Putin aims to demilitarize Ukraine

Kyiv severs relations with Moscow, offers to arm citizens who want to fight

Tensions escalated over the Ukraine situation on Thursday as Russian troops launched a "special military operation" authorized by Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Kyiv decides to sever ties with Russia.

Putin said in a televised urgent address that the operation was launched after the "authorities of Donetsk and Lugansk" requested assistance in "repelling Kyiv's military aggression".

He said that Moscow would seek the "demilitarization and denazification" of Ukraine, called upon the Ukrainian army to lay down its weapons and that any attempts at foreign intervention would be met with a prompt response.

Moscow's plans do not include an occupation of Ukraine, Putin said, adding that the Ukrainian people have a right to self-determination.

He also said that Russia could not allow Kyiv to obtain nuclear weapons and recalled NATO's "illegitimate expansion" to the east.

Shortly after Putin spoke, reports emerged that there were explosions in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and power had been cut.

Reuters reported that Russian missiles rained down on Ukrainian cities starting on Thursday morning. Ukraine reported columns of troops pouring across its borders into the eastern Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Lugansk regions, and landings by sea made at the cities of Odessa and Mariupol in the south.

Russia's Defense Ministry reported later on Thursday that Russian troops were not striking Ukrainian cities. It emphasized that Ukrainian military infrastructure was being destroyed by precision weapons.

According to the ministry, Ukraine's air defenses had been suppressed, military airfield infrastructure had been damaged and Ukrainian border guards were not putting up any resistance to Russian troops.