Current affairs

Finally, Vladimir Putin begins his war game: Russian troops invade Ukraine!

By alagu, 24 February, 2022
Vladimir Putin, Joe Biden, Russia, Ukraine

The clouds of what could be the third World war have blanketed across and beyond Europe as Russian President Vladimir Putin has officially ordered his troops to invade neighbouring Ukraine as one of the longest-serving leaders in the world desires to keep the former Soviet colony in his backyard by blocking what he alleged as the western influence. Tensions remain high across the globe on what would be next as the Russian troops had entered Ukraine amid Putin's rhetoric of addressing the crisis through diplomatic channels.

Defying the voices that urged to de-escalate tensions, the Russian troops had invaded days after Putin had declared two Ukrainian regions Luhansk and Donetsk as independent territories. These regions had stationed Russian-backed separatist forces predominantly and they had campaigned Kremlin's propaganda of standing against the West and NATO. While the crisis in Ukraine has been long-simmering for the past few years, Putin's military drills and invasion against Ukraine were fueled after the country had moved towards the shores of NATO. 

The Ukrainian government cast support for the West and was making moves to join NATO, where the United States enjoys as a top stakeholder. Russia had raised concern over Ukraine's move towards the West as Putin disliked his neighbouring nation getting befriended with the West supported defence coalition. It has fueled the crisis and Russia had begun to amass the troops across its border with Ukraine, which was the starting point of what has now become Russia's invasion. 

The events aftermath had put Russia and the West including the US and the UK in a war of words with France taking a crucial of defusing tensions. Several nations including India had urged to pursue diplomatic channels to address the crisis and expressed that the world is not ready for another war. However, Putin has urged the West not to interfere in the interest of Russia and its territorial integrity and warned of a large-scale invasion. His US counterpart Joe Biden had expressed interest to have talks while the Pentagon was also preparing the troops in Ukraine, had Russia begun its invasion. 

However, the global events didn't find room for consensus between the nuclear powers and it was reported that Russia would invade Ukraine at any time. Earlier, the UK said that Putin has been planning for a war bigger than World War II. The Russian President and earlier this week declared Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk as independent territories and ordered his troops to enter the region. Days after the declaration that prefixed a possible war in the region, the Russian troops have now invaded Ukraine as Putin begins his war game. 

Putin has warned the Ukrainian troops to lay down their weapons or face bloodshed. According to CNN, Russian forces have begun an attack on Ukraine and the troops had entered Ukraine through its north and south border. There were explosions in multiple cities including Ukraine's capital Kyiv. The invasion had received immediate condemnation from the United States and its allies, which have threatened to enact full-scale sanctions in response to Russian military aggression. 

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba had tweeted on his official page that peaceful Ukrainian cities are under the strike and called the situation 'a war of aggression'. An adviser for Ukraine Interior Minister, Anton Gerashchenko, said Russia's invasion has begun with missile strikes on Kyiv. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky had moved to enact martial law with the government ministers accusing Russia of launching a full-scale invasion. 

Gerashchenko said Russian troops had landed in the city of Odessa and were crossing the border in Kharkiv, which is the second-largest city of Ukraine. Several Russian troops are entering Ukraine through Belarus as the world is watching Putin's war game. The visuals from Kyiv had shown that thousands of people are rushing to leave the city before the Kremlin orders a strike and the invasion had triggered the possibility of yet another humanitarian crisis with Ukrainians taking refuge from the sight of Russia.

Hours before the invasion, Putin had announced a military operation in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. In a televised address, Putin had urged Ukrainian forces to lay down their arms and go home, saying all responsibility for possible bloodshed will be entirely on the conscience of the Ukrainian government. However, he added, "Our plans are not to occupy Ukraine, we do not plan to impose ourselves on anyone."

Reacting to Russia's attack, US President Joe Biden said, "The prayers of the world are with the people of Ukraine tonight as they suffer an unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces. President Putin has chosen a premeditated war that will bring a catastrophic loss of life and human suffering." In another tweet, he said, "Russia alone is responsible for the death and destruction this attack will bring, and the United States and its Allies and partners will respond in a united and decisive way. The world will hold Russia accountable." 

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson wrote, "I am appalled by the horrific events in Ukraine and I have spoken to President Zelenskyy to discuss next steps. President Putin has chosen a path of bloodshed and destruction by launching this unprovoked attack on Ukraine. The UK and our allies will respond decisively." The UN Security Council had met on Wednesday, hours ahead of Russia's invasion and the council members had heated discussion on Putin's conduct towards spurring a war.

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Russian President Putin had delivered a message of war. She said, "This is a grave emergency. The council will need to act." Speaking at the session, Ukraine's representative to the UN, Sergiy Kyslytsya had sought the intervention of the council to stop the war and said it was too late to speak about de-escalation. Kyslytsya said, "It is the responsibility of this body to stop the war. So I call on every one of you to do everything possible to stop the war." However, Russia has claimed that the aim of military operation in Donbas is to protect locals who have been suffering genocide for the past eight years at the hands of the Ukrainian government. 

 

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