In a rambling speech to the Russian people, President Putin said he “didn’t start the conflict.”
He is giving a speech in front of Red Square’s Gostiny Dvor hall.
Many cabinet ministers, deputies, and senators are present as the speech is being televised around the globe.
Putin once more described the conflict as a “special military operation” and the state of affairs in Ukraine as a “military coup.”
He claimed Ukrainians have been waiting for his troops to ‘come to their help’ and that the West released a ‘genie in a bottle.’
Putin said: ‘They started the war and we used the force to stop it.”
‘They spent $150bn to support militarily Kyiv’s regime.’
He went on to tell the audience each Russian has a ‘great responsibility’ to ‘protect our people on our historic land.’
He also claimed Ukrainians had become ‘hostages of their own regime’.
Putin added: ‘They are the ones who unleashed this war, and we are using force to stop it.’
The broadcast has focused on Putin, with the camera occasionally cutting to the vast audience inside the Gostiny Dvor hall.
One woman can be seen wearing a ‘z’ symbol on her arm – a symbol for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Putin repeatedly addressed the situation in the Donbas region – where vast areas are controlled by Russian separatist groups as a result of the war.
In his speech, he continued: ‘Step by step, carefully and consistently, we will resolve the tasks facing us. Since 2014, the (people of the) Donbas had been fighting, defending their right to live on their own land, to speak their native language.
‘They fought and did not give up in the conditions of blockade and constant shelling, undisguised hatred on the part of the Kyiv regime.
‘They believed and expected that Russia would come to their rescue. Meanwhile, we did our best to solve this problem by peaceful means.
‘We patiently tried to negotiate a peaceful way out of this most difficult conflict, but a completely different scenario was being prepared behind our backs.’
A livestream of the address on the website of All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company was briefly taken offline, following a cyberattack.
He says the west recognises same-sex marriage. He says “That’s fine. They’re adults. They have the right to live their lives. We are always very tolerant about this in Russia.”
The Russian President had been rushed to Moscow under cover of darkness last night, with a convoy of cars seen speeding through the city.
Flight prices out of the country soared today as news spread about Putin’s special announcement.
Russians reportedly fear an expansion of mobilisation or a widespread declaration of war – as opposed to the ‘military operation’ phrasing the Kremlin has previously used.
Opposition blogger Maxim Katz, 38, wrote: ‘The cheapest direct flight from Moscow to Yerevan is $650 [£540] – five times the regular price.
‘Every pre-planned speech by Putin over the past year has been akin to a professional holiday for hoteliers, real estate agents, cab drivers, and airlines in the post-Soviet Republics of the Caucasus and Central Asia.
‘We don’t know how many people took a one-way journey.
‘Estimates range from half a million to two million.’