New cold war as Putin strikes
Rapid advance as troops close in on Ukranian capital Western powers condemn ‘pariah’ Russian president Economies reel as global markets crash and price of oil soars
VLADIMIR PUTIN’S “bloodstained tyranny” plunged Europe into war on a scale not seen since 1945 as Russian troops advanced on Kyiv last night.
The Russian president ordered a fullblown invasion just before dawn yesterday, with ground troops crossing into Ukraine in a multi-pronged assault. Tanks, helicopters and jets swarmed into the country as missiles rained down on cities, killing at least 137 citizens, according to Ukrainian officials.
Last night, Ukraine remained defiant, saying it had reclaimed control of a strategic military airfield just outside Kyiv that was taken by Russian troops earlier in the day amid fierce fighting.
Russia also occupied the defunct Chernobyl nuclear power plant less than 60 miles from the capital, providing troops with a clear route to Kyiv. Around 100,000 civilians have fled their homes, the United Nations said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency urged “maximum restraint” to protect nuclear sites during the clashes.
Western leaders were united in condemning Mr Putin, with Joe Biden, the US President, saying his “naked aggression” would make him a “pariah”.
In Parliament, Boris Johnson denounced Mr Putin as a “bloodstained aggressor” before unveiling a raft of new sanctions on dozens of oligarchs and Kremlin officials, the freezing of Russian bank assets and an imminent ban on the Russian airline, Aeroflot, on flying into the UK.
The Prime Minister said: “Putin will stand condemned in the eyes of the world, and of history. He will never be able to cleanse the blood of Ukraine from his hands. Now we see him for what he is, a blood-stained aggressor who believes in imperial conquest.”
Mile-long traffic jams stretched out of Kyiv, and train stations ran out of tickets as civilians tried to flee over the western borders – the start of an exodus that could total five million people.
Oil prices soared and stock markets tumbled amid rising fears of a global economic crisis.
The invasion was started by Mr Putin, in a pre-recorded address to the nation, at 3am GMT, in which he said he had made “the decision of a military operation” for the “de-nazification of Ukraine”.
He also appeared to signal his willingness to deploy nuclear weapons, warning the West that “whoever tries to impede us … must know that the Russian response will be immediate and lead to consequences you have never seen in history”.
Jens Stoltenberg, Nato’s secretarygeneral, said thousands of troops, including British soldiers, would be sent to reinforce Nato’s eastern flank in countries that border Russia and Ukraine, including Poland and the Baltic States. “Our collective defence commitment is iron-clad. We will continue to do whatever is necessary to shield the alliance from aggression,” he said.
At the end of the first day of fighting, Ukraine claimed Russia was being forced into an “operative pause”, claiming that a “blitzkrieg won’t happen”. But US Pentagon officials said the Kremlin’s intention was a race to Kyiv to overthrow Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, and install a leadership allied to the Kremlin. “They have every intention of basically decapitating the gov- ernment,” an official said.
In a speech late last night, the Ukrainian president expressed disappointment in Western allies, saying Kyiv had been “left alone” to fight Russia. “The enemy marked me as target number one, and my family as target number two. I am staying in Kyiv,” he said.
Mr Zelensky signed a decree on general mobilisation after Ukraine’s border guard prohibited men aged between 18 to 60 from leaving the country under martial law. He said Russian “sabotage” groups had entered Kyiv and urged citizens to abide by new curfew rules.
“Russia has embarked on a path of evil, but Ukraine is defending itself and won’t give up its freedom,” he said. “What we have heard today are not just missile blasts, fighting and the rumble of aircraft. This is the sound of a new iron curtain, which has come down and is closing Russia off from the civilised world.”
Up to 190,000 Russian troops had massed on Ukraine borders in recent weeks and the full-scale invasion was launched from the north, south and east.
Russia claimed to have destroyed more than 70 military targets, including 11 airfields, and captured a hydro-electric power plant as well as the area surrounding Chernobyl. Russian forces were deployed on land, air and sea with troops using Russian-held Crimea as a launch pad for an onslaught on the Black Sea port of Odesa.
Ukraine said it had shot down a number of aircraft but defence analysts said Russia had gained control of the skies, paving the way for a land invasion.
Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, told the Russian ambassador he should be “ashamed of himself” before kicking him out of the Foreign Office.
Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, accused Mr Putin of trying “to wipe an entire country off the world map”.
Emmanuel Macron called Mr Putin to “demand an immediate halt” to the offensive. The Kremlin said Mr Putin gave the French president an “exhaustive” explanation of the reasons for Russia’s actions.
Shares on the Moscow stock exchange lost a third of their value in one of the worst collapses in history while Russia’s central bank scrambled to rescue the rouble after it sank to record lows.
In the UK the RAC said petrol prices were likely to hit £1.60 a litre while energy bills are predicted to rise. Economists said the headline rate of inflation would hit 8.2 per cent in April, up from a previous estimate of 6.7 per cent.