NATO officials say Russian attack on Ukraine has begun
CBSN
Russia has begun attacking Ukraine, according to NATO officials. The late-night attack began moments after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he had "decided to conduct a special military operation" to protect eastern Ukraine's Donbas region. CBS News correspondents reported hearing loud blasts in the capital city, Kyiv, and in the eastern city of Kharkiv.
In his speech on Russian state TV, Putin said his plans did not include an occupation of Ukraine.
The attack came just two days after Putin recognized the self-declared "People's Republics" of Donetsk and Luhansk, in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region, as independent, sending shockwaves across the globe and a new round of sanctions from the West. Putin also ordered Russian forces into the two "republics," for what he called "peacekeeping functions."
