Russia starts war with Ukraine - 2nd March 2022

Russian President Vladimir Putin has started a war. He's ordered an enormous army to attack Ukraine from the north, south and east.

This has already killed hundreds of ordinary people. Hundreds of thousands of residents are trying to leave.

But all Ukrainian men between 18 and 60 are required to defend the country. One volunteer fighter is Pavlo Starovoit.

Pavlo Starovoit: "The matter of fact, and, I stuck in this city, but I'm from Kyiv. And I want to do, to be helpful. And I want to do something to help my country to defend itself against Russian aggression."

The EU and NATO haven't sent any soldiers to Ukraine. But they're providing the country with cash to buy weapons. The EU has promised 500 million dollars.

The Russian state and superrich oligarchs are facing restrictions. Many international bank accounts are frozen and Russian banks can't transfer money internationally.

International companies are closing down. This has lowered the value of the ruble. Countries have also blocked Russian news channels.

Russian flights are banned from European airspace. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made the announcement.

Ursula von der Leyen: "We are shutting down the EU airspace for Russians. We're proposing a prohibition on all Russian-owned, Russian-registered, and Russian-controlled aircraft. These aircraft will no more be able to land in, take off, or overfly the territory of the European Union."

People around the world are showing that they disagree with Russia's war. There were even protests in Russia, where this is very dangerous. Melisa is one of the protestors in St Petersburg.

Melisa: "To start the war was a very bad decision for our people because many of them have relatives, friends, husbands, and they will die for nothing."

Putin's replied with an order to prepare nuclear weapons. The USA has publicly criticised this decision.

Ukraine's foreign minister is Dmytro Kuleba. He isn't frightened by Putin's threats.

Dmytro Kuleba: "We will not surrender. We will not capitulate. We will not give up a single inch of our territory – this is not the goal of our fight."

The fighting continues but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's open to discussions. He's willing to talk peace to find an end to the war.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy: "I will say frankly, as always – I do not really believe in the outcome of this meeting, but let them try. So that no citizen of Ukraine would have any doubt that I, as president, did not try to stop the war when there was a small chance."