SG Talk

Russian President Vladimir Putin made a speech early Thursday morning, saying he had decided "to conduct a special military operation ... to protect people who have been subjected to abuse and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years," repeating a baseless claim about Ukraine's Russian-separatist-backed Donbas region.

He denied, however, that Russia was planning to occupy Ukrainian territories. "We are not going to impose anything on anyone by force."

But in a deeply menacing passage Putin added that anyone trying to interfere with or threaten Russia would lead to "consequences that you have never experienced in your history."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky responded several hours later with a minute-long speech of his own, saying he had spoken to US President Joe Biden and that the US was rallying international support for Ukraine.

"The West is with us," he said, and announced martial law across the country.

Before dawn

The assault began hours before dawn with a series of missile attacks against locations near Kyiv, as well as the use of long-range artillery against the northeastern city of Kharkiv, near the Russian border.

More at https://www.bannedsite.com/forum/current...-has-begun