(NEW YORK) — In response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to recognize the separatist-controlled Donetsk and Luhansk regions in Ukraine as “independent” states, President Joe Biden announced sanctions against Russia in an effort to deter it from launching a full-scale invasion into Ukraine.
Biden on Tuesday called Putin’s decision “the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine” and warned that the sanctions could grow more severe.
“As Russia contemplates its next move, we have our next move prepared as well,” Biden said. “Russia will pay an even steeper price if it continues its aggression, including additional sanctions.”
Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov told Russian state TV that Russia was already “used to” sanctions and that it believes more sanctions would be imposed on Moscow regardless of what it does.
“That our [Western] colleagues are trying to push the blame on Russia for the failure of the Minsk agreements, we also understand,” he said, referring to a truce Ukraine and separatists signed in 2014. “Our European, American, British colleagues won’t stop and won’t calm down as long as they haven’t exhausted their possibilities for the so-called punishment of Russia.”
What are economic sanctions?
Economic sanctions are defined by the Council on Foreign Relations as the withdrawal of customary trade and financial relations for foreign and security policy purposes. The sanctions can be comprehensive, which prohibit economic activity with an entire country, or targeted, which block transactions by and with specific individuals, businesses or groups.
These restrictions are placed on individuals or entities and prevent them from doing business with the country imposing those sanctions. Sanctions put in place by the U.S. government cut off an individual or entities from the American financial system, meaning they can no longer do business in the U.S. and all their assets under U.S. jurisdiction are frozen.
Americans and American businesses are also prohibited from doing business with these institutions, unless authorized by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Sanctions aim to impair the ability of the person or entity from being able to perform basic functions in the international financial system. They are used by the U.S. government depending on foreign policy and national security goals.
What sanctions did the US impose on Russia?
Sanctions were placed on two Russian state-owned financial institutions and five Kremlin-connected elite.
The financial institutions targeted are the Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs, which is known as Vnesheconombank (VEB), and Promsvyazbank Public Joint Stock Company (PSB), along with 42 of their subsidiaries.
According to the U.S. Treasury Department, VEB is crucial to Russia’s ability to raise funds, and PSB is critical to Russia’s defense sector. The two institutions and their subsidiaries hold combined assets worth tens of billions of dollars.
“Today’s action constrains Russia’s ability to finance defense-related contracts and raise new funds to finance its campaign against Ukraine,” the Department of Treasury said in a statement Tuesday.
VEB has an asset portfolio of $53 billion, making it one of Russia’s top five financial institutions, according to the Treasury Department. Some of VEB’s sanctioned subsidiaries include banks and other financial firms, electronic component producers and a coal mining group in Russia and three other countries.
It is a servicer of Russia’s sovereign debt, a financier for exports and a funding source for investment projects with a loan portfolio of over $20 billion.
VEB finances Russia’s national economic development, including large-scale projects to develop domestic infrastructure and other industries critical to Russia’s generation of revenue.
PSB, Russia’s eighth-largest bank, was designated by the government to finance the Russian Ministry of Defense and defense sector, according to the U.S. Department of Treasury. It services nearly 70% of Russia’s defense contracts and provides banking and personal finance to Russian military personnel.
Seventeen of PSB’s subsidiaries were also sanctioned, including financial, technology and real estate-related entities.
Influential Russians and their family members who are in Putin’s inner circle and believed to be participating in the Russian regime’s “kleptocracy” — including the chairman and CEO of PSB — were also sanctioned, the Department of Treasury said.
“Today’s actions, taken in coordination with our partners and allies, begin the process of dismantling the Kremlin’s financial network and its ability to fund destabilizing activity in Ukraine and around the world,” Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen said.
“We continue to monitor Russia’s actions and if it further invades Ukraine, the United States will swiftly impose expansive economic sanctions that will have a severe and lasting impact on Russia’s economy,” she said.
Will the sanctions have an effect?
The sanctions put in place were not the most severe option available. They targeted institutions specific to raising funds and Russia’s defense sector, instead of institutions that ordinary Russians use.
“The measures today will have a measured impact on the Russian financial system. VEB is a significant bank, but it’s not the bank that banks everyday Russians. It’s a little more niche,” said Julia Friedlander, a former Treasury Department official who worked on sanctions policy.
She said not putting in place the most severe sanctions right away serve as a tactic.
“The idea is that you can’t blow all your options at once,” Friedlander, who is now a fellow at the Atlantic Council, said. “If you blow all your fire now, then what is Russia’s incentive to hold back?”
Sanctions that could be the most impactful would target Russia’s largest banks — like the state-owned banks that cover more than half of the Russian financial system — and the energy sector, Maria Shagina, a sanctions expert who specializes in Russia and Eastern Europe, told ABC News.
Sanctions on major banks could impact ordinary Russians, Shagina said. Sanctions on the current production of oil and gas could also have an impact, but the U.S. and Europe could also see spikes in prices. If future production is sanctioned, it would be less impactful, Shagina said.
White House officials have said they are considering targeting Russia’s largest banks. Experts told ABC News that hitting those big state-owned banks — Sberbank, VTB, Gazprombank and Rosselkhozbank — would mark a major escalation in the United States’ response.
“There’s a lot more banks out there that have a much larger role in the economy,” said Andrew Lohsen, a former officer with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine.
Russia has been preparing for sanctions, he said. Sberbank has reportedly been testing its ability to survive without access to Western software. It also has hundreds of billions in foreign currency reserves and in a national wealth fund.
“The Russian economy has worked to sanction-proof itself since 2014,” Lohsen, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told ABC News. “But at the end of the day, my concern is that Russia will just force its citizens to tighten its belts and will just proceed with this empire building project that it’s set for itself in Ukraine.”
He questioned whether the sanctions put in place will be enough to deter Russia.
“Can anything deter Putin,” he said, “short of return fire?”
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin announced early Thursday local time that military operations had begun in Ukraine, kicking off a long-feared attack on their European neighbor.
Earlier Wednesday, Ukraine had taken steps to brace for a possible Russian invasion, declaring a nationwide state of emergency and calling up 36,000 military reservists.
U.S. President Joe Biden said a day earlier that the world is witnessing “the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine” as he announced new economic sanctions on Russia, after weeks of escalating tensions in the region.
Biden’s remarks followed a fiery address from Putin to the Russian public on Monday evening, when the leader announced he was recognizing the independence of two Russia-backed separatist areas in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region — the self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk — which prompted a set of sanctions from Western countries, including Germany halting approval of a major gas pipeline from Russia.
While the United States says some 190,000 Russian troops and pro-Russian separatist forces are estimated to be massed near Ukraine’s borders, Russia has blamed Ukraine for stoking the crisis and reiterated its demands that Ukraine pledges to never join NATO.
Feb 23, 10:38 pm
Biden speaks on Russia attack: ‘Putin has chosen a premeditated war’
President Joe Biden released a statement calling Russian President Vladimir Putin’s military operation in Ukraine an “unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces.”
“President Putin has chosen a premeditated war that will bring a catastrophic loss of life and human suffering,” Biden said. “Russia alone is responsible for the death and destruction this attack will bring, and the United States and its Allies and partners will respond in a united and decisive way. The world will hold Russia accountable.”
Biden said he would be monitoring the situation from the White House.
On Thursday, he will meet with his “G7 counterparts” — leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom — and then will give an address to announce “further consequences” on Russia “for this needless act of aggression against Ukraine and global peace and security,” he said.
Additionally, Biden said, the U.S. will coordinate with NATO allies “to ensure a strong, united response that deters any aggression against the Alliance.”
Feb 23, 10:21 pm
Russia begins attack on Ukraine as UN pleads for him to pull back
As President Vladimir Putin announced his invasion of Ukraine on Russian state TV, President Joe Biden’s envoy at the U.N. was making a plea to Moscow to halt any action.
“This is a perilous moment, and we are here for one reason and one reason only: to ask Russia to stop,” Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said at the special session. “Return to your borders. Send your troops, and your tanks, and your planes back to their barracks and hangars. And send your diplomats to the negotiating table.”
“Back away from the brink, before it is too late,” she added, though it already appears to be too late.
Thomas-Greenfield said she spoke with Biden before Wednesday night’s meeting, saying he wanted to make clear the U.S. and its allies “will continue to respond to Russia’s actions with unity, clarity and conviction.”
Thomas-Greenfield threw down the gauntlet to other countries, saying “all parties are not culpable here. There’s no middle ground. … Russia is the aggressor here.”
Like other U.S. officials, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, she tried to appeal to the Russian people: “Everyday Russians should be asking themselves, right now, how many Russian lives Putin will sacrifice for his cynical ambitions?”
She ended by quoting the Ukrainian foreign minister, saying, “The people of Ukraine are counting on us. Let’s not let them down.”
-ABC News’ Conor Finnegan
Feb 23, 10:13 pm
Explosions heard in Kyiv
Explosions have been heard in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine.
-ABC News’ Kirit Radia
Feb 23, 10:18 pm
Putin announces military operation in Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia would undertake a special military operation in the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine in a speech on Russian state TV early Thursday morning.
Putin said the operation is aimed at what he called the “demilitarization” and “denazification” of Ukraine.
Putin said Russia’s plans did not include occupying Ukraine, but he called on Ukrainian soldiers to lay down their arms and go home.
He warned outside countries not to interfere.
Feb 23, 10:03 pm
UN Security Council session underway
The U.S., France and other members of the United Nations Security Council are working on a draft resolution to condemn Russia during its late-night session Wednesday, according to France’s permanent representative to the U.N.
In somewhat of a rarity, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addressed the chamber, speaking to the urgency of the meeting.
Looking directly into the camera ahead of him, Guterres addressed Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“If indeed an operation is being prepared, I have only one thing to say from the bottom of my heart: President Putin, stop your troops from attacking Ukraine. Give peace a chance. Too many people have already died,” he said.
Before the meeting, Guterres chatted with Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya, who also talked with China’s envoy Zhang Jun.
It’s unclear if the resolution will get a vote during the emergency session. But when it comes up, it will likely be denied by Russia and its veto power.
In 2014, after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine, a U.S. resolution declaring the action invalid was denied by Russia’s veto, while China abstained. The U.S. then brought the resolution to the U.N. General Assembly, where resolutions are non-binding but every member has a vote. It passed with about 100 votes in favor.
-ABC News’ Conor Finnegan
Feb 23, 9:47 pm
Russia issues notices for air travel to avoid northeastern Ukraine
Russia has issued a series of NOTAMs, or Notice to Air Missions, in northeastern Ukraine as a warning to civilian aircraft in the area.
There are 12 NOTAMs from Russia providing coordinates that map in northeastern Ukraine. They include warnings to airports in Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro and Odesa and say they are “due to potential hazard for civil aviation.”
These alerts are a warning from Russia to flights entering these areas that they do so at their own risk.
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Feb 23, 8:34 pm
Russian military leaders have gone to command center
In another indication that an invasion of Ukraine may be very close to taking place, Russian military leaders have gone to their command center, and cyber attacks are underway, according to a U.S. official.
Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, believes any invasion has to happen during the night, the official said.
-ABC News’ Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz
Feb 23, 7:34 pm
UN Security Council to meet again
The U.N. Security Council will meet in another late-night session at 9:30 p.m. ET, a U.N. diplomat told ABC News.
Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba called for the meeting earlier Wednesday evening.
-ABC News’ Conor Finnegan
Feb 23, 7:08 pm
Ukrainian president posts video, says he tried to call Putin but got ‘silence’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave an impassioned televised address, in which he said Ukraine doesn’t want war and rejected Russia’s claims that Ukraine is a threat or home to Nazism.
Zelenskyy said he tried to call Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday. “The result — silence,” he said.
Zelenskyy spoke in Russian for part of the address to appeal directly to the Russian people.
“We don’t need war. Not a cold one, nor a hot one, nor a hybrid one,” Zelenskyy said.
“We are separated by more than 2,000 kilometers of shared border. Along it today stand your troops, almost 200,000 soldiers, thousands of military vehicles,” he added. “Your leadership has approved their step forward, onto the territory of another country. And this step can become the start of a big war on the European continent,” he said.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Feb 23, 6:43 pm
Ukrainian president posts video, says he tried to call Putin but got ‘silence’
Ukrianian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave an impassioned televised address, in which he said Ukraine doesn’t want war and rejected Russia’s claims that Ukraine is a threat or home to Nazism.
Zelenskyy said he tried to call Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday. “The result — silence,” he said.
Zelenskyy spoke in Russian for part of the address to appeal directly to the Russian people.
“We don’t need war. Not a cold one, nor a hot one, nor a hybrid one,” Zelenskyy said.
“We are separated by more than 2,000 kilometers of shared border. Along it today stand your troops, almost 200,000 soldiers, thousands of military vehicles,” he added. “Your leadership has approved their step forward, onto the territory of another country. And this step can become the start of a big war on the European continent,” he said.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Feb 23, 5:57 pm
No fly notice issued for Ukraine airport near Russian border
A no fly notice was issued for an airport in Kharkiv, a city in eastern Ukraine only 20 miles from Russia.
The Notice to Air Mission (NOTAM) will close the airport until 8:30 a.m. Thursday.
The move comes after the Ukrainian military told leaders that Russia may target Kharkiv in an attack, according to sources.
Satellite imagery shows Russian troop deployments less than 50 miles from the city.
-ABC News’ Kirit Radia
Feb 23, 5:53 pm
Ukraine requests urgent UN Security Council meeting
Ukraine has requested an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council in response to the appeal made by Russian-controlled separatists for military help from Russia.
“Ukraine has requested an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council due to the appeal by Russian occupation administrations in Donetsk and Luhansk to Russia with a request to provide them with military assistance, which is a further escalation of the security situation,” Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Feb 23, 5:08 pm
US embassy in Moscow to remain open
State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters the U.S. is not planning to draw down its embassy in Moscow.
“It will be our goal to be in a position to maintain diplomatic communication, the ability to convey clearly any messages that we need to send to the Russian Federation. Embassies are an important tool in that,” he said.
Price had no comment on whether Ukraine should sever diplomatic ties with Russia and said it’s their choice.
-ABC News’ Conor Finnegan
Feb 23, 4:22 pm
Pentagon warns Russia is ‘ready’ to invade
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby, at an afternoon press briefing on Wednesday, said Russian forces are now prepared for an invasion of Ukraine.
“What we see is that Russian forces continue to assemble closer to the border and put themselves in an advanced stage of readiness to act to conduct military action in Ukraine,” Kirby said. “We believe that they are ready.”
He said that the U.S. does not know when or how an invasion might begin but repeated President Joe Biden’s message that if a large-scale invasion happens, it will be a “war of choice” for Putin.
“There will be suffering, there will be sacrifice, and all of that must and should be laid at his feet because he’s doing this by choice,” Kirby said.
“I would hope that he understands that some of those lives at risk will be his soldiers’ lives and he’s going to have to answer to Russian moms and dads about their soldiers that aren’t making it back home alive or making it back with injuries. He’s going to have to answer for that,” Kirby added later.
Kirby went farther than a senior defense official who spoke to reporters earlier Wednesday, saying the U.S. “certainly” believes Russia is sending additional troops into the separatist-controlled areas of Donbas.
“We can’t confirm with any great specificity, the numbers and what the formations are, what the capabilities are, but we certainly that that’s happening,” he said.
-ABC News’ Matt Seyler
Feb 23, 4:20 pm
Separatists appeal to Putin for military assistance
Russian-controlled separatists have formally appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin for military assistance in repulsing “Ukrainian aggression”, according to the Kremlin’s spokesman.
In a letter, the separatist leaders invoked the mutual defense pact Russia signed with them after recognizing them.
Ukrainian officials, meanwhile, have maintained that Russia is the aggressor on the ground.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Feb 23, 4:18 pm
State Department addresses Nord Stream 2 sanctions
State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters at Wednesday’s briefing that “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is beginning.”
Price outlined the sanctions placed on Russia, including President Joe Biden’s recent sanctioning of Nord Stream 2 AG, the company in charge of the natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany.
“By acting together with the Germans, how we did when we did and the way in which we did, we have ensured that this is an $11 billion prize investment that is now a hunk of steel, sitting at the bottom of the sea,” Price said.
Echoing remarks from Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday, Price said the U.S. will no longer engage in the “pretense of diplomacy” with Russia, adding, “This is and has been, in some ways, diplomatic Kabuki theater on the part of the Russians.
“The goal now is to “avert the worst-case scenario” in Ukraine, he said, which may include “an attack on major urban centers, including Kyiv” and “horrific human rights abuses, atrocities, potential war crimes.”
“These are all things that even as the invasion is beginning, we are going to do everything we reasonably can to prevent from happening,” Price said.
When asked about former President Donald Trump and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo praising Russian President Vladimir Putin this week, Price replied, “I have no response. In fact, I have no words.”
Feb 23, 3:05 pm
Pelosi defends Biden’s handling of crisis
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi referred to Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “tyrant” on Wednesday and defended President Joe Biden’s handling of the crisis in Ukraine.
“This is the same tyrant who attacked our democracy in 2016,” Pelosi said during her weekly press briefing. “This is the same tyrant who is opposed to democracy and wants to minimize, trivialize it, to downgrade it in the eyes of the Russian people.”
While Biden has faced political attacks from some Republicans who argue U.S. sanctions do not go far enough, Pelosi called the president’s actions “appropriate.”
“This is a unified effort by our allies in the NATO alliance. And what was proposed was what was agreed to in terms of timing,” she said.
ABC News’ senior congressional correspondent Rachel Scott asked Pelosi and other lawmakers if they believe the sanctions announced by the administration Tuesday were enough to deter Putin.
“I think the sanctions are going to just continue to increase and we’ll have an ultimately crippling impact on many sectors of the Russian economy,” Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., responded.
Pelosi added that Russia hasn’t seen the “depth” of the sanctions take hold yet.
“Putin is probably the richest man in the world,” Pelosi said. “Follow the money. That’s what’s the sanctions are about.”
-ABC News’ Mariam Khan
Feb 23, 2:09 pm
Biden imposes US sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG
President Joe Biden announced additional sanctions on Wednesday impacting Nord Stream 2 AG, the company in charge of building Nord Stream 2, the massive natural gas pipeline connecting Russia to Germany’s Baltic coast.
“Yesterday, after further close consultations between our two governments, Germany announced that it would halt certification of the pipeline. Today, I have directed my administration to impose sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG and its corporate officers,” Biden said in a statement.
Biden said he had directed his administration to sanction Nord Stream 2 AG, as well as the firm’s corporate officers.
The Biden administration had held off sanctioning the company, holding the threat of sanctions as leverage.
The president said this move was part of the “initial tranche of sanctions” that he first announced and began to roll out on Tuesday.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Feb 23, 1:46 pm
Russian forces ‘as ready as they can be’ to invade: US defense official
About 80% of Russian forces amassed around Ukraine are in what the Pentagon calls “forward positions” and are “ready to go” if given the order to invade, a senior defense official said Wednesday.
The official said the U.S. has not seen Russian troops breaking out from the two separatist republics in eastern Ukraine but added that the U.S. is operating under the assumption that Russia has, indeed, sent more troops into the separatist-controlled area of Donbas.
“We have we have been saying any day now, and it is certainly possible that today is that day,” the official said. “They could go at any hour now.”
While the official said it still appears Russia is preparing for a large-scale invasion, they added, “If ever we want to be wrong, we want to be wrong about this.”
-ABC News’ Matt Seyler and Luis Martinez
Feb 23, 12:45 pm
White House threatens other sanctions in US toolkit
Asked by ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega on what the U.S. could do if sanctions imposed Tuesday don’t work, White House press secretary Jen Psaki laid out additional sanctions that the U.S. could still impose.
“Sanctions can take a number of formats, right?” Psaki said at Tuesday’s press briefing. “Export controls is certainly one of them. There’s many more sanctions that we have at our disposal. Swift, the SWIFT system is obviously significant, not in the first tranche, but there’s a range of options that remain on the table for sanctions.”
While the U.S. said Tuesday that cutting Russia off from the international SWIFT financial system was still an option, it’s conceivable the Russians could find a way around SWIFT and move to other less-regulated payments systems.
Psaki also said sanctions are not intended to have “the harshest impact on the first day” but are “designed to have a squeezing impact over the course of time and we have many more escalatory steps that we could take.”
The top White House official crafting U.S. sanctions on Russia, Daleep Singh, also told reporters that the U.S. wasn’t seeking to “max out on sanctions” but that “they’re meant to prevent and deter a large-scale invasion of Ukraine that could involve the seizure of major cities, including Kyiv.”
Psaki echoed Biden in saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s speech to the Russian people on Monday “was rife with historical inaccuracy” and that Putin “made clear that he does not view Ukraine, not just the areas he recognized yesterday, but that the totality of Ukraine as an independent country.”
Notably, Biden did not mention personally targeting Putin on Tuesday, which he had previously said he was considering.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittelson, Zunaira Zaki and Elizabeth Schultze
Feb 23, 12:44 pm
Lawmakers warn Biden to seek authorization before sending troops to Ukraine
While President Joe Biden has made clear he is not considering sending U.S. troops into Ukraine, having said it would lead to war, a group of lawmakers sent him a letter late Tuesday to remind him that he must get authorization from Congress before he decides to engage the military in Ukraine.
The bipartisan oddball group of lawmakers who signed the letter includes Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-N.Y., Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, and Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., among about three dozen others.
“If the ongoing situation compels you to introduce the brave men and women of our military into Ukraine, their lives would inherently be put at risk of Russia chooses to invade,” read the letter, which Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., shared on Twitter. “Therefore, we ask that your decisions comport with the Constitution and our nation’s laws by consulting with Congress to receive authorization before any such development.”
Lawmakers wrote that the War Powers Resolution of 1973 has been abused by previous presidents, and they noted that the act restricted Biden from not only engaging troops in battle but also from launching a “pre-emptive strike.”
“Congress stands ready to deliberate over the potentially monumental implications of such scenarios,” they said.
-ABC News’ Mariam Khan
Feb 23, 12:15 pm
EU imposes more sanctions on Russia
The European Union imposed Wednesday another slew of tough sanctions on Russia over its recognition of two pro-Russian separatist areas in eastern Ukraine.
The move is an attempt to deter Moscow from proceeding further withs its invasion of Ukraine and follows Tuesday’s decision by Germany to halt the certification of a key natural gas pipeline to Russia.
The package of measures adopted by the Council of the EU were published online Wednesday and include a ban on the Russian state and its central bank from accessing the EU’s capital and finance markets; sanctions against three Russian state banks; blacklisting all 351 members of the Russian parliament that voted earlier this week to ratify the decision to recgonize the separatist regions as independent; sanctions against 27 “high profile individuals and entities, including the Russian defense minister, top Kremlin officials and propagandists; and an import ban and restrictions on trade and investment, as well as a partial export ban on the two separatist areas.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Feb 23, 11:46 am
Ukraine FM calls on UN to act or face ‘the darkest times of the 20th Century’
The United Nations General Assembly — which includes all U.N. recognized governments — is meeting Wednesday in its main hall to address the crisis created by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, fresh from his meetings Tuesday with President Joe Biden and other top U.S. officials, addressed the hall as the first country, speaking after U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. In a firm speech, Kuleba blasted Russia’s recognition of its separatist areas as “independent” and deployment of troops there as an “attack on the United Nations” itself — a “grim scenario which will throw us back to the darkest times of the 20th century.”
“I warn every nation in this distinguished chamber: No one will be able to sit out this crisis,” he said. “Your governments and your people will face painful consequences together with our government and our people,” Kuleba told the chamber.
“The beginning of a large-scale war in Ukraine will be the end of the world order as we know it. If Russia does not get a severe, swift, and decisive response now, this will mean a total bankruptcy of the international security system and international institutions which are tasked with maintaining the global security order,” he added.
He warned other actors will be “inspired” by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions and follow his lead — turning the United Nations into the League of Nations, the early 20th-century international organization that was seen as feckless in stopping the Axis Powers in the lead up to World War II — a history Kuleba directly referenced.
“We all read history books. We all watch movies about the mistakes politicians made in the run-up to 1914 and 1939, about the feats of our grandparents and the catastrophic price at which a revanchist ruler in Europe was defeated. There is no more important task today than to not repeat the mistakes of the past,” he said.
To prevent that, Kuleba called for “decisive, immediate, and proportional action” by the international community — not just condemnations and statements, but actions.
“These days, we have probably the last window of opportunity to do what Russia does not expect the United Nations and its member states to do — demonstrate unprecedented ability and readiness to act in order to stop aggression,” he said — finishing by calling on members, regardless of their relations with one another individually, to do “your ultimate duty, to defend the charter of the United Nations.”
-ABC News’ Conor Finnegan
Feb 23, 10:56 am
Another cyberattack hits Ukraine government websites
Ukraine’s government said Wednesday a new cyberattack has hit several of its government ministries, knocking their websites offline, amid warnings of attacks from Russia both on the ground and on the web.
Mikhail Fedorov, minister for digital transformation in Ukraine, announced that a “massive DDoS” attack hit around 4 p.m. local time. He said the websites of Ukraine’s cabinet, parliament and foreign ministry were down and that a number of banks were also having problems.
“It is connected with traffic switching on other provider for minimization of damage from the attack,” he said.
RIA Novosti, a Russian state-owned news agency, also reported the cyberattack.
It comes one week after a similar cyberattack in Ukraine.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Feb 23, 10:10 am
Russian attack may come in next 2 days: Ukraine’s military to lawmakers
Ukraine’s military has briefed key members of parliament that it now believes the situation in eastern Ukraine with Russia may sharply deteriorate in the next two days, according to four sources with knowledge of what was said during the briefing.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was present at the Wednesday night briefing, sources said, where the military said they now believe Russia may launch a major attack that would go beyond Eastern Ukraine, targeting at least two major cities. Sources said they told the members of parliament that Kyiv might also be a target — in line with U.S. officials warning that Russia is preparing a full-scale invasion that will go beyond eastern Ukraine and target Kyiv.
According to two sources, the military believes Russia may target Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city that is located around 20 miles from the border with Russia in the east, and also Kherson, a city in the south close to Crimea.
In a shift of tone Thursday, Ukraine has been taking new steps to brace for a possible attack, declaring a nationwide state of emergency and calling up 36,000 reservists. But publicly Zelenskyy’s administration has continued to say it is not certain whether Russia will attack. It has said, for now, a full-scale mobilization is not necessary, and it has not declared martial law.
-ABC News’ Yulia Drozd and Patrick Reevell
Feb 23, 9:22 am
US sanctions to be met with ‘strong response,’ Russia warns
Russia warned Wednesday that the latest sanctions imposed by the United States “will be met with a strong response.”
“The round of sanctions announced by the United States Administration [already the 101st in a row] affecting the financial sector with the expansion of the list of persons against whom personal restrictions are imposed is in line with Washington’s ongoing attempts to change Russia’s course,” the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “There should be no doubt that the sanctions will be met with a strong response, not necessarily symmetrical, but well-grounded and sensitive for the American side.”
U.S. President Joe Biden announced Tuesday the latest sanctions, which he said would target two Russian banks, Russia’s sovereign debt and, starting Wednesday, the Russian elite and their relatives.
Feb 23, 9:06 am
Russia marks Defender of the Fatherland Day
Russia marked Defender of the Fatherland Day on Wednesday.
In a video message, Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated his fellow Russians on the public holiday and noted the importance of ensuring the country’s defense capability.
“Dear comrades, today ensuring the defense capability of our country remains the most important state task, and the armed forces serve as a reliable guarantee of national security, the peaceful and calm life of our citizens, and the stable, progressive development of Russia,” Putin said.
The Russian leader was seen taking part in a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by the Kremlin wall in Moscow.
Feb 23, 6:24 am
Ukrainian military begins calling up 36,000 reservists
Ukraine’s military said Wednesday it has begun calling up some reservists in response to an order from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The military general staff said they will be calling up reservists aged 18 to 60 starting Wednesday.
The secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, said Wednesday that the number of reservists being called up was 36,000, most of whom he said already have combat experience.
On Tuesday, while signing a decree to call up some of Ukraine’s military reservists, Zelenskyy emphasized that it was not yet a full mobilization but just the “active reserve,” or troops with combat training.
Zelenskyy said the order was necessary because Ukraine’s military now needs to be at “heightened readiness” for any changes in the situation on the ground with Russia.
Feb 23, 6:17 am
Ukraine to declare nationwide state of emergency
The secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, announced Wednesday that a nationwide state of emergency will be declared due to the threat of a Russian invasion.
The declaration must be approved by the Ukrainian parliament before the state of emergency can go into effect for an initial 30 days. The move, which differs from the introduction of martial law, would allow local authorities across the country of 41 million people to put restrictions and heightened security measures in place, such as curfews and limits on movement.
Danilov said the state of emergency would be a “preventative” measure “so that the country preserves its calm, so that our economy works and our country works.” Any restrictions imposed under the declaration would likely vary from region to region, according to Danilov.
“Depending on situation on the ground in a particular area, the local bodies can impose various measures including curfews, only if needed,” Danilov said at a press conference Wednesday. “We won’t make people suffer unnecessarily but we must insure people’s safety.”
He then gave examples of what those restrictions could be: “It can the reinforcing of security around public order and critical infrastructure facilities. It can be certain limits imposed of the movement of transport. It can mean additional vigilance. It can be the checking of various documents for people.”
Danilov noted that the state of emergency would be imposed on all of Ukraine’s territory except for the eastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk because a special emergency status has been in place there since 2014, when pro-Russian separatists took control of some areas.
Feb 23, 5:33 am
Ukrainian right-wing volunteer battalion mobilizes
One of Ukraine’s far-right volunteer battalions announced Wednesday it is mobilizing to prepare to fight, amid fears of an imminent Russian invasion.
During Russia’s first invasion in 2014, the Ukrainian army was in disarray, prompting civilians to form volunteer battalions — many of them with right-wing ideologies. These highly motivated private armies — some funded by oligarchs — helped stem the fall of eastern Ukraine to Russia-backed separatists.
But once large-scale fighting had ended, the Ukrainian government moved the volunteer battalions back from the front line because they were seen as potentially provocative and problematic.
The so-called Right Sector is one of Ukraine’s most famous volunteer battalions. It’s made up of radical nationalists who played a crucial role in the 2014 revolution. In Russia, the group was made into a propaganda boogeyman.
The Right Sector’s return to the front line in eastern Ukraine will be used heavily by Russian propaganda. But it also shows how worried Ukrainians are getting, especially if more volunteer battalions start mobilizing.
In a Facebook post Wednesday, Right Sector said it is mobilizing its “assault brigade” due to the “high probability of the start of a full-scale invasion by the Russian army.”
“Our unit has already defended Ukrainian independence for 8 years from the occupiers,” the group said. “In the case of a full scale invasion we, as always, will be at the front of the fight.”
Feb 23, 4:29 am
Russia claims 100,000 refugees have fled eastern Ukraine
The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed Wednesday that 100,000 refugees from two Russia-backed separatist areas in eastern Ukraine have arrived across the border in Russia.
The claim was unverified and highly improbable, as it appeared to be part of Russia’s intensifying efforts to spin an image of a major humanitarian crisis in the region to build a pretext for a possible invasion.
Russia-backed separatists have forced civilians living in the areas to evacuate despite the fact that there is no increased threat from the Ukrainian military. While thousands of people have been bused out of the region to Russia, the alleged figure of 100,000 appeared vastly exaggerated.
Russia’s claims have been accompanied by a barrage of false stories and staged videos of alleged attacks by Ukrainian forces, all of which have been blaring across Russian state media in recent days.
Feb 23, 12:03 am
Russia-backed separatists make ‘terror attacks’ claim as Russia continues to build pretext
Russian-controlled separatists are claiming two large “terrorist attacks” took place in their territory Tuesday night, as the separatists and Russia continue to intensify their efforts to create a pretext for a possible Russian attack.
The separatists claimed explosions went off at a TV tower and near a trolley bus depot, and they released video afterward they claim shows emergency workers looking at damage.
The claims are highly suspect, and they came amid a barrage of fake reports of supposed Ukrainian attacks that are being swiftly debunked.
The claims also came as Ukraine released video showing heavy artillery fire from separatists hitting a village called Chastiya — which means “happiness” — on the Ukrainian side of the frontline. The video appears to show rockets striking a house.
Artillery fire also hit a power station nearby yesterday.
It appears the Russian-controlled separatists have intensified their fire onto Ukrainian positions in the hope of stoking return fire and creating an impression of a general escalation.
(NEW YORK) — To address the crisis at its border after publicly downplaying warnings, Ukraine on Wednesday took steps to brace for a possible Russian invasion, declaring a nationwide state of emergency and calling up 36,000 military reservists.
U.S. President Joe Biden said a day earlier that the world is witnessing “the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine” as he announced new economic sanctions on Russia, after weeks of escalating tensions in the region.
Biden’s remarks followed a fiery address from Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Russian public on Monday evening, when the leader announced he was recognizing the independence of two Russia-backed separatist areas in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region — the self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk — which prompted a set of sanctions from Western countries, including Germany halting approval of a major gas pipeline from Russia.
While the United States says some 190,000 Russian troops and pro-Russian separatist forces are estimated to be massed near Ukraine’s borders, Russia has denied any wrongdoing and reiterated its demands that Ukraine pledges to never join NATO.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Feb 23, 7:34 pm
UN Security Council to meet again
The U.N. Security Council will meet in another late-night session at 9:30 p.m. ET, a U.N. diplomat told ABC News.
Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba called for the meeting earlier Wednesday evening.
-ABC News’ Conor Finnegan
Feb 23, 7:08 pm
Ukrainian president posts video, says he tried to call Putin but got ‘silence’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave an impassioned televised address, in which he said Ukraine doesn’t want war and rejected Russia’s claims that Ukraine is a threat or home to Nazism.
Zelenskyy said he tried to call Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday. “The result — silence,” he said.
Zelenskyy spoke in Russian for part of the address to appeal directly to the Russian people.
“We don’t need war. Not a cold one, nor a hot one, nor a hybrid one,” Zelenskyy said.
“We are separated by more than 2,000 kilometers of shared border. Along it today stand your troops, almost 200,000 soldiers, thousands of military vehicles,” he added. “Your leadership has approved their step forward, onto the territory of another country. And this step can become the start of a big war on the European continent,” he said.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Feb 23, 6:43 pm
Ukrainian president posts video, says he tried to call Putin but got ‘silence’
Ukrianian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave an impassioned televised address, in which he said Ukraine doesn’t want war and rejected Russia’s claims that Ukraine is a threat or home to Nazism.
Zelenskyy said he tried to call Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday. “The result — silence,” he said.
Zelenskyy spoke in Russian for part of the address to appeal directly to the Russian people.
“We don’t need war. Not a cold one, nor a hot one, nor a hybrid one,” Zelenskyy said.
“We are separated by more than 2,000 kilometers of shared border. Along it today stand your troops, almost 200,000 soldiers, thousands of military vehicles,” he added. “Your leadership has approved their step forward, onto the territory of another country. And this step can become the start of a big war on the European continent,” he said.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Feb 23, 5:57 pm
No fly notice issued for Ukraine airport near Russian border
A no fly notice was issued for an airport in Kharkiv, a city in eastern Ukraine only 20 miles from Russia.
The Notice to Air Mission (NOTAM) will close the airport until 8:30 a.m. Thursday.
The move comes after the Ukrainian military told leaders that Russia may target Kharkiv in an attack, according to sources.
Satellite imagery shows Russian troop deployments less than 50 miles from the city.
-ABC News’ Kirit Radia
Feb 23, 5:53 pm
Ukraine requests urgent UN Security Council meeting
Ukraine has requested an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council in response to the appeal made by Russian-controlled separatists for military help from Russia.
“Ukraine has requested an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council due to the appeal by Russian occupation administrations in Donetsk and Luhansk to Russia with a request to provide them with military assistance, which is a further escalation of the security situation,” Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Feb 23, 5:08 pm
US embassy in Moscow to remain open
State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters the U.S. is not planning to draw down its embassy in Moscow.
“It will be our goal to be in a position to maintain diplomatic communication, the ability to convey clearly any messages that we need to send to the Russian Federation. Embassies are an important tool in that,” he said.
Price had no comment on whether Ukraine should sever diplomatic ties with Russia and said it’s their choice.
-ABC News’ Conor Finnegan
Feb 23, 4:22 pm
Pentagon warns Russia is ‘ready’ to invade
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby, at an afternoon press briefing on Wednesday, said Russian forces are now prepared for an invasion of Ukraine.
“What we see is that Russian forces continue to assemble closer to the border and put themselves in an advanced stage of readiness to act to conduct military action in Ukraine,” Kirby said. “We believe that they are ready.”
He said that the U.S. does not know when or how an invasion might begin but repeated President Joe Biden’s message that if a large-scale invasion happens, it will be a “war of choice” for Putin.
“There will be suffering, there will be sacrifice, and all of that must and should be laid at his feet because he’s doing this by choice,” Kirby said.
“I would hope that he understands that some of those lives at risk will be his soldiers’ lives and he’s going to have to answer to Russian moms and dads about their soldiers that aren’t making it back home alive or making it back with injuries. He’s going to have to answer for that,” Kirby added later.
Kirby went farther than a senior defense official who spoke to reporters earlier Wednesday, saying the U.S. “certainly” believes Russia is sending additional troops into the separatist-controlled areas of Donbas.
“We can’t confirm with any great specificity, the numbers and what the formations are, what the capabilities are, but we certainly that that’s happening,” he said.
-ABC News’ Matt Seyler
Feb 23, 4:20 pm
Separatists appeal to Putin for military assistance
Russian-controlled separatists have formally appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin for military assistance in repulsing “Ukrainian aggression”, according to the Kremlin’s spokesman.
In a letter, the separatist leaders invoked the mutual defense pact Russia signed with them after recognizing them.
Ukrainian officials, meanwhile, have maintained that Russia is the aggressor on the ground.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Feb 23, 4:18 pm
State Department addresses Nord Stream 2 sanctions
State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters at Wednesday’s briefing that “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is beginning.”
Price outlined the sanctions placed on Russia, including President Joe Biden’s recent sanctioning of Nord Stream 2 AG, the company in charge of the natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany.
“By acting together with the Germans, how we did when we did and the way in which we did, we have ensured that this is an $11 billion prize investment that is now a hunk of steel, sitting at the bottom of the sea,” Price said.
Echoing remarks from Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday, Price said the U.S. will no longer engage in the “pretense of diplomacy” with Russia, adding, “This is and has been, in some ways, diplomatic Kabuki theater on the part of the Russians.
“The goal now is to “avert the worst-case scenario” in Ukraine, he said, which may include “an attack on major urban centers, including Kyiv” and “horrific human rights abuses, atrocities, potential war crimes.”
“These are all things that even as the invasion is beginning, we are going to do everything we reasonably can to prevent from happening,” Price said.
When asked about former President Donald Trump and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo praising Russian President Vladimir Putin this week, Price replied, “I have no response. In fact, I have no words.”
Feb 23, 3:05 pm
Pelosi defends Biden’s handling of crisis
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi referred to Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “tyrant” on Wednesday and defended President Joe Biden’s handling of the crisis in Ukraine.
“This is the same tyrant who attacked our democracy in 2016,” Pelosi said during her weekly press briefing. “This is the same tyrant who is opposed to democracy and wants to minimize, trivialize it, to downgrade it in the eyes of the Russian people.”
While Biden has faced political attacks from some Republicans who argue U.S. sanctions do not go far enough, Pelosi called the president’s actions “appropriate.”
“This is a unified effort by our allies in the NATO alliance. And what was proposed was what was agreed to in terms of timing,” she said.
ABC News’ senior congressional correspondent Rachel Scott asked Pelosi and other lawmakers if they believe the sanctions announced by the administration Tuesday were enough to deter Putin.
“I think the sanctions are going to just continue to increase and we’ll have an ultimately crippling impact on many sectors of the Russian economy,” Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., responded.
Pelosi added that Russia hasn’t seen the “depth” of the sanctions take hold yet.
“Putin is probably the richest man in the world,” Pelosi said. “Follow the money. That’s what’s the sanctions are about.”
-ABC News’ Mariam Khan
Feb 23, 2:09 pm
Biden imposes US sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG
President Joe Biden announced additional sanctions on Wednesday impacting Nord Stream 2 AG, the company in charge of building Nord Stream 2, the massive natural gas pipeline connecting Russia to Germany’s Baltic coast.
“Yesterday, after further close consultations between our two governments, Germany announced that it would halt certification of the pipeline. Today, I have directed my administration to impose sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG and its corporate officers,” Biden said in a statement.
Biden said he had directed his administration to sanction Nord Stream 2 AG, as well as the firm’s corporate officers.
The Biden administration had held off sanctioning the company, holding the threat of sanctions as leverage.
The president said this move was part of the “initial tranche of sanctions” that he first announced and began to roll out on Tuesday.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Feb 23, 1:46 pm
Russian forces ‘as ready as they can be’ to invade: US defense official
About 80% of Russian forces amassed around Ukraine are in what the Pentagon calls “forward positions” and are “ready to go” if given the order to invade, a senior defense official said Wednesday.
The official said the U.S. has not seen Russian troops breaking out from the two separatist republics in eastern Ukraine but added that the U.S. is operating under the assumption that Russia has, indeed, sent more troops into the separatist-controlled area of Donbas.
“We have we have been saying any day now, and it is certainly possible that today is that day,” the official said. “They could go at any hour now.”
While the official said it still appears Russia is preparing for a large-scale invasion, they added, “If ever we want to be wrong, we want to be wrong about this.”
-ABC News’ Matt Seyler and Luis Martinez
Feb 23, 12:45 pm
White House threatens other sanctions in US toolkit
Asked by ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega on what the U.S. could do if sanctions imposed Tuesday don’t work, White House press secretary Jen Psaki laid out additional sanctions that the U.S. could still impose.
“Sanctions can take a number of formats, right?” Psaki said at Tuesday’s press briefing. “Export controls is certainly one of them. There’s many more sanctions that we have at our disposal. Swift, the SWIFT system is obviously significant, not in the first tranche, but there’s a range of options that remain on the table for sanctions.”
While the U.S. said Tuesday that cutting Russia off from the international SWIFT financial system was still an option, it’s conceivable the Russians could find a way around SWIFT and move to other less-regulated payments systems.
Psaki also said sanctions are not intended to have “the harshest impact on the first day” but are “designed to have a squeezing impact over the course of time and we have many more escalatory steps that we could take.”
The top White House official crafting U.S. sanctions on Russia, Daleep Singh, also told reporters that the U.S. wasn’t seeking to “max out on sanctions” but that “they’re meant to prevent and deter a large-scale invasion of Ukraine that could involve the seizure of major cities, including Kyiv.”
Psaki echoed Biden in saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s speech to the Russian people on Monday “was rife with historical inaccuracy” and that Putin “made clear that he does not view Ukraine, not just the areas he recognized yesterday, but that the totality of Ukraine as an independent country.”
Notably, Biden did not mention personally targeting Putin on Tuesday, which he had previously said he was considering.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittelson, Zunaira Zaki and Elizabeth Schultze
Feb 23, 12:44 pm
Lawmakers warn Biden to seek authorization before sending troops to Ukraine
While President Joe Biden has made clear he is not considering sending U.S. troops into Ukraine, having said it would lead to war, a group of lawmakers sent him a letter late Tuesday to remind him that he must get authorization from Congress before he decides to engage the military in Ukraine.
The bipartisan oddball group of lawmakers who signed the letter includes Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-N.Y., Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, and Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., among about three dozen others.
“If the ongoing situation compels you to introduce the brave men and women of our military into Ukraine, their lives would inherently be put at risk of Russia chooses to invade,” read the letter, which Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., shared on Twitter. “Therefore, we ask that your decisions comport with the Constitution and our nation’s laws by consulting with Congress to receive authorization before any such development.”
Lawmakers wrote that the War Powers Resolution of 1973 has been abused by previous presidents, and they noted that the act restricted Biden from not only engaging troops in battle but also from launching a “pre-emptive strike.”
“Congress stands ready to deliberate over the potentially monumental implications of such scenarios,” they said.
-ABC News’ Mariam Khan
Feb 23, 12:15 pm
EU imposes more sanctions on Russia
The European Union imposed Wednesday another slew of tough sanctions on Russia over its recognition of two pro-Russian separatist areas in eastern Ukraine.
The move is an attempt to deter Moscow from proceeding further withs its invasion of Ukraine and follows Tuesday’s decision by Germany to halt the certification of a key natural gas pipeline to Russia.
The package of measures adopted by the Council of the EU were published online Wednesday and include a ban on the Russian state and its central bank from accessing the EU’s capital and finance markets; sanctions against three Russian state banks; blacklisting all 351 members of the Russian parliament that voted earlier this week to ratify the decision to recgonize the separatist regions as independent; sanctions against 27 “high profile individuals and entities, including the Russian defense minister, top Kremlin officials and propagandists; and an import ban and restrictions on trade and investment, as well as a partial export ban on the two separatist areas.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Feb 23, 11:46 am
Ukraine FM calls on UN to act or face ‘the darkest times of the 20th Century’
The United Nations General Assembly — which includes all U.N. recognized governments — is meeting Wednesday in its main hall to address the crisis created by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, fresh from his meetings Tuesday with President Joe Biden and other top U.S. officials, addressed the hall as the first country, speaking after U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. In a firm speech, Kuleba blasted Russia’s recognition of its separatist areas as “independent” and deployment of troops there as an “attack on the United Nations” itself — a “grim scenario which will throw us back to the darkest times of the 20th century.”
“I warn every nation in this distinguished chamber: No one will be able to sit out this crisis,” he said. “Your governments and your people will face painful consequences together with our government and our people,” Kuleba told the chamber.
“The beginning of a large-scale war in Ukraine will be the end of the world order as we know it. If Russia does not get a severe, swift, and decisive response now, this will mean a total bankruptcy of the international security system and international institutions which are tasked with maintaining the global security order,” he added.
He warned other actors will be “inspired” by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions and follow his lead — turning the United Nations into the League of Nations, the early 20th-century international organization that was seen as feckless in stopping the Axis Powers in the lead up to World War II — a history Kuleba directly referenced.
“We all read history books. We all watch movies about the mistakes politicians made in the run-up to 1914 and 1939, about the feats of our grandparents and the catastrophic price at which a revanchist ruler in Europe was defeated. There is no more important task today than to not repeat the mistakes of the past,” he said.
To prevent that, Kuleba called for “decisive, immediate, and proportional action” by the international community — not just condemnations and statements, but actions.
“These days, we have probably the last window of opportunity to do what Russia does not expect the United Nations and its member states to do — demonstrate unprecedented ability and readiness to act in order to stop aggression,” he said — finishing by calling on members, regardless of their relations with one another individually, to do “your ultimate duty, to defend the charter of the United Nations.”
-ABC News’ Conor Finnegan
Feb 23, 10:56 am
Another cyberattack hits Ukraine government websites
Ukraine’s government said Wednesday a new cyberattack has hit several of its government ministries, knocking their websites offline, amid warnings of attacks from Russia both on the ground and on the web.
Mikhail Fedorov, minister for digital transformation in Ukraine, announced that a “massive DDoS” attack hit around 4 p.m. local time. He said the websites of Ukraine’s cabinet, parliament and foreign ministry were down and that a number of banks were also having problems.
“It is connected with traffic switching on other provider for minimization of damage from the attack,” he said.
RIA Novosti, a Russian state-owned news agency, also reported the cyberattack.
It comes one week after a similar cyberattack in Ukraine.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Feb 23, 10:10 am
Russian attack may come in next 2 days: Ukraine’s military to lawmakers
Ukraine’s military has briefed key members of parliament that it now believes the situation in eastern Ukraine with Russia may sharply deteriorate in the next two days, according to four sources with knowledge of what was said during the briefing.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was present at the Wednesday night briefing, sources said, where the military said they now believe Russia may launch a major attack that would go beyond Eastern Ukraine, targeting at least two major cities. Sources said they told the members of parliament that Kyiv might also be a target — in line with U.S. officials warning that Russia is preparing a full-scale invasion that will go beyond eastern Ukraine and target Kyiv.
According to two sources, the military believes Russia may target Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city that is located around 20 miles from the border with Russia in the east, and also Kherson, a city in the south close to Crimea.
In a shift of tone Thursday, Ukraine has been taking new steps to brace for a possible attack, declaring a nationwide state of emergency and calling up 36,000 reservists. But publicly Zelenskyy’s administration has continued to say it is not certain whether Russia will attack. It has said, for now, a full-scale mobilization is not necessary, and it has not declared martial law.
-ABC News’ Yulia Drozd and Patrick Reevell
Feb 23, 9:22 am
US sanctions to be met with ‘strong response,’ Russia warns
Russia warned Wednesday that the latest sanctions imposed by the United States “will be met with a strong response.”
“The round of sanctions announced by the United States Administration [already the 101st in a row] affecting the financial sector with the expansion of the list of persons against whom personal restrictions are imposed is in line with Washington’s ongoing attempts to change Russia’s course,” the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “There should be no doubt that the sanctions will be met with a strong response, not necessarily symmetrical, but well-grounded and sensitive for the American side.”
U.S. President Joe Biden announced Tuesday the latest sanctions, which he said would target two Russian banks, Russia’s sovereign debt and, starting Wednesday, the Russian elite and their relatives.
Feb 23, 9:06 am
Russia marks Defender of the Fatherland Day
Russia marked Defender of the Fatherland Day on Wednesday.
In a video message, Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated his fellow Russians on the public holiday and noted the importance of ensuring the country’s defense capability.
“Dear comrades, today ensuring the defense capability of our country remains the most important state task, and the armed forces serve as a reliable guarantee of national security, the peaceful and calm life of our citizens, and the stable, progressive development of Russia,” Putin said.
The Russian leader was seen taking part in a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by the Kremlin wall in Moscow.
Feb 23, 6:24 am
Ukrainian military begins calling up 36,000 reservists
Ukraine’s military said Wednesday it has begun calling up some reservists in response to an order from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The military general staff said they will be calling up reservists aged 18 to 60 starting Wednesday.
The secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, said Wednesday that the number of reservists being called up was 36,000, most of whom he said already have combat experience.
On Tuesday, while signing a decree to call up some of Ukraine’s military reservists, Zelenskyy emphasized that it was not yet a full mobilization but just the “active reserve,” or troops with combat training.
Zelenskyy said the order was necessary because Ukraine’s military now needs to be at “heightened readiness” for any changes in the situation on the ground with Russia.
Feb 23, 6:17 am
Ukraine to declare nationwide state of emergency
The secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, announced Wednesday that a nationwide state of emergency will be declared due to the threat of a Russian invasion.
The declaration must be approved by the Ukrainian parliament before the state of emergency can go into effect for an initial 30 days. The move, which differs from the introduction of martial law, would allow local authorities across the country of 41 million people to put restrictions and heightened security measures in place, such as curfews and limits on movement.
Danilov said the state of emergency would be a “preventative” measure “so that the country preserves its calm, so that our economy works and our country works.” Any restrictions imposed under the declaration would likely vary from region to region, according to Danilov.
“Depending on situation on the ground in a particular area, the local bodies can impose various measures including curfews, only if needed,” Danilov said at a press conference Wednesday. “We won’t make people suffer unnecessarily but we must insure people’s safety.”
He then gave examples of what those restrictions could be: “It can the reinforcing of security around public order and critical infrastructure facilities. It can be certain limits imposed of the movement of transport. It can mean additional vigilance. It can be the checking of various documents for people.”
Danilov noted that the state of emergency would be imposed on all of Ukraine’s territory except for the eastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk because a special emergency status has been in place there since 2014, when pro-Russian separatists took control of some areas.
Feb 23, 5:33 am
Ukrainian right-wing volunteer battalion mobilizes
One of Ukraine’s far-right volunteer battalions announced Wednesday it is mobilizing to prepare to fight, amid fears of an imminent Russian invasion.
During Russia’s first invasion in 2014, the Ukrainian army was in disarray, prompting civilians to form volunteer battalions — many of them with right-wing ideologies. These highly motivated private armies — some funded by oligarchs — helped stem the fall of eastern Ukraine to Russia-backed separatists.
But once large-scale fighting had ended, the Ukrainian government moved the volunteer battalions back from the front line because they were seen as potentially provocative and problematic.
The so-called Right Sector is one of Ukraine’s most famous volunteer battalions. It’s made up of radical nationalists who played a crucial role in the 2014 revolution. In Russia, the group was made into a propaganda boogeyman.
The Right Sector’s return to the front line in eastern Ukraine will be used heavily by Russian propaganda. But it also shows how worried Ukrainians are getting, especially if more volunteer battalions start mobilizing.
In a Facebook post Wednesday, Right Sector said it is mobilizing its “assault brigade” due to the “high probability of the start of a full-scale invasion by the Russian army.”
“Our unit has already defended Ukrainian independence for 8 years from the occupiers,” the group said. “In the case of a full scale invasion we, as always, will be at the front of the fight.”
Feb 23, 4:29 am
Russia claims 100,000 refugees have fled eastern Ukraine
The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed Wednesday that 100,000 refugees from two Russia-backed separatist areas in eastern Ukraine have arrived across the border in Russia.
The claim was unverified and highly improbable, as it appeared to be part of Russia’s intensifying efforts to spin an image of a major humanitarian crisis in the region to build a pretext for a possible invasion.
Russia-backed separatists have forced civilians living in the areas to evacuate despite the fact that there is no increased threat from the Ukrainian military. While thousands of people have been bused out of the region to Russia, the alleged figure of 100,000 appeared vastly exaggerated.
Russia’s claims have been accompanied by a barrage of false stories and staged videos of alleged attacks by Ukrainian forces, all of which have been blaring across Russian state media in recent days.
Feb 23, 12:03 am
Russia-backed separatists make ‘terror attacks’ claim as Russia continues to build pretext
Russian-controlled separatists are claiming two large “terrorist attacks” took place in their territory Tuesday night, as the separatists and Russia continue to intensify their efforts to create a pretext for a possible Russian attack.
The separatists claimed explosions went off at a TV tower and near a trolley bus depot, and they released video afterward they claim shows emergency workers looking at damage.
The claims are highly suspect, and they came amid a barrage of fake reports of supposed Ukrainian attacks that are being swiftly debunked.
The claims also came as Ukraine released video showing heavy artillery fire from separatists hitting a village called Chastiya — which means “happiness” — on the Ukrainian side of the frontline. The video appears to show rockets striking a house.
Artillery fire also hit a power station nearby yesterday.
It appears the Russian-controlled separatists have intensified their fire onto Ukrainian positions in the hope of stoking return fire and creating an impression of a general escalation.
(NEW YORK) — Dozens of stolen antiquities, including “The Kouros,” a sculpture valued at $14 million, were repatriated to Greece in a ceremony at the New York District Attorney’s office in Manhattan on Wednesday.
“After many years of wandering, they now return to their homeland where they belong,” Greek Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni said at the ceremony.
Forty-seven of the antiquities were seized from the collection of billionaire investor and philanthropist Michael Steinhardt in December 2021 after a multi-year, multi-national investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. Another eight items were seized as part of another investigation.
Steinhardt had to give up 180 stolen antiquities, which court records said were looted and illegally smuggled out of 11 countries, trafficked by 12 criminal smuggling networks and lacked verifiable provenance prior to appearing on the international art market.
“On behalf of Homeland Security Investigations, this is a major area that we enjoy investigating and that we need to investigate, and it truly is a privilege to be a part of this grand repatriation ceremony today,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Ricky Patel of Homeland Security Investigations.
The 55 pieces are collectively valued at over $20 million. In addition to “The Kouros,” which dates back to 560 BCE, the returned items include a gold broach dating back to 600 BCE that is valued at $1.3 million and a spouted bowl dating back to 2700 to 2200 BCE, valued at $600,000. They come from central Greece, Crete, the Cyclades islands, Samos and Rhodes.
One piece, a larnax — or small coffin — from Crete dating back to 1400 to 1200 BCE had been in Steinhardt’s office, according to investigators, and when asked about it, he reportedly told an Antiquities Trafficking Unit investigator, “There’s no provenance for it. If I see a piece and I like it, then I buy it.”
Other items from Steinhardt’s collection are being returned to their respective homelands.
“Today is a day of great joy for Greece because all these artifacts, all these items, could be back in the place that borne them, in Greece,” Mendoni told ABC News.
Mendoni, who called illegal trafficking a “trauma” in addition to a crime, has been in her role since 2019 and has made the repatriation of Greek antiquities a priority. This includes working to try to get the United Kingdom to return the Parthenon Marbles, which are currently at the British Museum, to Athens.
“I would like to thank, from the bottom of my heart, all the staff of the District Attorney’s Office, and of course Matthew Bogdanos for his dedication to this work,” she said Wednesday, referring to Assistant District Attorney Bogdanos, who is chief of the Antiquities Trafficking Unit and has Greek roots himself.
After the papers were formally signed to signal the repatriation, Bogdanos called out, “Madam Minister, they’re all yours.”
ABC News’ Aaron Katersky contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — To address the crisis at its border after publicly downplaying warnings, Ukraine on Wednesday took steps to brace for a possible Russian invasion, declaring a nationwide state of emergency and calling up 36,000 military reservists.
U.S. President Joe Biden said a day earlier that the world is witnessing “the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine” as he announced new economic sanctions on Russia, after weeks of escalating tensions in the region.
Biden’s remarks followed a fiery address from Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Russian public on Monday evening, when the leader announced he was recognizing the independence of two Russia-backed separatist areas in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region — the self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk — which prompted a set of sanctions from Western countries, including Germany halting approval of a major gas pipeline from Russia.
While the United States says some 190,000 Russian troops and pro-Russian separatist forces are estimated to be massed near Ukraine’s borders, Russia has denied any wrongdoing and reiterated its demands that Ukraine pledges to never join NATO.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Feb 23, 1:46 pm
Russian forces ‘as ready as they can be’ to invade: US defense official
About 80% of Russian forces amassed around Ukraine are in what the Pentagon calls “forward positions” and are “ready to go” if given the order to invade, a senior defense official said Wednesday.
The official said the U.S. has not seen Russian troops breaking out from the two separatist republics in eastern Ukraine but added that the U.S. is operating under the assumption that Russia has, indeed, sent more troops into the separatist-controlled area of Donbas.
“We have we have been saying any day now, and it is certainly possible that today is that day,” the official said. “They could go at any hour now.”
While the official said it still appears Russia is preparing for a large-scale invasion, they added, “If ever we want to be wrong, we want to be wrong about this.”
-ABC News’ Matt Seyler and Luis Martinez
Feb 23, 12:45 pm
White House threatens other sanctions in US toolkit
Asked by ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega on what the U.S. could do if sanctions imposed Tuesday don’t work, White House press secretary Jen Psaki laid out additional sanctions that the U.S. could still impose.
“Sanctions can take a number of formats, right?” Psaki said at Tuesday’s press briefing. “Export controls is certainly one of them. There’s many more sanctions that we have at our disposal. Swift, the SWIFT system is obviously significant, not in the first tranche, but there’s a range of options that remain on the table for sanctions.”
While the U.S. said Tuesday that cutting Russia off from the international SWIFT financial system was still an option, it’s conceivable the Russians could find a way around SWIFT and move to other less-regulated payments systems.
Psaki also said sanctions are not intended to have “the harshest impact on the first day” but are “designed to have a squeezing impact over the course of time and we have many more escalatory steps that we could take.”
The top White House official crafting U.S. sanctions on Russia, Daleep Singh, also told reporters that the U.S. wasn’t seeking to “max out on sanctions” but that “they’re meant to prevent and deter a large-scale invasion of Ukraine that could involve the seizure of major cities, including Kyiv.”
Psaki echoed Biden in saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s speech to the Russian people on Monday “was rife with historical inaccuracy” and that Putin “made clear that he does not view Ukraine, not just the areas he recognized yesterday, but that the totality of Ukraine as an independent country.”
Notably, Biden did not mention personally targeting Putin on Tuesday, which he had previously said he was considering.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittelson, Zunaira Zaki and Elizabeth Schultze
Feb 23, 12:44 pm
Lawmakers warn Biden to seek authorization before sending troops to Ukraine
While President Joe Biden has made clear he is not considering sending U.S. troops into Ukraine, having said it would lead to war, a group of lawmakers sent him a letter late Tuesday to remind him that he must get authorization from Congress before he decides to engage the military in Ukraine.
The bipartisan oddball group of lawmakers who signed the letter includes Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-N.Y., Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, and Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., among about three dozen others.
“If the ongoing situation compels you to introduce the brave men and women of our military into Ukraine, their lives would inherently be put at risk of Russia chooses to invade,” read the letter, which Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., shared on Twitter. “Therefore, we ask that your decisions comport with the Constitution and our nation’s laws by consulting with Congress to receive authorization before any such development.”
Lawmakers wrote that the War Powers Resolution of 1973 has been abused by previous presidents, and they noted that the act restricted Biden from not only engaging troops in battle but also from launching a “pre-emptive strike.”
“Congress stands ready to deliberate over the potentially monumental implications of such scenarios,” they said.
-ABC News’ Mariam Khan
Feb 23, 12:15 pm
EU imposes more sanctions on Russia
The European Union imposed Wednesday another slew of tough sanctions on Russia over its recognition of two pro-Russian separatist areas in eastern Ukraine.
The move is an attempt to deter Moscow from proceeding further withs its invasion of Ukraine and follows Tuesday’s decision by Germany to halt the certification of a key natural gas pipeline to Russia.
The package of measures adopted by the Council of the EU were published online Wednesday and include a ban on the Russian state and its central bank from accessing the EU’s capital and finance markets; sanctions against three Russian state banks; blacklisting all 351 members of the Russian parliament that voted earlier this week to ratify the decision to recgonize the separatist regions as independent; sanctions against 27 “high profile individuals and entities, including the Russian defense minister, top Kremlin officials and propagandists; and an import ban and restrictions on trade and investment, as well as a partial export ban on the two separatist areas.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Feb 23, 11:46 am
Ukraine FM calls on UN to act or face ‘the darkest times of the 20th Century’
The United Nations General Assembly — which includes all U.N. recognized governments — is meeting Wednesday in its main hall to address the crisis created by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, fresh from his meetings Tuesday with President Joe Biden and other top U.S. officials, addressed the hall as the first country, speaking after U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. In a firm speech, Kuleba blasted Russia’s recognition of its separatist areas as “independent” and deployment of troops there as an “attack on the United Nations” itself — a “grim scenario which will throw us back to the darkest times of the 20th century.”
“I warn every nation in this distinguished chamber: No one will be able to sit out this crisis,” he said. “Your governments and your people will face painful consequences together with our government and our people,” Kuleba told the chamber.
“The beginning of a large-scale war in Ukraine will be the end of the world order as we know it. If Russia does not get a severe, swift, and decisive response now, this will mean a total bankruptcy of the international security system and international institutions which are tasked with maintaining the global security order,” he added.
He warned other actors will be “inspired” by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions and follow his lead — turning the United Nations into the League of Nations, the early 20th-century international organization that was seen as feckless in stopping the Axis Powers in the lead up to World War II — a history Kuleba directly referenced.
“We all read history books. We all watch movies about the mistakes politicians made in the run-up to 1914 and 1939, about the feats of our grandparents and the catastrophic price at which a revanchist ruler in Europe was defeated. There is no more important task today than to not repeat the mistakes of the past,” he said.
To prevent that, Kuleba called for “decisive, immediate, and proportional action” by the international community — not just condemnations and statements, but actions.
“These days, we have probably the last window of opportunity to do what Russia does not expect the United Nations and its member states to do — demonstrate unprecedented ability and readiness to act in order to stop aggression,” he said — finishing by calling on members, regardless of their relations with one another individually, to do “your ultimate duty, to defend the charter of the United Nations.”
-ABC News’ Conor Finnegan
Feb 23, 10:56 am
Another cyberattack hits Ukraine government websites
Ukraine’s government said Wednesday a new cyberattack has hit several of its government ministries, knocking their websites offline, amid warnings of attacks from Russia both on the ground and on the web.
Mikhail Fedorov, minister for digital transformation in Ukraine, announced that a “massive DDoS” attack hit around 4 p.m. local time. He said the websites of Ukraine’s cabinet, parliament and foreign ministry were down and that a number of banks were also having problems.
“It is connected with traffic switching on other provider for minimization of damage from the attack,” he said.
RIA Novosti, a Russian state-owned news agency, also reported the cyberattack.
It comes one week after a similar cyberattack in Ukraine.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Feb 23, 10:10 am
Russian attack may come in next 2 days: Ukraine’s military to lawmakers
Ukraine’s military has briefed key members of parliament that it now believes the situation in eastern Ukraine with Russia may sharply deteriorate in the next two days, according to four sources with knowledge of what was said during the briefing.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was present at the Wednesday night briefing, sources said, where the military said they now believe Russia may launch a major attack that would go beyond Eastern Ukraine, targeting at least two major cities. Sources said they told the members of parliament that Kyiv might also be a target — in line with U.S. officials warning that Russia is preparing a full-scale invasion that will go beyond eastern Ukraine and target Kyiv.
According to two sources, the military believes Russia may target Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city that is located around 20 miles from the border with Russia in the east, and also Kherson, a city in the south close to Crimea.
In a shift of tone Thursday, Ukraine has been taking new steps to brace for a possible attack, declaring a nationwide state of emergency and calling up 36,000 reservists. But publicly Zelenskyy’s administration has continued to say it is not certain whether Russia will attack. It has said, for now, a full-scale mobilization is not necessary, and it has not declared martial law.
-ABC News’ Yulia Drozd and Patrick Reevell
Feb 23, 9:22 am
US sanctions to be met with ‘strong response,’ Russia warns
Russia warned Wednesday that the latest sanctions imposed by the United States “will be met with a strong response.”
“The round of sanctions announced by the United States Administration [already the 101st in a row] affecting the financial sector with the expansion of the list of persons against whom personal restrictions are imposed is in line with Washington’s ongoing attempts to change Russia’s course,” the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “There should be no doubt that the sanctions will be met with a strong response, not necessarily symmetrical, but well-grounded and sensitive for the American side.”
U.S. President Joe Biden announced Tuesday the latest sanctions, which he said would target two Russian banks, Russia’s sovereign debt and, starting Wednesday, the Russian elite and their relatives.
Feb 23, 9:06 am
Russia marks Defender of the Fatherland Day
Russia marked Defender of the Fatherland Day on Wednesday.
In a video message, Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated his fellow Russians on the public holiday and noted the importance of ensuring the country’s defense capability.
“Dear comrades, today ensuring the defense capability of our country remains the most important state task, and the armed forces serve as a reliable guarantee of national security, the peaceful and calm life of our citizens, and the stable, progressive development of Russia,” Putin said.
The Russian leader was seen taking part in a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by the Kremlin wall in Moscow.
Feb 23, 6:24 am
Ukrainian military begins calling up 36,000 reservists
Ukraine’s military said Wednesday it has begun calling up some reservists in response to an order from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The military general staff said they will be calling up reservists aged 18 to 60 starting Wednesday.
The secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, said Wednesday that the number of reservists being called up was 36,000, most of whom he said already have combat experience.
On Tuesday, while signing a decree to call up some of Ukraine’s military reservists, Zelenskyy emphasized that it was not yet a full mobilization but just the “active reserve,” or troops with combat training.
Zelenskyy said the order was necessary because Ukraine’s military now needs to be at “heightened readiness” for any changes in the situation on the ground with Russia.
Feb 23, 6:17 am
Ukraine to declare nationwide state of emergency
The secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, announced Wednesday that a nationwide state of emergency will be declared due to the threat of a Russian invasion.
The declaration must be approved by the Ukrainian parliament before the state of emergency can go into effect for an initial 30 days. The move, which differs from the introduction of martial law, would allow local authorities across the country of 41 million people to put restrictions and heightened security measures in place, such as curfews and limits on movement.
Danilov said the state of emergency would be a “preventative” measure “so that the country preserves its calm, so that our economy works and our country works.” Any restrictions imposed under the declaration would likely vary from region to region, according to Danilov.
“Depending on situation on the ground in a particular area, the local bodies can impose various measures including curfews, only if needed,” Danilov said at a press conference Wednesday. “We won’t make people suffer unnecessarily but we must insure people’s safety.”
He then gave examples of what those restrictions could be: “It can the reinforcing of security around public order and critical infrastructure facilities. It can be certain limits imposed of the movement of transport. It can mean additional vigilance. It can be the checking of various documents for people.”
Danilov noted that the state of emergency would be imposed on all of Ukraine’s territory except for the eastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk because a special emergency status has been in place there since 2014, when pro-Russian separatists took control of some areas.
Feb 23, 5:33 am
Ukrainian right-wing volunteer battalion mobilizes
One of Ukraine’s far-right volunteer battalions announced Wednesday it is mobilizing to prepare to fight, amid fears of an imminent Russian invasion.
During Russia’s first invasion in 2014, the Ukrainian army was in disarray, prompting civilians to form volunteer battalions — many of them with right-wing ideologies. These highly motivated private armies — some funded by oligarchs — helped stem the fall of eastern Ukraine to Russia-backed separatists.
But once large-scale fighting had ended, the Ukrainian government moved the volunteer battalions back from the front line because they were seen as potentially provocative and problematic.
The so-called Right Sector is one of Ukraine’s most famous volunteer battalions. It’s made up of radical nationalists who played a crucial role in the 2014 revolution. In Russia, the group was made into a propaganda boogeyman.
The Right Sector’s return to the front line in eastern Ukraine will be used heavily by Russian propaganda. But it also shows how worried Ukrainians are getting, especially if more volunteer battalions start mobilizing.
In a Facebook post Wednesday, Right Sector said it is mobilizing its “assault brigade” due to the “high probability of the start of a full-scale invasion by the Russian army.”
“Our unit has already defended Ukrainian independence for 8 years from the occupiers,” the group said. “In the case of a full scale invasion we, as always, will be at the front of the fight.”
Feb 23, 4:29 am
Russia claims 100,000 refugees have fled eastern Ukraine
The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed Wednesday that 100,000 refugees from two Russia-backed separatist areas in eastern Ukraine have arrived across the border in Russia.
The claim was unverified and highly improbable, as it appeared to be part of Russia’s intensifying efforts to spin an image of a major humanitarian crisis in the region to build a pretext for a possible invasion.
Russia-backed separatists have forced civilians living in the areas to evacuate despite the fact that there is no increased threat from the Ukrainian military. While thousands of people have been bused out of the region to Russia, the alleged figure of 100,000 appeared vastly exaggerated.
Russia’s claims have been accompanied by a barrage of false stories and staged videos of alleged attacks by Ukrainian forces, all of which have been blaring across Russian state media in recent days.
Feb 23, 12:03 am
Russia-backed separatists make ‘terror attacks’ claim as Russia continues to build pretext
Russian-controlled separatists are claiming two large “terrorist attacks” took place in their territory Tuesday night, as the separatists and Russia continue to intensify their efforts to create a pretext for a possible Russian attack.
The separatists claimed explosions went off at a TV tower and near a trolley bus depot, and they released video afterward they claim shows emergency workers looking at damage.
The claims are highly suspect, and they came amid a barrage of fake reports of supposed Ukrainian attacks that are being swiftly debunked.
The claims also came as Ukraine released video showing heavy artillery fire from separatists hitting a village called Chastiya — which means “happiness” — on the Ukrainian side of the frontline. The video appears to show rockets striking a house.
Artillery fire also hit a power station nearby yesterday.
It appears the Russian-controlled separatists have intensified their fire onto Ukrainian positions in the hope of stoking return fire and creating an impression of a general escalation.
(NEW YORK) — President Joe Biden said the world is witnessing “the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine” after weeks of escalating tensions in the region as he announced new economic sanctions on Russia Tuesday.
Biden’s remarks followed a fiery address from Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Russian public on Monday evening, when the leader announced he was recognizing the independence of two Russia-backed separatist areas in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region: the self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk (DNR and LNR) — prompting a set of sanctions from Western countries, including Germany halting approval of a major gas pipeline from Russia.
While the U.S. says some 190,000 Russian troops and separatist forces are estimated to be massed near Ukraine’s borders, Russia has denied any wrongdoing and reiterated its demands Tuesday that Ukraine pledge to never join NATO.
Here’s how the news is developing Wednesday. All times Eastern:
Feb 23, 9:22 am
US sanctions to be met with ‘strong response,’ Russia warns
Russia warned Wednesday that the latest sanctions imposed by the United States “will be met with a strong response.”
“The round of sanctions announced by the United States Administration [already the 101st in a row] affecting the financial sector with the expansion of the list of persons against whom personal restrictions are imposed is in line with Washington’s ongoing attempts to change Russia’s course,” the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “There should be no doubt that the sanctions will be met with a strong response, not necessarily symmetrical, but well-grounded and sensitive for the American side.”
U.S. President Joe Biden announced Tuesday the latest sanctions, which he said would target two Russian banks, Russia’s sovereign debt and, starting Wednesday, the Russian elite and their relatives.
Feb 23, 9:06 am
Russia marks Defender of the Fatherland Day
Russia marked Defender of the Fatherland Day on Wednesday.
In a video message, Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated his fellow Russians on the public holiday and noted the importance of ensuring the country’s defense capability.
“Dear comrades, today ensuring the defense capability of our country remains the most important state task, and the armed forces serve as a reliable guarantee of national security, the peaceful and calm life of our citizens, and the stable, progressive development of Russia,” Putin said.
The Russian leader was seen taking part in a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by the Kremlin wall in Moscow.
Feb 23, 6:24 am
Ukrainian military begins calling up 36,000 reservists
Ukraine’s military said Wednesday it has begun calling up some reservists in response to an order from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The military general staff said they will be calling up reservists aged 18 to 60 starting Wednesday.
The secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, said Wednesday that the number of reservists being called up was 36,000, most of whom he said already have combat experience.
On Tuesday, while signing a decree to call up some of Ukraine’s military reservists, Zelenskyy emphasized that it was not yet a full mobilization but just the “active reserve,” or troops with combat training.
Zelenskyy said the order was necessary because Ukraine’s military now needs to be at “heightened readiness” for any changes in the situation on the ground with Russia.
Feb 23, 6:17 am
Ukraine to declare nationwide state of emergency
The secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, announced Wednesday that a nationwide state of emergency will be declared due to the threat of a Russian invasion.
The declaration must be approved by the Ukrainian parliament before the state of emergency can go into effect for an initial 30 days. The move, which differs from the introduction of martial law, would allow local authorities across the country of 41 million people to put restrictions and heightened security measures in place, such as curfews and limits on movement.
Danilov said the state of emergency would be a “preventative” measure “so that the country preserves its calm, so that our economy works and our country works.” Any restrictions imposed under the declaration would likely vary from region to region, according to Danilov.
“Depending on situation on the ground in a particular area, the local bodies can impose various measures including curfews, only if needed,” Danilov said at a press conference Wednesday. “We won’t make people suffer unnecessarily but we must insure people’s safety.”
He then gave examples of what those restrictions could be: “It can the reinforcing of security around public order and critical infrastructure facilities. It can be certain limits imposed of the movement of transport. It can mean additional vigilance. It can be the checking of various documents for people.”
Danilov noted that the state of emergency would be imposed on all of Ukraine’s territory except for the eastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk because a special emergency status has been in place there since 2014, when pro-Russian separatists took control of some areas.
Feb 23, 5:33 am
Ukrainian right-wing volunteer battalion mobilizes
One of Ukraine’s far-right volunteer battalions announced Wednesday it is mobilizing to prepare to fight, amid fears of an imminent Russian invasion.
During Russia’s first invasion in 2014, the Ukrainian army was in disarray, prompting civilians to form volunteer battalions — many of them with right-wing ideologies. These highly motivated private armies — some funded by oligarchs — helped stem the fall of eastern Ukraine to Russia-backed separatists.
But once large-scale fighting had ended, the Ukrainian government moved the volunteer battalions back from the front line because they were seen as potentially provocative and problematic.
The so-called Right Sector is one of Ukraine’s most famous volunteer battalions. It’s made up of radical nationalists who played a crucial role in the 2014 revolution. In Russia, the group was made into a propaganda boogeyman.
The Right Sector’s return to the front line in eastern Ukraine will be used heavily by Russian propaganda. But it also shows how worried Ukrainians are getting, especially if more volunteer battalions start mobilizing.
In a Facebook post Wednesday, Right Sector said it is mobilizing its “assault brigade” due to the “high probability of the start of a full-scale invasion by the Russian army.”
“Our unit has already defended Ukrainian independence for 8 years from the occupiers,” the group said. “In the case of a full scale invasion we, as always, will be at the front of the fight.”
Feb 23, 4:29 am
Russia claims 100,000 refugees have fled eastern Ukraine
The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed Wednesday that 100,000 refugees from two Russia-backed separatist areas in eastern Ukraine have arrived across the border in Russia.
The claim was unverified and highly improbable, as it appeared to be part of Russia’s intensifying efforts to spin an image of a major humanitarian crisis in the region to build a pretext for a possible invasion.
Russia-backed separatists have forced civilians living in the areas to evacuate despite the fact that there is no increased threat from the Ukrainian military. While thousands of people have been bused out of the region to Russia, the alleged figure of 100,000 appeared vastly exaggerated.
Russia’s claims have been accompanied by a barrage of false stories and staged videos of alleged attacks by Ukrainian forces, all of which have been blaring across Russian state media in recent days.
Feb 23, 12:03 am
Russia-backed separatists make ‘terror attacks’ claim as Russia continues to build pretext
Russian-controlled separatists are claiming two large “terrorist attacks” took place in their territory Tuesday night, as the separatists and Russia continue to intensify their efforts to create a pretext for a possible Russian attack.
The separatists claimed explosions went off at a TV tower and near a trolley bus depot, and they released video afterward they claim shows emergency workers looking at damage.
The claims are highly suspect, and they came amid a barrage of fake reports of supposed Ukrainian attacks that are being swiftly debunked.
The claims also came as Ukraine released video showing heavy artillery fire from separatists hitting a village called Chastiya — which means “happiness” — on the Ukrainian side of the frontline. The video appears to show rockets striking a house.
Artillery fire also hit a power station nearby yesterday.
It appears the Russian-controlled separatists have intensified their fire onto Ukrainian positions in the hope of stoking return fire and creating an impression of a general escalation.
(NEW YORK) — President Joe Biden said the world is witnessing “the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine” after weeks of escalating tensions in the region as he announced new economic sanctions on Russia Tuesday.
Biden’s remarks followed a fiery address from Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Russian public on Monday evening, when the leader announced he was recognizing the independence of two Russia-backed separatist areas in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region: the self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk (DNR and LNR) — prompting a set of sanctions from Western countries, including Germany halting approval of a major gas pipeline from Russia.
While the U.S. says some 190,000 Russian troops and separatist forces are estimated to be massed near Ukraine’s borders, Russia has denied any wrongdoing and reiterated its demands Tuesday that Ukraine pledge to never join NATO.
Here’s how the news is developing Wednesday. All times Eastern:
Feb 23, 6:17 am
Ukraine to declare nationwide state of emergency
The secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, announced Wednesday that a nationwide state of emergency will be declared due to the threat of a Russian invasion.
The declaration must be approved by the Ukrainian parliament before the state of emergency can go into effect for an initial 30 days. The move, which differs from the introduction of martial law, would allow local authorities across the country of 41 million people to put restrictions and heightened security measures in place, such as curfews and limits on movement.
Danilov said the state of emergency would be a “preventative” measure “so that the country preserves its calm, so that our economy works and our country works.” Any restrictions imposed under the declaration would likely vary from region to region, according to Danilov.
“Depending on situation on the ground in a particular area, the local bodies can impose various measures including curfews, only if needed,” Danilov said at a press conference Wednesday. “We won’t make people suffer unnecessarily but we must insure people’s safety.”
He then gave examples of what those restrictions could be: “It can the reinforcing of security around public order and critical infrastructure facilities. It can be certain limits imposed of the movement of transport. It can mean additional vigilance. It can be the checking of various documents for people.”
Danilov noted that the state of emergency would be imposed on all of Ukraine’s territory except for the eastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk because a special emergency status has been in place there since 2014, when pro-Russian separatists took control of some areas.
Feb 23, 5:33 am
Ukrainian right-wing volunteer battalion mobilizes
One of Ukraine’s far-right volunteer battalions announced Wednesday it is mobilizing to prepare to fight, amid fears of an imminent Russian invasion.
During Russia’s first invasion in 2014, the Ukrainian army was in disarray, prompting civilians to form volunteer battalions — many of them with right-wing ideologies. These highly motivated private armies — some funded by oligarchs — helped stem the fall of eastern Ukraine to Russia-backed separatists.
But once large-scale fighting had ended, the Ukrainian government moved the volunteer battalions back from the front line because they were seen as potentially provocative and problematic.
The so-called Right Sector is one of Ukraine’s most famous volunteer battalions. It’s made up of radical nationalists who played a crucial role in the 2014 revolution. In Russia, the group was made into a propaganda boogeyman.
The Right Sector’s return to the front line in eastern Ukraine will be used heavily by Russian propaganda. But it also shows how worried Ukrainians are getting, especially if more volunteer battalions start mobilizing.
In a Facebook post Wednesday, Right Sector said it is mobilizing its “assault brigade” due to the “high probability of the start of a full-scale invasion by the Russian army.”
“Our unit has already defended Ukrainian independence for 8 years from the occupiers,” the group said. “In the case of a full scale invasion we, as always, will be at the front of the fight.”
Feb 23, 4:43 am
Ukrainian military begins calling up some reservists
Ukraine’s military said Wednesday it has begun calling up some reservists in response to an order from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The military general staff said they will be calling up reservists aged 18 to 60 starting Wednesday.
On Tuesday, while signing a decree to call up some of Ukraine’s military reservists, Zelenskyy emphasized that it was not yet a full mobilization but just the “active reserve,” or troops with combat training.
Zelenskyy said the order was necessary because Ukraine’s military now needs to be at “heightened readiness” for any changes changes in the situation on the ground with Russia.
Feb 23, 4:29 am
Russia claims 100,000 refugees have fled eastern Ukraine
The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed Wednesday that 100,000 refugees from two Russia-backed separatist areas in eastern Ukraine have arrived across the border in Russia.
The claim was unverified and highly improbable, as it appeared to be part of Russia’s intensifying efforts to spin an image of a major humanitarian crisis in the region to build a pretext for a possible invasion.
Russia-backed separatists have forced civilians living in the areas to evacuate despite the fact that there is no increased threat from the Ukrainian military. While thousands of people have been bused out of the region to Russia, the alleged figure of 100,000 appeared vastly exaggerated.
Russia’s claims have been accompanied by a barrage of false stories and staged videos of alleged attacks by Ukrainian forces, all of which have been blaring across Russian state media in recent days.
Feb 23, 12:03 am
Russia-backed separatists make ‘terror attacks’ claim as Russia continues to build pretext
Russian-controlled separatists are claiming two large “terrorist attacks” took place in their territory Tuesday night, as the separatists and Russia continue to intensify their efforts to create a pretext for a possible Russian attack.
The separatists claimed explosions went off at a TV tower and near a trolley bus depot, and they released video afterward they claim shows emergency workers looking at damage.
The claims are highly suspect, and they came amid a barrage of fake reports of supposed Ukrainian attacks that are being swiftly debunked.
The claims also came as Ukraine released video showing heavy artillery fire from separatists hitting a village called Chastiya — which means “happiness” — on the Ukrainian side of the frontline. The video appears to show rockets striking a house.
Artillery fire also hit a power station nearby yesterday.
It appears the Russian-controlled separatists have intensified their fire onto Ukrainian positions in the hope of stoking return fire and creating an impression of a general escalation.
(NEW YORK) — The world will soon experience a steep increase in the number of devastating wildfires as a result of human activity, according to new research released by the United Nations Environment Programme.
Climate change and land-use change are projected to make wildfires more frequent and intense, with extreme fires expected to rise 14% globally by 2030, 30% by the end of 2050 and 50% by 2100, according to the report released Wednesday.
“Wildfires and climate change are mutually exacerbating,” the report states.
Wildfires are made worst by climate change through increased drought, higher temperatures and low relative humidity, while climate change is made worse by wildfires after they ravage “sensitive and carbon-rich” ecosystems such as rainforests.
“This turns landscapes into tinderboxes, making it harder to halt rising temperatures,” the authors wrote.
Extreme wildfire risk will become so widespread that even the Arctic and other regions previously unaffected by wildfires could be in peril of burning, according to the report. In addition, wildlife and their natural habitats will not be spared, pushing many species closer to extinction.
For instance, billions of domesticated and wild animals, including a large portion of the koala population, were estimated to have been wiped out during the bushfires that began in Australia at the end of 2019.
The increase of wildfires will also have social consequences on communities, as the world’s poorest nations will be disproportionately affected, according to the U.N. People’s health will be directly affected by the inhalation of wildfire smoke, and the costs of rebuilding areas struck by wildfires can be beyond the means of low-income countries.
The pollutants from frequent wildfires can also lead to soil erosion, causing more problems for waterways, and leave highly contaminated waste behind, the report states.
Governments are not prepared for the disastrous consequences these infernos will leave in their wake, the authors wrote.
The report calls for a radical change in government spending on wildfires, shifting their investments from reaction and response to prevention and preparedness.
“Because fires are so interdisciplinary and across so many different sectors and impact society, culture and climate and the vegetation, it’s essential that fire [management] actually be pushed within an agenda,” Glynis Humphrey, a fire ecologist at the University of Capetown and one of the authors of the report, told reporters at a press conference Monday.
Governments should adopt a new “Fire Ready Formula,” dedicating two-thirds of spending for planning, prevention, preparedness and recovery, with one-third left for response, the authors wrote.
The report also calls for stronger international standards for the safety and health of firefighters to minimize the risks they face before, during and after operations.
(COPENHAGEN, Denmark) — Duchess Kate arrived in Denmark Tuesday for a rare solo overseas trip and wasted no time showing her fun side.
Kate, 40, whizzed down a slide while visiting the Lego Foundation PlayLab at University College Copenhagen.
“In the spirit of where I am, I had to do it,” a laughing Kate said after she emerged from the slide.
Kate’s visit to Denmark, her second official visit there as a royal and her first overseas tour since 2019, is focused on children and specifically young children ages 5 and under.
The duchess, a mom of three young kids, is touring the country to learn more about how Denmark has become a model for early childhood development, according to Kensington Palace.
Kate has made early childhood development a focus of her royal work. In 2021, she launched the Royal Foundation Center for Early Childhood, which she said is designed to “raise awareness of why the first five years of life are just so important for our future life outcomes, and what we can do as a society to embrace this golden opportunity to create a happier, more mentally healthy, more nurturing society.”
Kate’s trip to Denmark marks the first time she has brought the work of the Royal Foundation Centre for Early Childhood “to the international stage,” according to Kensington Palace.
In addition to visiting the Lego Foundation PlayLab, Kate spent time Tuesday with first-time parents and researchers from the Copenhagen Infant Mental Health Project at the University of Copenhagen and visited the Copenhagen’s Children’s Museum.
Kate’s two-day trip to Denmark is also a chance for the future queen consort to highlight the ties between Britain and Denmark.
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth is celebrating her Platinum Jubilee this year, while Denmark’s Queen Margrethe is celebrating her Golden Jubilee. The two monarchs have both recently been touched by COVID-19, with Queen Margrethe now recovered from a mild case of the virus and Queen Elizabeth currently experiencing “mild, cold-like” symptoms after recently testing positive for the virus, according to Buckingham Palace.
On Wednesday, Kate will receive an official welcome to Denmark from Queen Margrethe and will join the queen’s daughter-in-law, Crown Princess Mary, in a visit to a project that supports women and children affected by domestic violence.
(NEW YORK) — The United States continues to warn that Russia could cross into Ukraine “any moment” amid escalating tensions in the region with the White House set to announce new sanctions on Russia Tuesday.
In a fiery address to the Russian public on Monday evening, Putin announced he was recognizing the independence of two Russia-backed separatist areas in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region: the self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk (DNR and LNR) — prompting a set of sanctions from Western countries, including Germany halting approval of a major gas pipeline from Russia.
Biden, in response, issued an executive order banning “new investment, trade, and financing by U.S. persons to, from, or in the so-called DNR and LNR regions of Ukraine,” which “will also provide authority to impose sanctions on any person determined to operate in those areas of Ukraine,” according to White House press secretary Jen Psaki, who said the U.S. “will also soon announce additional measures related to today’s blatant violation of Russia’s international commitments.”
While the U.S. says some 190,000 Russian troops and separatist forces are estimated to be massed near Ukraine’s borders, Russia has denied any wrongdoing and reiterated its demands that the U.S. and NATO bar Ukraine from joining the military alliance.
Here’s how the news developed Tuesday. All times Eastern:
Feb 22, 6:19 pm
White House official vows stronger actions if Putin escalates
Daleep Singh, the White House’s top national security official crafting sanctions, spoke to reporters about the administration’s sanctions against Russians and hinted that this is only the beginning of the United States’ plan to defend Ukraine.
“If Putin escalates further, we will escalate further, using financial sanctions and export controls,” Singh said.
Singh claimed the sanctions will only hurt the Russian economy.
“None of our measures are designed to disrupt the flow of energy to global markets. And we are now executing a plan in coordination with major oil producers and major oil consumers to secure the stability of global energy supplies,” he said.
When asked by ABC News’ Cecilia Vega what it will take to target Putin personally, Singh said he wouldn’t say “exactly what it would take” but added that “no option is off the table.”
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Feb 22, 5:39 pm
Zelenskyy calls up some soldiers from military reserves
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree calling up some of Ukraine’s military reservists but said a full mobilization of the country’s military is not needed for now.
Zelenskyy announced his plan on state TV, adding that the soldiers were from the “active reserve” and have military experience.
“They must heighten the readiness of the Ukrainian army for all possible changes in the active situation,” Zelenskyy said.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Feb 22, 5:02 pm
Blinken calls off meeting with Russian counterpart
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a joint appearance from the State Department with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, announced that he would not attend a meeting with his Russian counterpart on Thursday as planned.
“Now that we see the invasion is beginning, and Russia has made clear its wholesale rejection of diplomacy, it does not make sense to go forward with that meeting at this time,” Blinken said Tuesday. “I consulted with our allies and partners. All agreed. And today I sent Foreign Minister Lavrov a letter informing him of this.”
Blinken had agreed last week to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday, provided there was no invasion of Ukraine, but called Putin’s recent comments “deeply disturbing” and placed aggression in the region squarely on Russia despite the Kremlin’s claims.
“Any further escalatory steps by Russia will be met with further swift and severe measures, coordinated with allies and partners,” Blinken added, echoing remarks from Biden.
After meeting earlier with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and ahead of his appearance with Blinken, Kuleba went to the White House to meet with Biden where the president updated him on the U.S. response, including the new sanctions, and reaffirmed U.S. security and economic assistance will continue, according to the White House.
Feb 22, 4:40 pm
Treasury Department details US sanctions on Russia
The U.S. Treasury Department has released details of the new sanctions that President Joe Biden announced, including the specific elites who are sanctioned and more details about limits on Russian financial institutions.
A senior Biden administration official told reporters on an afternoon call that while “these are severe costs that we’re imposing today,” the U.S. was choosing to hold off with more severe sanctions as leverage to try to deter a wider-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The official also said “none of the sanctions are designed to disrupt the flow of energy to global markets” and noted the administration deliberately tried to make sure the pain was felt by Russia’s economy, not by the U.S.
The Treasury Department release detailed that it was sanctioning five “Kremlin-connected elites” and two Russian state-owned financial institutions, as well as putting more restrictions on Russian sovereign debt.
The administration official said “sanctions are meant to serve a higher purpose,” which they said was to “prevent a large scale invasion of Ukraine that involves the seizure of major cities including Kyiv” as well as “to prevent largescale human suffering” and “to prevent Putin from installing a puppet government that bends to his wishes and denies Ukraine the freedom to set its own course and choose its own destiny.”
Asked by ABC News’ Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl about sanctioning Putin, the official said that “all options remain on the table.”
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson
Feb 22, 3:45 pm
Mix of infantry troops and offensive aircrafts heading to Baltics
Following President Joe Biden’s announcement from the White House of additional Russian sanctions and deployments to the region, a senior defense official offered details on U.S. forces headed to the Baltics.
The official said 800 troops from an infantry battalion task force based in Italy will move to the Baltic region, as well as up to eight F-35 fighters from Germany to “several operating locations along NATO’s eastern flank.”
Additionally, 20 AH-64 Apache helicopters from Germany will head to the Baltic region and 12 AH-64 Apache helicopters from Greece will head to Poland, the official said.
“These additional personnel are being repositioned to reassure our NATO allies, deter any potential aggression against NATO member states, and train with host-nation forces,” the senior defense official said in a statement. “These moves are temporary in nature, and are part of the more than 90,000 U.S. troops already in Europe on rotational and permanent orders.”
-ABC News’ Matt Seyler
Feb 22, 3:12 pm
Biden authorizes more US forces to region
President Joe Biden said Tuesday, “in response to Russia’s admission that it will not withdraw its forces from Belarus,” he has authorized “the additional movements of U.S. forces and equipment already stationed in Europe, to strengthen our Baltic allies, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.”
Biden did not provide more details other than calling the deployments “totally defensive moves on our part.”
He noted “we have no intention of fighting Russia” and said it was, instead, about sending “an unmistakable message” the U.S. “will defend every inch of NATO territory.”
Echoing Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin reporting that the U.S. has seen Russians “stocking up their blood support supplies,” Biden also used that as an example of Russia’s intended purpose to invade, adding, “You don’t need blood unless you plan on starting a war.”
Pushing back on Russian President Vladimir Putin after Putin essentially negated the idea that Ukraine was a sovereign state, Biden said Tuesday, “the world heard clearly the full extent of Vladimir Putin’s twisted rewrite of history.”
Feb 22, 2:59 pm
Biden addresses impact of Russian sanctions at home
Announcing new economic sanctions on Russia, and calling Russian movements Tuesday “the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine,” President Joe Biden also addressed how Russian sanctions might be felt in the U.S.
In a similar move to sanctions the European Union just announced, Biden said the new sanctions would target two large Russian banks, Russia’s sovereign debt, and, starting Wednesday, the Russian elite and their relatives.
“None of us — none of us should be fooled,” Biden said. “None of us will be fooled. There is no justification. Further Russian assault in Ukraine remains a severe threat in the days ahead.”
Biden said that the sanctions were just the “first tranche” of sanctions in response to their actions and have been coordinated with allies and partners, including with Germany on halting the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, and warned that imposing these sanctions against Russia could come at a cost to Americans as well.
“As I said last week, defending freedom will have costs for us as well and here at home. We need to be honest about that,” Biden said. “But as we do this, I’m going to take robust action to make sure the pain of our sanctions is targeted at the Russian economy, not ours.”
“I want to limit the pain to the American people, fueling at the gas pump. This is critical to me,” he added.
Notably, Biden did not mention personally targeting Putin, which he had previously said he was considering. The president did not take questions from reporters.
-ABC News’ Ben Gittleson and Justin Gomez
Feb 22, 2:29 pm
Biden announces new sanctions on Russia
President Joe Biden announced new sanctions on Russia on Tuesday following Russian President Vladimir Putin signaling he would send “military assistance” to the two Russian-backed separatist regions in eastern Ukraine whose independence Moscow has recognized.
“This is the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, as he indicated and asked permission to be able to do from his Duma,” Biden said in remarks from the White House. “So I’m going to begin to impose sanctions in response — far beyond the steps we and our allies and partners implemented in 2014.”
“If Russia goes further with this invasion, we stand prepared to go further as with sanctions,” Biden continued.
BREAKING: Pres. Biden: “This is the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.”
In his first public remarks since Friday on Ukraine, the president said Putin is “setting up a rationale to take more territory by force” — and “to go much further.”
“Who in the Lord’s name does Putin think gives him the right to declare new so-called countries on territory that belonged to his neighbors? This is a flagrant violation of international law and demands a firm response from the international community,” he added.
Feb 22, 1:31 pm
Bipartisan call for harsher sanctions on Russia
Ahead of an update from President Joe Biden on the situation at Ukraine’s border, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are calling on the president to impose harder sanctions on Russia following criticism that sanctions announced Monday were limited.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said in Kentucky this afternoon he hopes Biden will say that the U.S. is “going to impose the toughest possible sanctions.”
He also said any path forward should ensure that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline not be allowed to ever proceed.
“So as all of this unfolds let me be perfectly clear: The toughest possible sanctions plus no Nord Stream 2. Not now. Not tomorrow. Not ever,” McConnell said.
In an earlier statement, he also called on the U.S. and NATO allies to send support to Ukraine, “including arms,” and warned, “The world is watching.”
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez, a Democrat, has also called on the Biden Administration to impose “severe sanctions,” telling CNN Tuesday that it’s time to “stop equivocating” on whether or not there has been an invasion.
He also said he believes, though he said he couldn’t disclose intelligence, that more Russian troops have arrived in Ukraine overnight.
-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin
Feb 22, 1:04 pm
Russia says it will evacuate its embassy staff from Ukraine
Russia’s Foreign Ministry announced Tuesday it will begin evacuating its personnel from its embassy in Ukraine in “the very nearest time,” according to Russian state news agencies.
RIA Novosti reported that the foreign ministry has claimed its staff received threats and that Ukraine has not reacted to them, while Ukrainian officials have maintained that Russia is the aggressor on the ground.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Feb 22, 12:19 pm
Russian forces have moved into Ukraine: NATO Secretary-General
In a press briefing at NATO headquarters in Brussels, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg urged Russia to “choose the path of diplomacy,” as he said that Russia’s aggressive behavior towards Ukraine marks “the most dangerous moment in European security in a generation.”
Stoltenberg said that there is evidence that Russia has already entered Ukraine, going as far as saying that Russia has been in Donbas since 2014 in what he considers “covert” operations. He said Russia has now moved from “covert attempts to destabilize Ukraine to overt military action.”
Russia has deployed over 150,000 troops, fighter jets and attack helicopters in Ukraine and Belarus and along the Russia-Ukraine border, with troops “in the field and ready to attack,” according to Stoltenberg, while NATO allies have deployed more troops in Romania, Estonia, and Lithuania, and more than 120 ships and over 100 jets are on “high alert.” The NATO response force is on “high readiness,” but has not been deployed.
Stoltenberg said that it is “never too late not to attack,” and that options for diplomacy are still available to Russia, even despite Putin’s “threatening rhetoric” in his address to the public Monday. “We are ready to talk,” said Stoltenberg, as NATO continues to look for a “political path forward.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin held a press conference on the situation around Ukraine following the Russian Parliament granting him permission to use military force outside of the country Tuesday.
Putin warned Russia was ready to provide “military assistance” to the two separatist self-proclaimed republics in eastern Ukraine and send troops there “in the case of necessity,” claiming that a “conflict” was continuing on the ground, while Ukrainian officials have said Russia is the aggressor there.
“As a conflict is happening there, in the case of necessity we are determined to carry out of our obligations we have taken on,” Putin said.
In a significant statement, Putin said that Russia recognizes the separatists’ larger territorial claims, which would include the whole of Ukraine’s Donbas region, not just the area they currently hold — declaring the Minsk agreements to no longer exist.
Putin said right now it is “impossible” to resolve the issue around the borders by negotiations “but in the future it will be,” he said.
He added that Western countries should now agree to the “demilitarization” of Ukraine and repeated it would be best if Ukraine publicly renounced its ambitions now to join NATO.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Feb 22, 11:57 am
Putin granted permission to deploy military force outside Russia
Russia’s upper house of parliament voted unanimously on Tuesday to grant Russian President Vladimir Putin permission to deploy military force outside of the country — in a move that could signal military forces being deployed beyond the Russian-backed separatist regions.
The vote comes after Putin recognized the independence of two separatist regions in eastern Ukraine on Monday, escalating fears the Russian leader is paving the way for a larger invasion.
The Russian leader is currently speaking following the Federal Council granting him permission.
Western leaders have condemned Putin’s decision and warned of imposing more economic sanctions if Russia attacks Ukraine.
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Feb 22, 11:23 am
1st EU package of Russian sanctions to target decision-makers, banks
The European Union has published the proposals of targeted measures that will be formally tabled Tuesday afternoon in response to Moscow’s recognition of the separatist regions in eastern Ukraine — and adds that they have prepared and stand ready to adopt additional measures if needed.
In a statement from the presidents of the European Commission and the European Council on Russian aggression against Ukraine, the group labeled Russia’s actions as “illegal and unacceptable.”
“It violates international law, Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, Russia’s own international commitments and it further escalates the crisis. Both Presidents welcome the steadfast unity of Member States and their determination to react with robustness and speed to the illegal actions of Russia in close coordination with international partners,” they said.
The package contains proposals to target individuals involved with the decision to recognize Russian-backed separatist regions, banks financing the move, Russian access to EU markets and trade from the two breakaway regions.
An informal meeting of EU Foreign Affairs Ministers chaired by the High Representative is scheduled for 4 p.m. where the first package of sanctions will be formally tabled later this afternoon. Appropriate bodies will then meet to finalize the package.
-ABC News’ Christine Theodorou
Feb 22, 11:20 am
Biden to deliver afternoon remarks on Russia, Ukraine
President Joe Biden will provide an update on Russia and Ukraine from the White House at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, according to an updated official schedule.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki in an earlier tweet pledged that more U.S. measures would come “today” but did not give any further details on when or how severe they will be.
@POTUS made clear that if Russia invaded Ukraine, we would act with Germany to ensure Nord Stream 2 does not move forward. We have been in close consultations with Germany overnight and welcome their announcement. We will be following up with our own measures today.
Feb 22, 10:02 am
US to impose tougher sanctions on Russia, UK, EU tease same
As Ukraine calls on allies to impose harsher sanctions on Russia in response to Moscow’s recognition of the separatist regions in eastern Ukraine, several Western countries have announced some sanctions to start — and warned more are coming.
The White House is expected to announce tougher sanctions on Russia Tuesday following criticism from some lawmakers that sanctions President Joe Biden announced Monday were limited.
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson labeled Russia’s actions this morning as a “renewed invasion” and announced the U.K. was sanctioning five Russian banks and three oligarchs, while the European Union weighs another set of sanctions that would ban trading in Russian state bonds and target imports and exports with separatist entities.
Top Russian officials have dismissed the new western sanctions, with Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov in a state TV interview saying Russia was already “used to” sanctions and that it considers more sanctions would be imposed on Moscow regardless of what it does.
But in what may amount to a huge blow to Russia, Germany announced earlier that it would halt Nordstrom 2, a key gas pipeline, as NATO allies aim to pressure Putin into a pathway to diplomacy. White House press secretary Jen Psaki applauded the move and teased more U.S. measures would be coming “today.”
Feb 22, 8:33 am
Putin denies wanting to recreate Russian empire
Russian President Vladimir Putin denied Tuesday that he is seeking to rebuild the Russian empire.
In remarks ahead of his meeting with Azerbaijan’s president, Putin said he knew his recognition of two Russia-backed separatist areas in eastern Ukraine would spark such “speculation.”
“I have seen speculation that Russia wants to rebuild the Russian empire in its imperial boundaries. That absolutely does not correspond to reality,” Putin said.
The Russian leader insisted that his country recognizes the sovereignty of all former Soviet countries but said the situation with Ukraine is “different” because he claimed foreign countries are using Ukrainian territory to threaten Russia.
“Unfortunately the territory of that country is being used by third countries to create a threat to Russia itself. The issues is only in that,” Putin said, adding that Russia’s cooperation with Ukriane has disappeared due to the conflict that began between the Ukrainian military and Russia-backed separatist forces in 2014, which he described as a “coup.”
Feb 22, 8:28 am
US embassy staff to stay in Lviv each day, in Poland at night
U.S. embassy staff who remained in Ukraine will be in the western city of Lviv during the daytime and stay in Poland each night for security reasons, amid fears of a Russian invasion, acting U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Kristina Kvien told ABC News.
The embassy’s skeleton staff had relocated operations to Lviv from the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. They returned to Lviv on Tuesday after staying in Poland overnight, a senior U.S. official told ABC News.
Feb 22, 7:40 am
Germany halts approval of pipeline as part of sanctions against Russia
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced Tuesday that his country will halt its approval of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline connecting Germany to Russia, in response to Russia’s recognition of two separatist areas in eastern Ukraine and amid fear of further possible aggression.
“The situation today is fundamentally different,” Scholz said at a press conference in Berlin.
Scholz said he has asked Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action to take a step that blocks certification of the Nord Stream 2. That means the pipeline, which is already built, cannot go into operation for now.
The Nord Stream 2 linking Russia to Europe by circumventing Ukraine has been highly controversial, with Germany accused of allowing Russia to construct a geopolitical weapon enabling Moscow to pressure Europe using gas supplies. Last year, Ukraine and the United States were pushing to stop the project but Germany refused.
The decision to halt the pipeline’s certification serves as a major sanction against Russia amid growing fears of an invasion of neighboring Ukraine and immense pressure on Germany to act. Earlier Tuesday, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy called on Germany to include the Nord Stream 2 in Europe’s sanctions on Russia.
“At this stage, in addition to initial sanctions, it is now important to prevent further escalation and thus another catastrophe,” Scholz said. “That is what all our diplomatic efforts are aimed at.”
The move may amount to a huge blow to Russia, which has already stoked a gas crunch in Europe by having its state-owned energy company Gazprom deliver the bare minimum of gas despite severe shortages. Gazprom has continued to do that in recent weeks and could go further, and Germany is particularly vulnerable. During a press conference last week, Scholz repeatedly refused to explicitly say if he would be willing to halt the Nord Stream 2.
However, by suspending the pipeline’s certification, Germany dangles the possibility it could be resumed if Russia doesn’t make further aggressions against Ukraine. It’s unclear how Russia will respond to a continent that it knows is overly reliant on Russian energy.
Feb 22, 7:12 am
Ukraine doesn’t believe Russia will mount ‘large-scale’ invasion
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday he won’t introduce martial law for now because his government doesn’t believe that Russia will mount a “large-scale” invasion.
“We believe that there won’t be a war, a powerful one, against Ukraine and there won’t be a large-scale escalation from Russia,” Zelenskyy said during a joint press conference in Kyiv with his Estonian counterpart. “If there will be, we will impose martial law.”
Zelenskyy also revealed that he’s considering breaking off diplomatic relations with Russia over its recognition of two Russia-backed separatist areas in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region. He said a proposal to do so has been put forward by the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which he said he’s looking at it but has not yet made a decision.
The Ukrainian president also called for Western countries to impose sanctions fast against Russia, saying the situation is developing “very quickly” and that the “first steps” of Moscow’s aggression have already been made. Zelenskyy said sanctions should include fully stopping the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline connecting Russia to Germany.
“The reaction must as quick,” he noted. “Sanctions policy is more a powerful policy which can really have an effect on the probable escalation from Russia. Don’t wait for it to happen, because already the first steps of this aggression are done. We believe that legally the aggression has already been done.”
Feb 22, 7:01 am
Kremlin calls Western reaction ‘predictable’
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that the reaction of Western countries to Russia’s recognition of two Russia-backed separatist areas in eastern Ukraine is “predictable.”
“As for the reaction, it was predictable, foreseeable,” Peskov told reporters during a daily call. “We will continue to work and to patiently put across our arguments.”
Peskov also claimed not to know anything about possible deployments of Russian “peacekeepers” into the areas overnight and made a comment that suggested the Kremlin may consider the legitimate territory of the separatists to include large parts of eastern Ukraine currently not in their control.
Separatists in the self-declared People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk only hold about a third of the territory they claim in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region. The fear is Russia might now back those claims and use it as a pretext to make a larger land grab and destroy Ukrainian forces.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Peskov said the Kremlin recognizes the separatist areas “in those borders which they have declared for themselves, when these two republics were declared.”
But when asked to clarify, Peskov added: “In those borders, in which they exist and were declared. And were declared and exist.”
When pressed if that meant within the “present borders” of the separatist areas, Peskov refused to answer, saying he had nothing more to add.
Peskov also said that Russia’s recognition of the areas means the issue of the Minsk agreement is “now off the agenda.” He said any negotiations going forward will focus only on Russia’s demands for security guarantees that Ukraine not join NATO.
Peskov noted that the United States has not contacted the Kremlin since Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Monday his recognition of the two separatist areas as independent, but that Moscow was “open to diplomatic contacts.”
What happens next, he said, is “up to our opponents.”
Feb 22, 6:09 am
Russian parliament ratifies friendship treaty with separatists areas of eastern Ukraine
Russia’s parliament voted Tuesday to ratify a friendship treaty with two Russia-backed separatist areas in eastern Ukraine.
Lawmakers also added an amendment that brings the Treaty of Friendship into force immediately. The treaty includes a mutual defense pact, which establishes that Russian troops will jointly guard the borders of the self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, in a breakaway region of eastern Ukraine known as Donbas.
Lawmakers were still discussing the decrees that Russian President Vladimir Putin signed on Monday night recognizing the two areas as independent. Both the upper and lower chambers of Russia’s parliament are expected to vote soon on whether to ratify the orders.
It remains unclear exactly what borders Russia will recognize for the areas. Separatist leaders of the self-declared People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk want to control all of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in Donbas. But they currently only have about a third, with the rest controlled by Ukraine.
Some Russian officials have suggested Moscow may adopt the position that the separatist areas should include the entire Donetsk and Luhansk regions, thus raising fears that Russian troops will use force to expand the borders.
Feb 22, 5:49 am
Top Russian officials dismiss the West’s sanctions
Top Russian officials on Tuesday morning dismissed new sanctions being imposed by Western countries for Moscow’s recognition of the separatist areas in eastern Ukraine.
In an interview with state-owned television channel Russia-24, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the country was already “used to” sanctions and that more would be imposed regardless of what Moscow does.
“That our [Western] colleagues are trying to push the blame on Russia for the failure of the Minsk agreements, we also understand,” Lavrov said. “Our European, American, British colleagues won’t stop and won’t calm down as long as they haven’t exhausted their possibilities for the so-called punishment of Russia.”
“They already threaten all possible sanctions. Hellish, or as they say there, ‘the mother of all sanctions,'” he added. “Well, we’re used to this. The president already noted our position, we know that sanctions will be introduced all the same, in any case. With a basis, without a basis.”
Meanwhile, the speaker of Russia’s parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, echoed Lavrov’s sentiments during an ongoing session of the lower house, known as the State Duma.
“Yes, sanctions hinder our development. But they would happen anyway. They would happen anyway even if that decision hadn’t been taken,” Volodin told lawmakers, adding that there are “more important problems.”
“Yesterday, our president stopped a war,” he said. “It’s not a question of territory — it’s a question of the lives of millions of citizens.”
Feb 22, 5:10 am
US embassy staff return to Ukraine after spending night in Poland
U.S. embassy staff who remained in Ukraine will return to the country on Tuesday after spending the night in Poland amid fears of a Russian invasion, a senior U.S. official told ABC News.
Personnel will return to the city of Lviv in western Ukraine, where they had relocated operations from the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. But they are poised to move back to Poland at any point, the official said.
Feb 22, 4:58 am
Russia-backed separatists claim Ukraine is still staging attacks
Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine have continued to accuse Ukrainian government forces of attacks.
The separatists in a breakaway region known as Donbas made another unverified claim Tuesday morning that three civilians were killed by a roadside bomb.
Separatist leaders posted photographs of a burned-out minivan on a road in their territory that they alleged was the vehicle blown up by a Ukrainian “diversionary group.” The claim is unverified and resembles other allegations that have been rapidly debunked.
Meanwhile, a top separatist military commander accused Ukrainian government forces of continuing to shell the area.
The latest claims raise the possibility that Russia is still building a pretext to launch an attack on Ukrainian government troops, even after recognizing the self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent.
Feb 22, 4:33 am
‘World cannot be silent,’ Ukrainian defense minister warns
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov took to Twitter early Tuesday to dismiss Moscow’s recognition of the Russian-controlled breakaway areas in eastern Ukraine, saying the move amounts only to a recognition of the Kremlin’s “own aggression.”
“We remain confident and calm,” Reznikov tweeted. “We are ready and able to defend ourselves and our sovereignty.”
But he also issued a warning: “World cannot be silent.”
“Sanctions?” he tweeted. “Another brick in the wall? New Berlin Wall?”
Feb 22, 2:54 am
Putin’s recognition of separatists’ independence is ‘shameful act,’ Blinken says
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken early Tuesday called Russia’s move to recognize separatist regions in Ukraine as independent a “predictable” act.
“Russia’s move to recognize the ‘independence’ of so-called republics controlled by its own proxies is a predictable, shameful act,” he said on Twitter.
Blinken is scheduled to meet Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Washington on Tuesday.
Feb 22, 2:03 am
Blinken speaks with Ukraine’s Kuleba ahead of Tuesday meeting
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by phone on Monday with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, noting the Biden administration’s “swift response” to Russia’s decision to recognize Ukraine’s separatists’ regions as independent.
“They discussed the strong measures we announced today in response and reiterated that additional steps would be forthcoming,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement late Monday.
Blinken and Kuleba are scheduled to meet on Tuesday in Washington.
Kuleba earlier said he spoke with Blinken about sanctions.
“I underscored the need to impose tough sanctions on Russia in response to its illegal actions,” Kuleba said on Twitter.
Feb 21, 11:58 pm
Ukrainian envoy says UN is infected with ‘virus’ spread by Kremlin
After the Russian envoy spoke at the U.N. Security Council’s emergency meeting Tuesday night, Ukraine’s envoy began his remarks by saying he was afraid to take off his mask not because of COVID-19 but “because of the virus that has so far no vaccine — the virus that hates the United Nations and the virus that is spread by the Kremlin.”
That “virus” has infected the U.N. and threatens to kill it, Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya said in a stark warning.
“The United Nations is sick, that’s a matter of fact,” he said. “It’s been hit by the virus spread by the Kremlin. Will it succumb to this virus? It is in the hands of the membership.”
Kyslytsya warned it’s not just the U.N. that he believes is under threat. During his remarks, he held up a paper that had a copy of the Kremlin’s decree recognizing Russian-backed “breakaway” provinces from Georgia in 2008 and the decree issued Monday recognizing the separatist Donetsk and Luhansk, showing how they’re almost the exact same.
“Copy, paste. Copy, paste. No creativity whatsoever. The copying machine in the Kremlin works very well. Who is next among the members of the United Nations? The question is open,” he said.
Kyslytsya demanded that Russia “cancel” and remove “additional Russian occupation troops” in Ukrainian territory, and he insisted, “The internationally recognized borders of Ukraine have been and will remain unchangeable regardless of any statements and actions by the Russian Federation.”
“We are committed to a peaceful and diplomatic path, and we will stay firmly on it. We are on our land. We are not afraid of anything or anyone. We owe nothing to anyone, and we will not give away anything to anyone,” he said.
Feb 21, 11:48 pm
Ukraine highlights importance of global response to Russia
Ukraine called for “painful sanctions” against Russia in a statement released by its foreign ministry, noting that how the world responds may greatly influence Russia’s next move.
“Further decisions and steps of the Russian Federation largely depend on the world’s reaction to today’s events,” the statement read. “Therefore, we insist on imposing painful sanctions against Russia in order to send a clear signal of the inadmissibility of further escalation. It is time to act to end Russia’s aggression and restore peace and stability in Europe.”
The country reiterated that it is ready to defend itself, stating that it “understands Russia’s intentions and its desire to provoke Ukraine. We take into account all risks and do not succumb to provocations.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is currently in Washington and meets with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday.
Feb 21, 11:21 pm
Russian envoy dismisses criticisms, blames Ukraine in Security Council meeting
In remarks during an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting Tuesday, Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzia dismissed “highly emotional” criticisms of Russia and said nothing has changed on the ground, while also blaming Ukraine for the decisions President Vladimir Putin’s decisions made earlier in the day.
Nebenzia dismissed “unfounded panic about an impending Russian invasion of Ukraine” — as Russian troops prepare to come across the border — and painted Russia as a pacifist hero that welcomed refugees who were forced onto buses by Russian-led separatists.
“We’ve just heard a number of highly emotional statements, categorical assessments, and far-reaching conclusions,” he said during the emergency meeting. “I’ll leave the direct verbal assaults against us unanswered. Now it’s important to focus on how to avoid war and how to force Ukraine to stop the shelling and provocations against Donetsk and Luhansk.”
Russian-controlled separatists are responsible for the shelling and for staging the provocations, but Nebenzia worked to portray Ukraine as the aggressor and Russia as the force preventing war, despite it essentially seizing Ukrainian territory.
