Russia moves into Ukraine. Putin warns of ‘consequences they’ve never seen.’

Associated Press, CNN

What’s happened so far:

-Putin orders army into Ukraine, seeks to ‘demilitarize’ neighbor

-Explosions heard in Ukrainian cities of Odesa, Kharkiv as Putin announces launch of military action

-Biden denounces ‘unprovoked and unjustified’ attack on Ukraine, pledges world will ‘hold Russia accountable’

-Putin warns any foreign attempt to interfere with Russian action would lead to ‘consequences they have never seen’

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday announced a military operation in Ukraine, claiming it’s intended to protect civilians.

Explosions were heard in Ukrainian cities of Odesa and Kharkiv but few details were available.  In a televised address, Putin said the action comes in response to threats coming from Ukraine. He added that Russia doesn’t have a goal to occupy Ukraine. Putin said the responsibility for bloodshed lies with the Ukrainian “regime.”

Putin warned other countries that any attempt to interfere with the Russian action would lead to “consequences they have never seen.”

He accused the U.S. and its allies of ignoring Russia’s demand to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO and offer Moscow security guarantees.

He said the Russian military operation aims to ensure a “demilitarization” of Ukraine. Putin said that all Ukrainian servicemen who lay down arms will be able to safely leave the zone of combat.

U.S. President Joe Biden denounced an “unprovoked and unjustified” attack on Ukraine, and pledged the world will “hold Russia accountable.”

U.S. officials have repeatedly pledged to place overwhelming sanctions on the Russian economy and Putin allies in retaliation for a further invasion of Ukraine.

U.N. Secretary-General Guterres urged Russia’s Putin: “Stop your troops from attacking Ukraine. Give peace a chance.”

With rare but fragile alignment, the U.S. Congress is largely backing President Joe Biden’s decision to confront Russia with potentially escalating sanctions for the crisis in Ukraine as lawmakers brace for perhaps the most daunting foreign policy crisis the nation has faced in a generation.

Ukraine’s parliament and other government and banking websites were hit with another punishing wave of distributed-denial-of-service attacks Wednesday, and cybersecurity researchers said unidentified attackers had also infected hundreds of computers with destructive malware.

Ukrainian businesses large and small no longer plan for the future — they can barely foresee what will happen week to week.

There’s little support among Americans for a major U.S. role in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, according to a new poll, even as President Joe Biden imposes new sanctions and threatens a stronger response that could provoke retaliation from Moscow.

So what’s happening and where?

As a long-feared Russian invasion of Ukraine appears to be underway, here is a map locating Ukraine’s Donbas region and the area currently held by Ukrainian separatists. This map is current as of February 22, 2022 and will update as news breaks.

A full-scale invasion could have major repercussions in the U.S. Stocks have taken a hit this week as investors react to the Russia-Ukraine military conflict. But experts say you shouldn’t shake up your investing strategy just because stock prices are moving.

Meanwhile, oil hit $100 a barrel and stock futures fell sharply. Dow futures lost nearly 700 points, or about 2%. Nasdaq futures dropped 2.7%.

Brent crude, the world benchmark, briefly climbed above $100 a barrel for the first time since 2014. US crude jumped 3.3% to $95.15 a barrel. Oil supplies are already very tight. Analysts have warned that any disruptions to oil flows from Russia, the world’s No. 2 oil producer, would drive consumer gas prices even higher.

Categories: Breaking News, World News