"PUTIN, YOU HAVE CHOSEN THE PATH OF DEATH"! Fierce reaction of the American president to the incursion of the Russian army into Ukraine!
IZVOR: Republika - 24.02.2022 | 11:32
According to reports from the Ukrainian, Russian and other world media, the Russian army launched attacks on Ukraine in the early morning hours.
Western leaders immediately condemned Vladimir Putin's war decision, and US President Joe Biden was among the first to speak out.
- The prayers of the entire 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. 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 - Biden's statement reads.
An adviser for the Interior Minister of Ukraine, Anton Gerashchenko, confirmed that the Russian invasion has begun.
He posted the following on his official Facebook profile:
- The invasion has begun. There have just been missiles on the military headquarters, airports, military warehouses, near Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro. Gunfire at the border is underway. A new geopolitical reality in the world from today!
The Ukrainian ambassador to the United Nations also spoke out immediately, asking other member states to stop the war at an emergency and extraordinary meeting of the UN Security Council.
- 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 - Sergiy Kyslytsya said, and then addressed the Russian ambassador to the UN and asking him:
- Or should I play the video with your president declaring the war?
The Russian ambassador replied:
- This isn't called a war, this is called a special military operation in Donbas.
In a TV address Putin stated that the Russian goal is not the occupation of Ukraine. He asked Ukrainian soldiers in the combat zone in eastern Ukraine to lay down their weapons and return home, and threatened Ukraine that it would be guilty of bloodshed, the BBC reports.
He said that Russia would carry out a "special military operation in Ukraine ".
The Russian president said that "clashes between Ukrainian and Russian forces are inevitable and only a question of time", that further expansion of NATO and its use of Ukrainian territory is unacceptable, and that "the Russian military operation aims to protect people" and that the "circumstances demand decisive action from Russia", and in the end that "a special military operation will demilitarise Ukraine".
- Our plans are not to occupy Ukraine, we do not plan to impose ourselves on anyone - Putin said.
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, also spoke, saying that he was "appalled by the horrific events in Ukraine", and that he "urgently spoken to President Zelensky".
- 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! - Johnson wrote on Twitter.