Russia invades Ukraine

2022 - 2 - 24

Ukraine's civilian forces grow as more enlist in the fight against Russia (unknown)

Big explosions were heard before dawn in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odesa as world leaders decried the start of a Russian invasion that could cause massive casualties and topple Ukraine's democratically elected government. Editor's note: Graphic content. Black ...

President Biden has said that Russian President Vladimir Putin and his country would bear the costs of the attack. U.S. officials had said for weeks that a Russian invasion of Ukraine was imminent, a warning that Russia, in turn, dismissed as scaremongering. Russian and Ukrainian leaders held cease-fire negotiations on Monday, Feb. 28, but they ended with no breakthrough to end the fighting.

Devastating Scenes from War as Russia Invades Ukraine (unknown)

The first explosions were reportedly heard early on Feb. 24 as Russia began its long-feared invasion of Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin's ...

Several people warmed themselves at a fire at the Medyka border crossing in Poland on Feb. 28. Five people died in the incident, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine said in a statement. Russia launched a military attack in earnest on Ukraine on the morning of Feb. 24. Emergency services worked at a crash site of an Armed Forces of Ukraine military plane in the Obukhiv district, near Kyiv, on Feb. 24. A person stood in a huge crater in front of a military facility that was destroyed by shelling in the city of Brovary outside Kyiv on March 1. A woman stood in front of a destroyed building after a Russian missile attack in Vasylkiv, a town near Kyiv, on Feb. 27. "We are facing a war and horror. A man waited for the arrival of the train in Lisichansk on Feb. 24. In Kyiv, a large crowd of people waited for buses at a station as they attempted to evacuate the city on Feb. 24. A body of a person was covered by a blanket in a garden that was hit by attacks in Horlivka on Feb. 24. What could be worse?" A family packed their bags and took their belongings from their home in Severodonetsk, after the official announcement of the evacuation of the city, on Feb. 24.

Oil tops $105, gas, grains, metals spike as Russia invades Ukraine (unknown)

Commodity prices jumped to multi-year highs on Thursday after Russia invaded Ukraine, raising the prospect of tighter supplies due to the possibility of ...

Wheat as well as some U.S. dairy futures will also have expanded trading limits for Friday, according to Exchange Operator CME Group. The United States warned more action could come. Two days ago the U.S. ruled this out," Commerzbank analysts said. read more It accounts for 10% of global nickel supply and 6% of aluminium supplies. read more

Oil surges past $100 a barrel after Russia invades Ukraine (unknown)

Brent crude — the global benchmark for oil prices — went as high as $105.79 for the front-month contract. Natural gas prices also climbed; in Europe, natural ...

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Russia invaded Ukraine, but imposing financial sanctions like SWIFT may not be the best path forward. (unknown)

To really bring the pain, the United States and its allies need to coordinate its financial sanction against highly targeted Russian energy and financial ...

But the reality is that coordinated sanctions against Russian banks will have the same effect as a SWIFT ban—but perhaps without all the fuss. The reality is that the ship has sailed on the politicization of SWIFT. Both Russia and China know it, and both have sought to start their own alternatives to SWIFT in order to insulate themselves from Western-backed sanctions—sanctions that could limit their access to the international financial system. Re-instating Iran’s access to SWIFT was a vital part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action—the 2015 agreement between China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States, Germany, and Iran that provided sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on Iran’s nuclear program—that essentially rewarded Iran for complying with the agreement. To really bring the pain, the United States and its allies need to coordinate against Russian energy and financial services sectors, as well as stand ready to impose secondary sanctions against jurisdictions where Putin will seek refuge. While it is often described as “email for banks,” in reality it is more like the internet for banks—a system of secure routing protocols in a consistent format. Instead, they are more like a US dollar that you keep on your smartphone—able to spend exactly as you would cash. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, suggested that the United States should “use the overwhelming amount of [sanctions] now,” but keep the “mother of all sanctions” in reserve—stopping just short of unplugging Russia from SWIFT, a keystone of the international banking infrastructure. After weeks of threatening to ban Russia from SWIFT, the Biden administration seemed to suddenly back away from the prospect in mid-February. According to accounts in the press, European leaders expressed worry that a SWIFT ban on Russia would mean that billions of dollars in outstanding loans would not be repaid. But those were not the only sanctions imposed by the West. UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss announced sanctions against several Russian oligarchs and banks with close connections to the Kremlin—including freezing the assets of PSB bank. Without access to SWIFT, Iranian banks resorted to other forms of communication, namely by fax, email, and telephone. In effect, SWIFT is the standard-setter when it comes to how banks communicate with each other. Pundits and sanctions experts seemed in near universal agreement that the sanctions did not go far enough.

Determined Ukrainian Resistance Slows Russian Advance (unknown)

Ukraine is now fighting a multi-axis war against an invading Russian army with an estimated 200000 personnel. Western allies respond to Russia's attack.

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Russian Forces Move on Kyiv (unknown)

Protesters demonstrate outside the Embassy of the Russian Federation in London. Wiktor Szymanowicz/Getty Images. Russian military troops on Friday entered ...

He said he had no plans to talk with Putin, who would be a "pariah" on the international stage. UN Secretary-General António Guterres issued a plea to the Russian president, speaking both to journalists and on Twitter. "In the name of humanity bring your troops back to Russia," he said. "The people of Ukraine and the government of Ukraine want peace," Zelenskyy said during the emotional address. Later on Thursday, Biden gave an address in which he said the US would cut off Russian banks and stop Russia's ability to finance and grow its military. "Russia alone is responsible for the death and destruction this attack will bring." He added, "this is a deliberate, cold-blooded and long-planned invasion." "For months, Russia has been holding a gun to Ukraine's head. "He has put himself on the wrong side of history." On Thursday, he called a meeting of the US National Security Council. Putin said the goal of the military operation is to demilitarize Ukraine but not occupy it. Countries in central Europe including Poland, Hungary and Slovakia prepared to receive an influx of refugees. The invasion began minutes after Putin declared the start of military operations after months of mounting tensions.

Russia invades Ukraine on many fronts in ‘brutal act of war’ (unknown)

Police officers inspect area after an apparent Russian strike in Kyiv Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday announced a ...

Putin justified his actions in an overnight televised address, asserting the attack was needed to protect civilians in eastern Ukraine — a false claim the U.S. predicted he would make as a pretext for invasion. Ukraine’s health minister said 57 Ukrainians were killed in the invasion and 169 more were wounded. The White House has been reluctant to immediately cut Russia from SWIFT, worried it could cause enormous economic problems in Europe and elsewhere in the West. The autocratic leader made clear earlier this week that he sees no reason for Ukraine to exist, raising fears of possible broader conflict in the vast space that the Soviet Union once ruled. While some nervous Europeans speculated about a possible new world war, the U.S. and its NATO partners have shown no indication they would send troops into Ukraine, fearing a larger conflict. Alyona Shevtsova, adviser to the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, wrote on Facebook that staff members at the Chernobyl plant had been “taken hostage." Ukrainian forces sought to fend off a Russian barrage of land- and sea-based missiles, an attack that one senior U.S. defense official described as the first salvo in a likely multi-phase invasion aimed at seizing key population centers, "decapitating" Ukraine's government and installing a new one. The invasion began early Thursday with a series of missile strikes, many on key government and military installations, quickly followed by a three-pronged ground assault. The conflict shook global financial markets: Stocks plunged and oil prices soared amid concerns that heating bills and food prices would skyrocket. Zelenskyy said in a video address that 137 “heroes,” including 10 military officers, had been killed and 316 people wounded. He threatened any country trying to interfere with "consequences you have never seen," as a once-hoped for diplomatic resolution now appeared impossible. Ukraine’s government pleaded for help as civilians piled into trains and cars to flee.

Colorado leaders call for additional sanctions as Russia invades Ukraine (unknown)

In a statement, Sen. Michael Bennet called on President Joe Biden to punish Russian president Vladimir Putin through additional economic sanctions.

“I do have concerns of the spillover effect,” Neguse said. “Although the blood of innocent Ukrainians is on Putin's hands, it is Joe Biden's failures that set the stage.” He also offered words of support to the people of Ukraine. “Putin alone is responsible for the catastrophic loss of life and unprecedented destruction that this war will bring,” DeGette said. You want to know what is really going on these days, especially in Colorado. We can help you keep up. “The U.S. and international response must be swift and crippling.” “What Russia is doing is actually uniting NATO,” Buck said. “To the extent that Russia continues on this current course of conduct in terms of democracy in Europe and larger security concerns for the west.” Those steps, among others, would help prevent further energy and fuel price increases for Coloradans, Polis said. In a statement, Sen. Michael Bennet called on President Joe Biden to punish Russian president Vladimir Putin through additional economic sanctions. “The U.S. and its allies stand steadfast with the people of Ukraine in this fight to protect their sovereignty.” “Putin’s goal is clear: to redraw borders to reestablish the Soviet block and usurp democracy in Europe and throughout the world,” Crow said.

Error Page (unknown)

Videos and images from Ukraine indicate strikes by several types of ballistic and cruise missile as Russian forces invade. Meanwhile, Russia has launched a ...

There have been few reports of air attacks so far, although news reporters in Kyiv have heard sirens sounding, and some have heard jets flying low overhead. After months of buildup and preparation the Russian invasion of Ukraine has started, with reports of military units crossing the border in the east of the country from Russian-backed separatist regions, from Crimea in the south and Belarus in the north. More alarmingly, videos show what appear to be the launch of Smerch long-range multiple rocket batteries toward Kharkiv and other locations in Ukraine. This is worrying because these are considerably less accurate than precision weapons like Kalibr and Iskander, with a correspondingly high chance of causing civilian casualties. This is an air-launched weapon that homes in on air-defense radar systems and would be one of the first missiles used to clear the way for subsequent attacks. Russia had reportedly moved at least four brigades of road-mobile missile launches into position around Ukraine. These are claimed to be highly accurate and strike at high speed, and were expected to be in the first wave of attacks against air bases, air defenses and military command centers. With a range of around a thousand miles, the Kalibr can strike targets well inland.

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