Russia Says It Is Attacking Ukraine’s Military Infrastructure With High-Precision Weapons

The Russian defence ministry said on Thursday it was targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure with precision weapons after President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation against the country.

Russia Invades Ukraine: Russia is targeting Ukraine’s military infrastructure, air defence, and air forces with high-precision weapons and is not attacking Ukrainian cities, Russia’s RIA news agency cited the Russian defence ministry as saying on Thursday. Kyiv has said Moscow has launched a full-scale attack on Ukraine, with military command centres in a number of cities hit by missiles.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that Russia was attacking his country’s “military infrastructure” and border guards, but urged citizens not to panic and vowed victory. “Military infrastructure, air defense facilities, military airfields, and aviation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are being disabled with high-precision weapons,” the defence ministry said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday announced a military operation in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region, which the authorities in Kiev have described as a “full-scale invasion”. Donbas comprises the rebel regions of Luhansk and Donetsk which were declared as independent states earlier this week by the Russian leader which led to widespread condemnation and sanctions against Moscow.

In a televised speech to the nation on Thursday morning, Putin said Russia did not plan to occupy Ukraine, but warned that Moscow’s response would be “instant” if anyone tries to take on Russia, the BBC reported.

He said that the Ukrainian people would be able “to choose freely” who runs the country and reiterated that his country’s actions were in “self-defence”.

The Russian leader urged the Ukrainian soldiers who are facing off Russian-backed rebels to lay down weapons and return to their homes. He also told them that their “fathers and grandfathers did not fight so they could help neo-Nazis”.

Putin added that clashes between Ukrainian and Russian forces were “inevitable” and “only a question of time”.

Immediately after Putin made the announcement, there were explosions heard in Kiev and also across Ukraine, including towns in the east, like Kramatorsk, close to areas controlled by pro-Russian separatists