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.

Explosions could be heard before dawn in Kyiv. Gunfire rattled out near the main airport and sirens blared across the city.

Ukraine's President Zelensky announced that diplomatic relations with Russia had been cut, the country's state media Interfax-Ukraine reported.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian parliament endorsed a presidential order declaring martial law.

Zelensky also called on all citizens who were ready to defend the country to come forward, saying Kyiv would issue weapons to everyone who wants them.

The Kyiv government sounded air raid sirens more than once in the morning. People poured into supermarkets to buy water and food, and roads toward the west were blocked by massive traffic jams as residents tried to escape the capital.

A resident of Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, the closest big city to the Russian border, said windows in apartment buildings were shaking from constant blasts. The city was gripped by panic as people tried to flee, said the resident, who asked not to be identified.

Meanwhile, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine announced in the morning that the border with Belarus had been attacked by troops from Russia and Belarus.

CNN reported tanks from the Belarusian Armed Forces moving from Belarus to Ukraine. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko denied the report, saying his country had not participated in Russia's military operation in Ukraine.

Lukashenko added, however, that Belarusian troops could be used in the operation against Ukraine if needed.

Russia claimed that two Ukrainian Air Force Su-24 jets had been shot down, and lots of Ukrainian government soldiers in Lugansk refused to take orders and began leaving the front line.

But the Ukrainian military soon denied that and said they had shot down six Russian fighter jets and helicopters. They said one of their military units in Odessa had been attacked by a Russian airstrike, leaving six dead, seven wounded and 19 missing.