Russia dares West with attack on Ukraine, warned of 'decisive response'

Russian forces attacked targets across Ukraine after President Vladimir Putin ordered an operation to “demilitarize” the country, prompting international condemnation and a U.S. threat of further “severe sanctions” on Moscow, sending markets tumbling worldwide.

Russia launched a barrage of missile, artillery and air attacks early Thursday, triggering the worst security crisis Europe has witnessed in decades. Ukraine’s Interior Ministry warning that the capital, Kyiv, was being targeted and urged citizens to go to shelters. Ukraine’s border guard said that it was being shelled from five regions, including from Crimea in the south and Belarus to the north. 

In a nationally televised address