Russia-Ukraine live updates: Russia launches attack on Ukraine, Biden says

Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations confronted Russia’s representative Wednesday at an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, daring him to acknowledge that a massive invasion was underway.

“Should I play the video of your president?” Ukrainian Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya asked his Russian counterpart, Vassily Nebenzia, brandishing a cellphone. Kyslytsya said he been planning to ask for confirmation that Russian troops would not start firing that day — but it all “became useless 48 minutes ago,” he said, when Putin announced his attack.

“So now,” Kyslytsya continued, “I would like to ask the ambassador of the Russian Federation to say on the record that at this very moment your troops do not shell and bomb Ukrainian cities. That your troops do not move in the territory of Ukraine. You have a smartphone.”

If Nebenzia could not give that confirmation, Kyslytsya said, he should pass the responsibilities of Security Council president to “a legitimate member.”

“There is no purgatory for war criminals,” he told Nebenzia. “They go straight to hell, ambassador.”

Nebenzia reiterated Russia’s blaming of Ukrainian “provocations” for the crisis and cast Russia as a defender of the Donbas region, where Moscow has backed two separatist enclaves. He acknowledged that Putin had spoken during the Security Council meeting about a “special military operation in the Donbas.”

He said that “the occupation of Ukraine is not in our plans,” though he said “we don’t know all the details today.”

Addressing the Security Council for the second time Monday night, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that “at the exact time as we are gathered in the Council, seeking peace, Putin delivered a message of war in total disdain for the responsibility of this Council.”

“The world will hold Russia accountable,” she said.

Representatives from other countries had spent much of the meeting appealing to Putin to pull back. “It’s too late, my dear colleagues, to speak about de-escalation,” Kyslytsya said. “Too late.”

Ukraine’s minister of foreign affairs says Russia has “launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.”

“Peaceful Ukrainian cities are under strikes,” Dmytro Kuleba tweeted early Thursday morning local time. “This is a war of aggression.”

He said that Ukraine “will defend itself and will win" and urged the world to “stop Putin.”

“The time to act is now,” Kuleba wrote.

Anton Herashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s ministry of internal affairs, said that troops are in Odessa — one of Ukraine’s most populous cities — and are crossing into Kharkiv, a city in the country’s northeast, according to NBC.

As explosions ripped through cities in Ukraine in a Russian military offensive, members of the U.N. Security Council made a succession of pleas for peace and dialogue in an emergency session Wednesday night that laid bare the limits of the world body’s influence.

The United States and its allies condemned Russia’s actions, while other nations such as China, Brazil and India urged de-escalation — calls Russian President Vladimir Putin ignored as he announced a military operation to achieve the “demilitarization and denazification” of Ukraine.

Russia’s ambassador, Vasily Nebenzya, lashed out at Western nations, accusing them of “arming” and “egging on” Ukraine’s government to attack the separatist-controlled regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. He insisted Russia was not attacking the people of Ukraine, but the military “junta” in Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv.

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield accused Putin of exhibiting “total disdain” for the United Nations by ordering military action “at the same time we’re gathered in the council seeking peace.” She called the moment a “grave emergency.”

Ukraine’s ambassador, Sergiy Kyslytsya, called out to Russia’s envoy in a testy exchange, urging him to telephone Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and “do everything possible to stop the war.”

Nebenzya declined, saying that “waking up Mr. Lavrov is not something I plan to do.”

The most scathing criticism of Russian action came from European envoys representing Britain, France, Ireland and Norway.

“France strongly condemns the strategy of provocation to war of the Russian president,” said French envoy Nicolas de Rivière. “We hear the call of the Ukrainian people. … Ukrainians want peace.”

“Russia has been holding a gun to Ukraine’s head. Now, President Putin’s finger is on the trigger,” said Britain’s ambassador, Barbara Woodward. “The world is calling for peace, but Russia is not listening.”

China’s envoy, Zhang Jun, called for “enhanced dialogue,” while India’s ambassador, T. S. Tirumurti, urged “immediate de-escalation.” But in a council where all resolutions are subject to a veto of the permanent members, no action was proposed and therefore none taken.

President Biden said Russia “alone is responsible for the death and destruction” its military action in Ukraine may bring, according to a statement released late Wednesday after Russian leader Vladimir Putin announced plans to launch a “special military operation” in the country.

“President Putin has chosen a premeditated war that will bring a catastrophic loss of life and human suffering,” Biden’s statement read. “The world will hold Russia accountable.”

Calling Putin’s military actions "unprovoked and unjustified,” the president pledged that the United States and allies will coordinate their responses in a “united and decisive” fashion. Biden will meet with leaders from the Group of Seven nations Thursday morning and will address the American people on further sanctions to deter Russian aggression.

Shortly after Putin’s speech, explosions could be heard in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, and Kharkiv, in the country’s northeast. A senior Ukrainian official said there were explosions at Kyiv’s Boryspil airport.

Civil aircraft flights across Ukraine’s airspace were suspended Thursday because of “potential hazard to civil aviation,” according to a notice to airmen released Wednesday night.

The move came as tensions escalated between Ukraine and Russia — with Russian President Vladimir Putin announcing that the Kremlin had decided to carry out a “special military operation” in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region. Explosions have been heard throughout Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, and Kharkiv, in the country’s northeast.

Before shuttering its entire airspace, Ukraine closed airports in the cities of Dnipro, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia, according to the notices to airmen, or NOTAMs.

Fears about an impending attack grew as Russia closed the airspace surrounding its border with eastern Ukraine “in order to provide safety” to civil flight, according to notices. Ukrainian aviation authorities declared these areas as “danger zones,” citing Russian attempts to take control of their country’s airspace.

Safe Airspace — an air conflict zone and risk database — urged airlines to avoid flying into Ukraine’s airspace due to two areas of concern: the conflict in the far east of the country and the “double claim” by Russia and Ukraine over airspace in Crimea, Safe Airspace posted on its website Wednesday.

“The situation in Ukraine has now become a larger conflict that is currently developing,” Safe Airspace said. “Regardless of the actual movements of Russian forces into Ukraine, the level of tension and uncertainty in Ukraine is now extreme. This itself gives rise to significant risk to civil aviation.”

The conflict zone monitor elevated Ukraine’s risk of flying to Level 1 — deeming it a “Do Not Fly” location. According to Safe Space, aircraft flying into the country risk an “unintended targeting of civil aircraft by military, including misidentification … or confusion” and cyberattacks.

The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations said Wednesday night that Russia has brought the world “to the brink of a conflict that will produce an untold amount of human suffering," as leaders gathered for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council.

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said officials believe a “full-scale further invasion into Ukraine by Russia is imminent," with Russia closing airspace and moving its forces into “combat ready positions.” She also described reports of malware “placed on hundreds of computers and executed on at least some."

“This is a perilous moment,” she said. “And we are here for one reason, and one reason only. To ask Russia to stop. Return to your borders." She joined other countries in condemning Russia’s actions and said its diplomats have “laughed in the face" of human suffering.

Earlier, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said he had never believed rumors of an imminent attack on Ukraine, “convinced that nothing serious would happen.”

“I was wrong,” he said.

He acknowledged that “an operation is being prepared" and addressed Russian President Vladimir Putin, looking into the camera.

“From the bottom of my heart, President Putin, stop your troops from attacking Ukraine," Guterres said. "Give peace a chance. Too many have already died.”

The Security Council has five permanent members: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

With the world absorbed by months of geopolitical brinkmanship, high-stakes diplomacy and scrutiny of Russia’s military encirclement of Ukraine, lost in the din has been this sobering fact: If President Vladimir Putin proceeds with a large-scale invasion, thousands will probably die.

U.S. officials estimate a major assault could leave as many as 50,000 civilians dead or wounded, as Western nations warn of Putin’s intent to drive deeper into the former Soviet state.

Experts and humanitarian groups have assessed the conflict could take a particularly devastating toll on noncombatants due to Moscow’s massive arsenal, its record of targeting civilians and the wider potential for punishing urban battles. Such a state-to-state showdown would represent a break from the insurgencies of recent decades, one that could usher in a new era of deadly modern warfare.

As the United States seeks to rally its allies and impose tough penalties for Russia’s aggression toward Ukraine, a vocal group of Republicans and right-leaning commentators is expressing praise and admiration for the president’s strength and shrewdness. President Vladimir Putin, that is.

While most congressional Republicans back Biden’s tough line against Moscow — or argue it should be even tougher — a faction made up of conservative Republicans, supporters of former president Donald Trump and conservative media figures says Putin should be left alone, or even congratulated, by Americans.

Trump complimented Putin on Tuesday, saying it was a “smart move” by the Russian president to send “the strongest peace force I’ve ever seen” to the Ukraine border.