Russian President Vladimir Putin made a televised declaration earlier today (24 February), announcing a “military operation” in Ukraine.
Putin said during his statement in Moscow that he has “made the decision of a military operation” and promises retaliation against anyone who interferes.
He also urged the Ukrainian military to lay down their arms, as he defied the appeals around the world against launching a war.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky appealed to the Russian people to not support a major war in Europe, saying that they are being lied to about Ukraine.
Zelensky said that the only people who can stop the war are the people, and he revealed that he had tried to call Putin but there was only silence.
He further added that Moscow now has about 200,000 soldiers deployed near the borders of Ukraine.
Dmitry Peskov, the spokesperson for Vladimir Putin, said that earlier, the separatist leaders of Donetsk and Lugansk had sent separate letters to Putin to ask him for help to “repel Ukraine’s aggression”.
The two alleged letters were then published by the state media of Russia.
At the time of writing, tens of thousands of Russian soldiers are deployed near the borders of Ukraine, with the West saying that an attack on Ukraine was imminent.
In comparison, Ukraine has about 200,000 soldiers and their call up on Wednesday could see about 250,000 reservists being activated to bolster their military strength.
Russia on the other hand, boasts a military strength of about a million active-duty personnel.
Images source: Kremlin and Vyacheslav Argenberg via Wikipedia Commons