“Anyone who intends to stand in our way or threaten our country and our people must know that the Russian response will be immediate and will have consequences never seen in your history. It was with these words of unprecedented violence that Vladimir Putin announced, on the night of 23 to 24 February, the entry into war of Russia against Ukraine.
The scenario so feared for weeks of diplomatic talks is now a reality. After the recognition of the independence of the pro-Russian separatist territories of Donbass, announced on Monday 21 February in defiance of international law, the Russian president has launched an offensive against the main cities of the country, which woke up this morning to the sound of sirens.
“No panic… We will win” wanted to reassure the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky while some Ukrainians are already on the move, hoping to find refuge in neighboring countries. “President Putin, in the name of humanity, bring your troops back to Russia!” tried to dissuade the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres. In vain.
Without fear of Western sanctions, the autocrat of the Kremlin, nostalgic for the “Great Russia”, implements his strategy of expansion by force and plunges Europe years back into a “Cold War” that was thought to be over.
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