Russia continues its offensive on Ukraine, capturing the cities of Burdiansk and Kherson. Russian forces are continuing to attack, bypassing international pressure. Meanwhile, Russia has claimed that it is in talks with local authorities to keep Ukraine’s civilian facilities intact.
The Moscow Stock Exchange did not open for trading for the third consecutive day on Wednesday. The Russian Central Bank said in a statement that limited operations would be allowed for the first time this week. Russia has been mired in severe financial meltdown after the United States, the European Union and other Western allies imposed sanctions on much of the country’s banking system.
It is scrambling to accumulate foreign reserves worth hundreds of billions of dollars. The Russian currency ruble has fallen, and the shares of Russian companies listed abroad are also collapsing. Many Western businesses have left Russia since the attack on Ukraine, including oil giants BP, Shell and Exxon Mobil.
South Korea will block financial transactions with seven major Russian banks and their allies as part of its economic sanctions on Russia. The country’s finance ministry on Tuesday released a detailed plan on sanctions after consultations with the US Treasury Department. These seven Russian banks are Sberbank, VEB, PSB, VTB, Otkritie, Sovcom and Novikom. The sanctions will follow the US grace period, and allow exceptional transactions such as agriculture, COVID-19 medicine and energy assistance.
US President Joe Biden, in his first State of the Union address, vowed to confront Russia’s aggression and control US inflation. Biden’s speech has increased in importance as Russia invades Ukraine. The President also started his speech with the issue of Ukraine crisis. He asked the MPs present in the chamber of the House to stand up and salute the spirit of the people of Ukraine. After this all the MPs stood up.
“Throughout our history, the lesson we have learned is that when dictators do not pay the price for their aggression, they tend to spread more chaos,” Biden said. “Putin’s war is premeditated and unprovoked,” the president said. He rejected attempts at diplomacy. They thought that Western countries and NATO would not respond. He thought that he could divide us in our house itself. Putin was wrong. We are ready.
The Russian military intensified its attacks on congested urban areas, bombing the central square of Ukraine’s second-largest city and the main TV tower of Kyiv, in what the country’s president called a blatant campaign of terrorism. Meanwhile, PM Modi held talks with several European leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron, Polish President Andrzej Duda and European Council President Charles Michel. During this, he expressed concern over the ongoing war in Ukraine and its deteriorating humanitarian situation.
The Ukrainian military has asked people not to mix with outsiders. Soldiers of Russian President Putin dressed in Ukrainian costumes are trying to mingle with the locals and find out where they are. The Ukrainian army has asked them to be careful. On the other hand, US President Joe-Biden has called Putin’s western approach to the invasion of Ukraine wrong.