INTERNATIONAL: Ukraine's U.N. Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya has directly addressed his Russian counterpart during an emergency meeting held by the U.N. Security Council, after Russian forces have invaded Ukraine upon President Vladimir Putin's orders on Thursday ,February 24.

Russian forces have fired missiles at several Ukrainian cities and landed troops on its south coast on Thursday, after Putin has authorized what he called a special military operation in the east. The attack happened as the 15-member United Nations body met in New York to try and defuse weeks of mounting tensions.

Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia has notified the council of Moscow's move during the meeting, justifying it under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, which covers individual or collective self-defense by states against armed attack.

During the meeting, Kyslytsya has urged the council to "do everything possible to stop the war".

"There is no purgatory for war criminals. They go straight to hell," Kyslytsya has told Nebenzia at the end of the council meeting.

^{PHOTO: AMBASSADORS ATTENDING EMERGENCY MEETING AT U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL / RUSSIA'S AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N. VASILY NEBENZYA LISTENING AS HIS UKRAINIAN COUNTERPART SERGIY KYSLYTSYA SPEAKS / SOUNDBITES FROM KYSLYTSYA}