Russia launches full-scale invasion of Ukraine

Vladimir Putin has launched a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine and demanded Kyiv’s army lay down its weapons, launching what could be the largest conflict in Europe since the second world war.

In an address broadcast on state television shortly before 6am on Thursday, Russia’s president claimed that he was not planning to occupy Ukraine but vowed Moscow would punish all those who stood in its way.

“The goal is to defend people who have been victims of abuse and genocide from the Kyiv regime. And we will strive to demilitarise and de-Nazify Ukraine,” Putin said. “All responsibility for the possible bloodshed will be fully and completely on the conscience of the ruling regime.”

In Kyiv before dawn on Thursday, Financial Times reporters heard explosions. In the city’s downtown area, an air raid siren sounded at about 7am, sending people into shelters. Social media users in Ukraine reported hearing blasts in other cities, including Kharkiv and the Ukrainian-controlled city of Kramatorsk in the disputed eastern Donbas region.

Russian troops were also attacking from Ukraine’s border with Belarus using artillery, heavy equipment and small arms, Ukraine’s state border guard service said. Attacks were being launched from Crimea as well.

Putin spoke with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko roughly an hour before the Russian president announced the start of the military assault on Ukraine, Minsk said.

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky called for martial law in a brief televised address to the nation, adding that he had “one hour ago” spoken with his US counterpart Joe Biden.

“We are strong. We are ready for everything. We will defeat everyone. Because we are Ukraine, Glory to Ukraine,” Zelensky said.

The general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said the country was also under air attack and the defence ministry said five Russian jets and one helicopter had been shot down.

Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior affairs minister, wrote on Facebook that Russia had launched missile strikes on military administration facilities, airfields and army depots near Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro. There was heavy shelling in the country’s east.

Brent crude prices rose as much as 5.4 per cent to more than $102 a barrel following Putin’s announcement, the first time the international oil benchmark has crossed the $100 threshold since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea.

Moscow’s stock exchange suspended all trading on Thursday after the pre-market index fell more than 11 per cent. The rouble weakened 6.3 per cent to about Rbs86.81 to the dollar.

Global equities markets also fell, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index down more than 3 per cent, Japan’s Topix dropping 1.7 per cent and futures pointing to heavy losses for European and UK shares.

Biden condemned “this unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces” in a statement following his call with Zelensky, adding that he would meet G7 leaders on Thursday to co-ordinate “severe” further sanctions to punish Russia. “We will continue to provide support and assistance to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.”

In his broadcast, Putin appeared to be dressed in the same suit and tie he wore on Monday when delivering a different speech, in which he recognised two separatist territories in Donbas, suggesting the video could have been pre-recorded.

The Kremlin on Wednesday published letters from two separatist leaders who asked Putin to use Russia’s armed forces to drive back “Ukrainian aggression”.

Russia claims, based on little or no evidence, that Ukraine is attacking the separatist-held territories in the Donbas, where more than 14,000 people have died in a once slow-burning conflict that broke out after Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014.

Putin warned other countries against “the temptation of meddling in the ongoing events” and said Russia’s response will “lead you to consequences that you have never encountered in your history”.

Nato called an emergency meeting of its top-decision making body early on Thursday as the US-led military alliance’s head Jens Stoltenberg condemned “Russia’s reckless and unprovoked attack on Ukraine”.

Estonia has triggered Nato Article 4, the alliance’s contingency for when member states feel their security is threatened. The article is separate from Article 5, which calls for a collective response against an attack on one member.

EU leaders were planning to discuss a new round of sanctions at a summit meeting on Thursday evening, a joint statement of the presidents of the European Commission and European Council said. The statement warned these new penalties would impose “massive and severe consequences” on Russia.

Ukraine’s ambassador to the UN Sergiy Kyslytsya demanded that Russia relinquish its presidency of the UN security council at an emergency meeting of the body. He accused Putin of declaring war on Ukraine in a terse exchange with Moscow’s envoy.

“There is no purgatory for war criminals. They go straight to hell, ambassador,” Kyslytsya said.

Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, responded: “This isn’t called a war. This is called a special military operation in the Donbas.”

In a second speech to the UNSC emergency meeting, US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield acknowledged that Putin had “ordered that last step” — the invasion — as the council sat.

“The council will need to act and we will put a resolution on the table tomorrow,” said Thomas-Greenfield.

The invasion followed months of concern that Putin was preparing to launch a military offensive. Until as recently as this week, Russia had rejected claims that it was deploying forces near Ukraine for a possible invasion.

The US and its allies imposed new sanctions on Russia on Wednesday in a final effort to urge Putin to back down.