chernobyl nuclear power plant passed into Russian control, hours after Vladimir Putin ordered an attack on Ukraine, both from the air and on the ground.
The first day of the operation was described as "successful" by the Russian Defense Ministry. Within hours, dozens of people died, sparking outrage from the international community, particularly in the West.
The attack began at dawn after Putin recognized the independence of the separatist, pro-Russian regions of Donbass on Monday. "I made a decision on a special military operation" aimed at "the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine," he said in his televised address shortly before 5 a.m. today. He said conditions required decisive action by Russia and assured that the aim was not to impose occupation. He urged Ukrainian soldiers to lay down their arms and go home. To justify the invasion, Putin repeated accusations of "genocide" in the separatist territories, invoked their appeal for help and denounced NATO's "aggressive" policy.
Shortly after Putin's speech, explosions were heard in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine; in Kramatorsk, a city in the east where the general staff of the Ukrainian army is based; in Kharkiv, Odessa, on the Black Sea and Mariupol, the largest port in eastern Ukraine.
The Chernobyl nuclear power plant, where the worst nuclear accident in history occurred in 1986, fell into the hands of Russian soldiers this afternoon. Ukrainian authorities also admitted to losing territory in Kherson and a military airfield near Kiev. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zhelensky declared martial law and cut his country's diplomatic relations with Moscow.
Ukraine's health ministry said late tonight that today's death toll[/B] stands at 57 and 169 injured across the country.
As the hours passed, Russian forces were closing in on Kiev, where a curfew has been imposed. Ukrainian authorities assured that Russian ground forces were on the outskirts of the capital and that a Ukrainian military aircraft, with 14 people on board, had crashed in the area.
Both sides made statements that could not be verified by independent sources, but it appeared that the Russian army was gaining ground. In Kherson, local authorities reported that Russian soldiers had deployed in several zones and had taken control of the town of Henichesk, 300 km west of the Russian border.
Pro-peace demonstrations were held in central Moscow on Pushkin Square and Tverskaya Avenue, as well as in St. Petersburg and many other cities. According to the non-governmental organisation OVD-Info, some 1 400 people were arrested throughout Russia for taking part in these unauthorised demonstrations. In Moscow the number of those arrested was 719 and in St. Petersburg 342.
Source: Proto Thema
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