Putin declares ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine as last-minute appeals for peace stream in

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This article was published 22/02/2022 (940 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MOSCOW AND WASHINGTON—It appears a long-feared invasion of Ukraine is fully underway, after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a “special military operation” early Thursday morning in Russian time. He claimed the offensive was needed to fend off Ukrainian aggression and defend civilians, a claim virtually all outside observers think laughable.

Moments after he spoke, CNN reporters standing under the early morning darkness in Kyiv reported hearing explosions in the distance.

The appeals for peace from the international community were coming literally until the last minute and beyond. Moments before Putin spoke in Moscow, an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council was underway in New York.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres opened the meeting with a direct appeal: “I have one thing to say from the bottom of my heart. President Putin, stop your troops from attacking Ukraine. Give peace a chance. Too many people have already died.”

U.S. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said this attack on Ukraine is “tantamount to an attack on the United Nations and every member state in the chamber tonight.” She asked Putin, “Back away from the brink before it is too late.”

While Thomas-Greenfield was speaking, Putin appeared on Russian television to make his statement, an apparent declaration of war. He warned outside countries who might interfere that they would face “consequences greater than any you have faced in history.”

On Wednesday, after weeks of urging calm despite the world’s fever-pitched fear of a Russian invasion, Ukraine’s president had appeared, at long last, to gird for war.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy had declared a state of emergency in his country in response to Putin sending Russian troops onto two separatist enclaves on Ukraine’s sovereign soil.

The declaration gives Kyiv the power to impose curfews, to order civilians into military service, to beef up protection at sensitive facilities, to restrict movements and search people, packages and vehicles.

Then Zelenskyy made one last desperate appeal, in his own native Russian language, to avert what seemed inevitable.

He said he had tried to initiate a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart but was met only with silence. In desperation he decided to address himself directly to Russians.

“We know for sure that we don’t need a war. Not a Cold War. Not a hot war. Not a hybrid war. But if the troops launch an attack against us, if our country is taken from us, you take away our country, our freedom, our lives and the lives of our children, we will defend ourselves. Not advance, but defend ourselves,” he said. “When you come in you will see our faces. Not our backs, but our faces.”

They are bold words for a country that is outnumbered and outgunned. Bold, too, for a young democracy, a country still hobbled by corruption. But Zelenskyy seems determined to take the high road, resolved to come out of his country’s clash with Russia bloodied but unbowed.

In the moments after Putin’s announcement Wednesday night Eastern Standard Time, U.S. President Joe Biden issued an immediate statement.

“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.”

Bob Rae, Canada’s ambassador to the UN, tweeted while the UN meeting was still underway. “Unprovoked, evil, aggression. From a permanent member of the Security Council, during a meeting of the Security Council of the United Nations. Sheer, brutal thuggery.”

Earlier in the day at a press briefing, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki had repeatedly outlined that the sanctions already imposed by the U.S. were just a potential beginning, and that the U.S. and its allies had much harsher financial and economic measures ready to impose if needed. Biden’s statement said he’d be meeting with leaders of the G7 countries on Thursday morning and announce further measures in an address to the American people.

Putin’s announcement was preceded Wednesday by the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk sending written pleas to Putin asking for Russian military assistance repelling Ukrainian forces, according to RIA Novosti, the Russian state news service. Many saw the requests immediately as a potential pretext to call in the invasion force.

European leaders have followed the plot and kept their steely resolve to punish Putin’s Russia.

Germany cancelled the $11-billion Nord Stream-2 pipeline, despite threats of extortionate energy bills. And the European Union’s package of sanctions suggests countries are serious about finally confronting and isolating Putin, his inner circle, his friends and the banks and enterprises that do his bidding in return for his favour.

Reports say Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu is among those who will be sanctioned, in addition to top Russian military commanders, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova and Margarita Simonyan, the head of Russia Today, and Vladimir Solovyov, the journalist widely seen as Putin’s uncritical mouthpiece.

At the United Nations, as the meeting went on and the gathered diplomats adapted their planned speeches to the reality of Putin’s action, Ukrainian ambassador to the UN Sergiy Kyslytsya made an emotional speech, at times directly addressing the Russian diplomat who was presiding over the meeting.

He referred to the speeches around the table asking for a stop to the escalation of aggression. “It’s too late to stop the escalation. 48 minutes ago your president declared war on Ukraine,” he said to the Russian representative.

Then, to the rest of those present, and the world: “I call on every one of you to do everything possible to stop the war.”

And then, in a second speech of the meeting, he accused Russia’s leadership of war crimes, and warned the Russian representative in front of him: “There is no purgatory for war criminals, they go straight to hell.”

Immediately following that, the meeting was dismissed, and the reports of bombs falling in Ukraine went on.

With files from the Associated Press.

Edward Keenan is the Star’s Washington Bureau chief. He covers U.S. politics and current affairs. Reach him via email: ekeenan@thestar.ca

Allan Woods is a Moscow-based reporter for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @WoodsAllan