Russian forces roll into Ukraine, marking the biggest attack by one state against another in Europe in almost 100 years
Russian President Vladimir Putin. Picture: SPUTNIK/ALEXEY NIKOLSKY/REUTERSRussian forces invaded Ukraine by land, air and sea on Thursday, confirming the worst fears of the West with the biggest attack by one state against another in Europe since World War 2.
“Putin has just launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Peaceful Ukrainian cities are under strikes,” Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter. “This is a war of aggression. Ukraine will defend itself and will win. The world can and must stop Putin. The time to act is now.” Ukraine’s military said it had destroyed four Russian tanks on a road near Kharkiv, killed 50 troops near a town in Luhansk region and downed six Russian warplanes in the east.
US President Joe Biden said his prayers were with the people of Ukraine “as they suffer an unprovoked and unjustified attack”. He promised tough sanctions in response, and said he would swiftly consult with other world leaders. Putin, who denied for months that he was planning an invasion, has called Ukraine an artificial creation carved from Russia by its enemies, a characterisation Ukrainians call shocking and false.
By midmorning, traffic was at a standstill on the four-lane main road to the western city of Lviv. Cars stretched back for dozens of kilometres, witnesses said.
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