China News Agency, Beijing, February 24. Comprehensive news: Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered a televised speech on the morning of the 24th and said that he had decided to launch a special military operation in the Donbas region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a speech on the same day that Ukraine has decided to sever diplomatic relations with Russia.
On February 23, 2022 local time, two Ukrainian soldiers patrol the street in the eastern Ukrainian city of Novolhansk.
Russia takes special military action, Ukraine decides to cut diplomatic ties with Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on the same day that Russia has no plans to occupy Ukraine.
The Russian Ministry of Defense reported on the 24th that Ukrainian military infrastructure was hit by high-precision weapons, but the Russian armed forces did not carry out artillery or air strikes on Ukrainian cities, and the actions would not threaten civilians, TASS news agency reported.
According to Ukrainian media reports, the airports of Ukraine's Kherson and Ivano-Frankivsk regions were attacked that day, and the Cherkassy state government announced that it would evacuate people.
The Ukrainian Border Guard said on the same day that Russian ground troops entered Ukraine from multiple directions on the 24th local time.
According to official Ukrainian sources, seven people were killed and nine others were injured in the artillery attack.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Reznikov said that Ukraine is entering a state of full defense.
According to Ukraine's Interfax news, Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) voted on the 24th to pass a presidential decree on the implementation of a wartime state throughout Ukraine.
Later in the day, the city government of Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, issued a statement on social media saying that the air threat in Kiev was temporarily lifted, reminding Kiev citizens to immediately rush to nearby air defense facilities if they heard the sound of air defense sirens.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a speech on the same day that Ukraine has decided to sever diplomatic relations with Russia.
He also submitted a bill to the Verkhovna Rada to initiate popular mobilization.
He also called on the people to defend the country, saying that weapons would be distributed to those in need.
On February 24, local time, in Mariupol, Ukraine, after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation in the Donbas region on the 24th, a military installation near Mariupol Airport caught fire.
International community expresses deep concern over situation in Russia and Ukraine
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Russia to withdraw its troops on the evening of the 23rd local time, stressing that "this conflict must stop immediately."
US President Biden issued a statement on the evening of the 23rd local time, condemning Russia for "choose a premeditated war", and the United States and its allies will respond in a united and decisive manner.
European Commission President von der Leyen and the European Union's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy Borrell said in a joint statement issued on the 24th that the EU "condemns Russia's military action in the strongest terms".
On the same day, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a telephone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that China has always respected the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries.
At the same time, we have also seen that the Ukraine issue has its complex and special historical latitude and longitude, and we understand Russia's legitimate concerns on security issues.
China advocates that the Cold War mentality should be completely abandoned, and a balanced, effective and sustainable European security mechanism should be finally formed through dialogue and negotiation.
On February 24, local time, the situation in Ukraine deteriorated sharply, and people in many places lined up in front of ATMs to withdraw cash.
The picture shows people queuing up to withdraw cash in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine.
Turbulence in major global markets
The sudden escalation of the situation in Ukraine caused great volatility in the global market. Major stock indexes fell significantly, energy prices soared, and the prices of safe-haven assets such as gold rose further.
According to Bloomberg, the Russian stock market fell to a record high on the 24th, wiping out more than $150 billion in market value.
The deteriorating situation in Ukraine has prompted investors to flee the stock market in search of safe havens.
Volatility in asset markets has widened sharply as the crisis deepens, with the Cboe Volatility Index, known as Wall Street's fear gauge, up more than 55% in the past nine days, Reuters reported.
According to the US "Capitol Hill" report, as of 22:30 EST on the 23rd, the three major US stock index futures indexes collectively fell sharply. The Dow Jones futures index fell by more than 700 points or 2.2%, and the S&P 500 futures index and The Nasdaq industrial futures index fell 2.3% and 2.8%, respectively.
European stock markets generally fell sharply at the opening on the 24th. The 100-stock average price index of the British London stock market "Financial Times" fell 2.86% after the opening; the French Paris stock market CAC40 index fell by nearly 4% at the opening after six consecutive trading days; Germany The DAX index of the Frankfurt stock market had fallen sharply by 3.59% as of 9:09 local time.
According to Japanese media news, on the 24th, the Nikkei 225 index of the Tokyo stock market once fell by more than 600 points, the first time it fell below 26,000 points in the past year and three months.
India's Sensex30 index closed down 4.72% on the day.
Singapore's Straits Times Index closed sharply lower on the day, down 3.45%.
According to the "Wall Street Journal" report on the 24th, investors have sought safety, selling stocks, oil, gold and government bond prices rose.
Reported that the military action intensified the pressure on the global economy, the European economy may bear the brunt.
Brent crude futures, the global benchmark, rose above $100 a barrel for the first time since 2014, with the front-month contract up 4.7% to $101.37.
The media also pointed out that the conflict in Ukraine quickly pushed up the prices of key agricultural and industrial commodities, which will increase global inflationary pressures.
Russia is not just an energy powerhouse, it is also a major producer of some industrial and precious metals.
At the same time, Ukraine and Russia are both the "granary" of Middle Eastern countries.
There are fears that the conflict and retaliatory sanctions could affect exports from Eastern Europe to world markets.
(End) (Participating reporters: Zhang Chenyi, Su Jingxin, Zhang Huandi, Zhou Qun)