President Putin Holds Military Operation, Ukrainian Foreign Minister: This Is Aggression, We Will Defend Ourselves And Win

Menlu Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba. (Wikimedia Commons / Eduard Kryzhanivsky)

JAKARTA - Russia has launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and targeted cities with gun attacks, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a post on Twitter on Thursday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that he will allow special military operations into eastern Ukraine, under the pretext of protecting the people of the region who have been subjected to intimidation and genocide.

Interfax Ukraine reported rocket attacks on military facilities across Ukraine, as well as Russian troops having landed in the southern port cities of Odessa and Mariupol. It also reported staff and passengers evacuating Kyiv Boryspil Airport.

"Putin has just launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Peaceful Ukrainian cities are under attack," Kuleba said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"This is a war of aggression. Ukraine will defend itself and will win. The world can and must stop Putin. The time to act is now."

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized special military operations in the Donbass region of Eastern Ukraine in the early hours of Thursday morning and told the Ukrainian military to lay down its weapons and go home.

In a special televised address on Russian state TV, President Putin said Russia had no choice but to defend itself against what he said were threats emanating from modern Ukraine.

The Russian leader said Moscow had no choice but to launch the operation, the scope of which was not immediately clear.

"I have decided to carry out a special military operation," said President Putin.

"The aim is to protect people who have been subjected to intimidation and genocide over the past eight years. And for this we will fight for the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine."

"And to bring to justice those who committed many bloody crimes against civilians, including against citizens of the Russian Federation," he stressed.

Ukraine rejects Russia's accusations of genocide against people living in its eastern part that was seized by Russia-backed separatists in 2014. Kyiv says President Putin is looking for an artificial pretext to attack it.

President Putin's announcement follows calls from Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine for military assistance against what they say is growing Ukrainian aggression.

"Russia cannot feel safe, thrive and exist with constant threats emanating from the territory of modern Ukraine," Putin said.

Shortly after President Putin spoke in a special televised address on Russian state TV, explosions were heard in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, before dawn. Gunfire was heard near the capital's main airport, the Interfax news agency said.

Explosions also rocked the breakaway city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine and civilian aircraft were alerted as the United States said a major attack by Russia on its neighbor was imminent.