Flags of NATO member states outside the bloc's headquarters in Brussels. File photoBRUSSELS, Feb 25NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana said that he had invited Russian Ambassador to Belgium Alexander Tokovinin to bring the alliance's position on the crisis around Ukraine. Joana on Twitter. On Thursday morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he had decided on a special military operation to demilitarize 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 urged the Ukrainian military not to follow the criminal orders of the Ukrainian authorities, to lay down their arms and go home. stressed 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. /10c9fd91b223175da7aabb1b081266b6.jpg» />
InfographicsPosted by: Olga Fomchenkova
