Targeting Ukraine Military Infrastructure, Not Population, Says Russia: 10 Points

After a nationally televised address by its President Vladimir Putin, Russia launched missile, artillery and air attacks this morning, triggering the worst security crisis in Europe in decades.

Ukraine's Interior Ministry warned that the capital, Kyiv, was being targeted and urged citizens to go to shelters. Ukraine's border guard said that it was being shelled from five regions, including from Crimea in the south and Belarus to the north.

Putin said Russia doesn't plan to occupy its neighbour but that action was necessary after the US and its allies crossed Russia's "red lines" by expanding the NATO alliance. Putin said he wanted to protect civilians in the separatist regions from Ukraine's military. He also said he would "aim for demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine."

As Russian strikes began, Ukraine imposed martial law and shut down its airspace. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a tweet that Putin has "launched a full-scale invasion" and that the country "will defend itself and will win."

"Russia attacked our military infrastructure and our border guards," Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video address on the telegram channel after speaking with Biden. He urged people to stay calm and stay at home if possible. "We are working. The army is working."

Russia's defense minister said the strikes were targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure and didn't pose a threat to the population, state-run TASS reported.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who held several calls with Putin and visited Moscow in an attempt to ease the tensions over Ukraine, said: "This is a terrible day for Ukraine and a dark day for Europe."

Biden, Scholz and their Group of Seven counterparts will meet on Thursday to discuss the situation. While NATO leaders have said that Russia has no veto over the bloc's membership, the alliance has long been divided over admitting Ukraine. The Biden administration has repeatedly ruled out sending US or NATO armed forces into Ukraine.

The Kremlin said Wednesday that separatist leaders in eastern Ukraine had appealed to Putin for help fighting Ukrainian forces. The two self-proclaimed republics in Donetsk and Luhansk sought help under treaties Putin signed with their leaders Monday.

Separatists launched attacks on Ukrainian positions along the entire line of contact, Interfax news service reported, citing the head of its militia, Eduard Basurin. Luhansk separatists said they were storming the city of Shchastia, which is held by Ukrainian forces, according to Interfax.