Kyiv: As many as 40 Ukrainian soldiers and 10 civilians have been killed in the Russian shelling as per a Reuters report which has quoted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy advisor.
Several people are wounded. Oleksii Arestovich, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that several dozen people have been wounded.
Zelenskyy said the Ukrainian authorities will hand weapons to all those willing to defend the country. “The future of the Ukrainian people depends on every Ukrainian,” he said, urging all those who can defend the country to come to the Interior Ministry’s assembly facilities.
The AFP meanwhile has said that they killed ‘around 50 Russian occupiers’ without providing details.
Russia has attacked Ukraine in what could be the start of war in Europe over Russia’s demands for an end to NATO’s eastward expansion.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday called for a NATO summit “as soon as possible” after Russia launched an attack on its neighbour Ukraine, his office said.
“The President wishes for a NATO summit to be held as soon as possible, in coordination with our partners and allies,” the presidency said, matching calls from Britain and Poland ahead of a press conference later in the day by NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg.
On Thursday morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin had announced a ‘military operation’ on Ukraine. They called on soldiers there to lay down their arms, defying Western outrage and global appeals not to launch a war.
Vladimir Putin has made this surprise statement on television and has expressed his intentions clearly.
“I have made the decision of a military operation,” he said shortly before 6:00am (0300 GMT) in Moscow, as he vowed retaliation against anyone who interfered.
He also asked Ukraine military to lay down its arms.
His statement came after the Kremlin said rebel leaders in eastern Ukraine had asked Moscow for military help against Kyiv.
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