Special Desk
Ukraine on Thursday shut airports, and warned of airspace danger following which Air India flight had to return to Delhi after a NOTAM, or notice to airmen, was sent to all flights heading to Ukraine.
The Air India aircraft flying to Ukraine to bring home Indians is turning back for Delhi after Ukraine said it has closed its airspace amid Russian military operations.
Russian President Vladimir Putin this morning allowed Russian special forces to operate in two separatist areas in Ukraine, which Russia recognised as independent nations. UN Security Council sets an emergency meeting. Ukraine President said Russia carried out missile strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure and the country’s border guards, and that explosions had been heard in many cities.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced a military operation in Ukraine. He also warned other countries that any attempt to interfere with the Russian action would lead to consequences they have never seen. Big explosions were heard in Kyiv, Kharkiv and other areas of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs said that the country will defend itself from Putin’s war of aggression. Ukraine will defend itself and will win, said the minister.
Putin’s move comes close on the heels of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s statement that Russia will invade Ukraine within hours. Tensions had climbed after Putin recognised two separatist regions in Ukraine as independent and ordered the deployment of what he called peacekeepers.
Russia’s actions in Ukraine have both current relevance and a historical precedent. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union became the dominant power in the Black Sea. However, after the collapse of the empire, Russia lost most of its territory in the region with former Soviet states slowly inching closer and closer to the West.
Russian aggression on its border with Ukraine has triggered one of the greatest security crises in Europe since the Cold War.