Russia initiated an attack on Ukraine tonight. Explosions have been heard in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, as well as in Odessa, Mariupol and Kharkiv, according to Dagens Nyheter.
The Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba stated that the attack is a complete military invasion and is asking the international community for help. “Putin has just launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Peaceful Ukrainian cities are under strikes. 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,” he wrote in a tweet at 5am this morning.
The Russian attack was initiated during an UN Security Council emergency meeting about the, then, rumored invasion. During the meeting Secretary-General António Guterres urged Russia’s President Putin to stop his troops from attacking Ukraine and “give peace a chance.” An hour into the meeting, the world received the news that President Putin had announced from Moscow that “a special military operation” had commenced.
The invasion has gotten strong reactions from the rest of the world. The EU’s Chief of foreign affairs Josep Borrel stated that the invasion will be met with strong financial sanctions. ”These are among the darkest hours of Europe since the Second World War,” he stated.
Sweden’s Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson held a press briefing at 10.15am where she expressed that “A new and dark chapter in Europe has begun.”
“Sweden strongly condemns Russia’s current invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s actions are an attack on the European security order as well. It will be met with unity and a robust answer in solidarity with Ukraine. Russia has the sole responsibility for this human suffering,” Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson stated.
The prime minister focused on the likely spread of disinformation: “I’d like to call for great vigilance against attempts to disinformation. Be aware of the information you spread and what the sources are.”
Sweden’s minister of foreign affairs Ann Linde called the invasion a “cowardly assault” during the press conference. She pointed out that the conflict has been going on since the Russian occupation of Crimea in 2014 and already claimed thousands of victims. She stated that the invasion will lead to even more suffering.
During the press conference the Swedish minister of defense Peter Hultquist stated that: “we’ll now live with an adjacent conflict between democratic, free, and open societies and Russian authoritarian behavior and leadership. Today’s situation will not pass by quickly. We’re following the developments and the Swedish Armed Forces will take the crucial adjustments.”
“What Russia wants is to destroy the Ukrainian state, the Ukrainian democracy and create Russian dominance and supremacy,” Peter Hultquist continued.
According to the Ukranian leadership, via the Associated Press, there have been at least 40 deaths in the attack so far.
Article published at 11.33 on February 24th 2022.
