MOSCOW, Feb 24Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a conversation with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said that the decision on a special military operation was made in connection with the aggression of Kiev and the development of the United States and NATO on the territory of Ukraine, the Kremlin press service said. «In these circumstances, as well as in connection with the military development of the territory of Ukraine by the United States and its NATO allies, which is unacceptable for Russia, a decision was made to launch a special military operation,» the report says. On Thursday morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he had decided on a special military operation against Ukraine. In a televised address to the Russians, he said that the circumstances «require decisive and immediate action from us, the people's republics of Donbass turned to Russia with a request for help.» According to the Russian leader, the entire responsibility for the bloodshed will be on the conscience of the ruling regime in Ukraine. He called on the Ukrainian military not to follow the criminal orders of the Ukrainian authorities, to lay down their arms and go home. Ukraine exists Later, the Russian Defense Ministry emphasized that the Russian Armed Forces do not launch any missile, air or artillery strikes on the cities of Ukraine: military infrastructure, air defense facilities, military airfields and aviation are disabled by high-precision weapons. The ministry assured that the civilian population was not in danger. Approximately two hours later, the Ministry of Defense added that the Ukrainian border guards «do not offer any resistance», Ukrainian air defense systems were suppressed, and the military infrastructure of military air bases was disabled. The military department denied the information of foreign media about the alleged downing of a Russian plane over Ukraine in the military department.
