It began with missile and air strikes against Ukrainian military facilities and also included ground troops from Crimea.
The leadership of Ukraine called it a “full-scale conflict” to destroy a Western-looking democracy that aims to escape Moscow’s orbit. According to the health minister, 57 Ukrainians were killed in the Russian invasion. Another 169 were injured.
The U.S. and European leaders responded quickly to the Ukrainian resistance and the flurry of civilians who fled to safety in cars and trains, even though they were not directly involved in fighting back, by imposing severe financial sanctions on Russia. NATO moved to reinforce its eastern flank.
These facts are essential about the conflict in Ukraine and the security crisis within Eastern Europe.
PUTIN MAKES HIS MOVE
As the attack began, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that it was necessary to protect civilians living in eastern Ukraine. There, Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces have been fighting for nearly eight years.
The U.S. predicted that Putin would claim the rebel-held areas were under attack in order to justify an invasion.
Russian leader warned other countries that any attempt to interfere with Ukraine’s affairs would “lead you to consequences you haven’t seen in history” — a grave threat suggesting Russia was ready to use its nuclear weapons.
Putin claimed that the U.S. and its allies ignored Russia’s demands for a block on Ukraine joining NATO. He also demanded security guarantees from Moscow.
Putin stated that Russia doesn’t intend to occupy Ukraine, but will “demilitarize it.” His address urged Ukrainian servicemen “immediately to put down arms, and go home.” Soon afterwards, explosions could be heard in Odesa, Kharkiv, and Kyiv.
The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed hours later that its ground forces had entered Ukraine from Crimea and said they were moving towards Kherson in the northwest.
According to the ministry, 83 military installations in Ukraine were destroyed.
According to Ukraine’s leadership, Ukraine lost control over the Chernobyl nuclear facility. There, Ukrainian forces engaged in a fierce battle against Russian troops. In April 1986, the nuclear reactor at the plant, located 130 km (80 miles) north Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, exploded.
UKRAINE’S PRINCIPAL WANTS CALM
Volodymyr Zelenskyy (the Ukrainian President), who has repeatedly appealed at Putin in recent days for him to follow a diplomatic route instead of taking military action. He issued a video declaring martial law.
He informed Ukrainians that the United States was gaining international support to fight Russia. He advised residents to keep calm and stay at home. He also urged world leaders to offer defense assistance to Ukraine and protect its airspace.
THE WEST REACTS
The invasion could lead to massive casualties, overthrow the democratically elected government of Ukraine and undermine the post-Cold War balance. This was condemned by world leaders.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg referred to Russia’s attack as “a brutal act war” and stated that Moscow had broken the peace on Europe.
U.S. President Joe Biden stated that Putin had “chosen a premeditated conflict that will cause a catastrophic loss in life and human suffering.”
Leaders of the Group of Seven urged the international community to “condemn this attack in strongest terms, stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine and speak out against this blatant violation of fundamental principles of international security and peace.”
The U.N. refugee agency’s head urged the neighboring countries to open their borders for Ukrainians fleeing fighting. Filippo Grandi, U.N. High Commissioner For Refugees, stated that his agency has increased its operations and capacity in Ukraine and its neighbours.
WORLD MARKETS ARE LOWER
The world stock markets plummeted while oil prices shot up due to concerns about rising food and heating costs.
The conflict will cause prices to spiral higher at petrol pumps and grocery stores all over the globe, in addition to the human toll.
Russia and Ukraine are both major producers of energy products, as well as grains and other commodities. As well as sanctions imposed by the United States or its allies, war could disrupt global supplies.
What SANCTIONS IS WESTERN POWERS EXPOSING?
Biden announced a new round sanctions on Thursday. The U.S. and its allies would block assets of four major Russian banks and impose export control and sanction oligarchs.
These penalties are consistent with the White House’s assertion that it would target Russia’s financial system as well as Putin’s inner circle. It also imposes export controls to try to starve Russia of U.S. semiconductors, and other high-tech goods.
The new U.S. sanctions also target the financial and military institutions of Belarus. Russia uses them as a staging ground to send troops into Ukraine from the North.
Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister, stated that he would seek to isolate Russia from the U.K.’s Financial Market.
All major Russian banks will be subject to the sanctions, which include VTB Bank, Russia’s second-largest bank. Britain plans to ban Russian companies and the Russian government’s money raising on U.K. market.
Britain will prohibit the export to Russia of many high-tech products including semiconductors and ban Aeroflot’s flagship airline from landing at U.K. Airports.
Josep Borrell, EU foreign policy chief, said that the European Union had prepared the “strongest and most severe package” to be discussed at the summit on Thursday.
EU BEEFS SUPPORT PEACEKEEPING FORCE in BOSNIA
To prevent any ripple effects from the conflict in Ukraine, the European Union-led peacekeeping force in Bosnia said it would double its ground troops.
According to the force, this was a precautionary measure. It stated that “the deterioration in the international security situation has the potential of spreading instability” to the Balkan country.
Milorad Dodik is a pro-Russian Bosnian Serb leader who has long advocated for the seperation of the semi-autonomous Bosnian Serb min-state from the rest.
Dodik, who had tacit support of Moscow, intensified his secessionist campaign last winter. He pledged to create a solely Serb army, judiciary, and tax system.
The EU force announced that four companies from its reserve forces in Austria, Bulgaria and Romania, as well as Slovakia, would be deployed to Bosnia over two weeks to strengthen the 600-strong contingent already present in the country. These new deployments will add 500 troops to the total.
NATO’S EASTERN FLANK
Particularly nervous are the countries along NATO’s eastern flank. They were all under Soviet dominance during the Cold War.
The Baltic Statesof Lithuania and Latvia wondered if they might be next targets for the Kremlin. All three countries have received the U.S. military equipment and troops promised by Biden this week.
Poles were also shaken.
Poland’s parliament, which borders Ukraine and Belarus, strongly condemned Russia’s attack against Ukraine and pledged its support for Ukraine.
U.S. Ambassador Mark Brzezinski assured Poland that they are safe. He pointed out that there are currently 10,000 U.S. troops in Poland. In response to Russian threats, more than half of them were deployed in the last weeks.
Stoltenberg stated: “Make no mistake: we will defend every ally from any attack on every inch NATO territory.”
CHINA SUPPORTS RUSSIA
China’s customs agency approved imports of wheat from all Russian regions on Thursday. This could reduce the potential impact of Western sanctions.
China’s market is an area of growth for other suppliers. However, Beijing has barred imports from Russia’s main areas of wheat-growing regions until now due to concerns about possible fungus or other contamination.
Russia is the largest wheat producer, but it would be at risk if its foreign markets stopped shipments due to Ukraine’s attack.
Thursday’s announcement stated that Russia would “take all necessary measures” to stop contamination by the wheat smut fungal disease and would suspend China exports if this was discovered.
UKRAINE SUSPECTS MORE CYBERATTACKS
The websites of Ukraine’s defense, foreign and interior ministries were unreachable or painfully slow to load Thursday morning after a punishing wave of distributed-denial-of-service attacks as Russia struck at its neighbor.
Cybersecurity researchers also reported that DDoS attacks were occurring on Wednesday. They said that unidentified attackers infected hundreds computers with destructive malware in neighboring Latvian and Lithuanian.
Officials expected that cyberattacks would precede and accompany any Russian military incursion.
