The Morning Dispatch: Putin Invades Ukraine

Russia claims to have knocked out just about all of Ukraine’s airbases and air defense systems.

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The world has changed. Early Thursday morning, Russian television aired a speech from President Vladimir Putin in which he declared he had “decided to conduct a special military operation” in Ukraine. The invasion began shortly thereafter.

Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories

  • Putin claimed in his speech the invasion was aimed at “demilitarizing and de-Nazifying Ukraine,” and that Russia has “no plans to occupy Ukrainian territory.” But Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba categorized the move as a “full-scale invasion,” with “peaceful Ukrainian cities under strike.” Sources on the ground reported missile strikes and shellings in several cities across the country—including Kyiv—and the Russian military confirmed it was striking Ukraine’s military airfields and air defense facilities. Ukrainian officials said Russian troops have crossed the border from Crimea, Russia, and Belarus, and that there have already been “hundreds of casualties.”

  • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced he was imposing martial law throughout the country, and encouraged citizens to “keep calm” and “stay at home if you can.” Ukraine began conscripting reservists between the ages of 18 and 60 on Wednesday, and its Parliament voted yesterday to approve a law allowing all civilians to carry firearms and act in self defense. Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, called for a 30-day, nationwide state of emergency yesterday that, if approved by Parliament, would allow the government to restrict transportation, implement curfews, and impose additional security measures.

  • After waiving them last year because they “risked undermining a critical alliance with Germany,” President Joe Biden announced Wednesday the United States would reimpose sanctions on the entity and corporate officers behind the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in response to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. Sen. Ted Cruz praised the decision and said he would lift the hold on State Department nominees he had implemented in response to the initial waiving.

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  1. Avatar photo
    DANA A. NICHOLS

    Trip all of the communication/broadcast breakers on Trump’s ability to transmit any of the moronic “would never have happened at on my watch…” total BS! Good articles from each of you on all of the oligarchs and super-rich always ready to continue cultivating war, while contractors continue making huge profits purchasing sub-standard or proven bad equipment. Good on Ukraine’s President, standing up downtown and telling Putin that he is still home and calling the shots!



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  2. Avatar photo
    Adam Bridge

    QotD: well 9/11 for sure and just as big would be the end of the Cold War. Also the elimination of smallpox in the wild which is huge. We've learned so much!

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    Adam Bridge

    I'm deeply worried that both the NATO forces and the Russian forces are amateurs at close confrontations. During the Cold War we had an understanding of what could and (more importantly) what could NOT be done. That isn't the case today. In addition there are new weapons: cyberwarfare is sort of like using nerve gas - you can't control exactly where it will have an effect. Suppose the Russians attack Ukraine by networked means. That might well have effects outside Ukraine - as in Poland. What then? A cyber attack that took down vital Polish infrastructure would be an attack on all of NATO. What's our reaction?

    These are incredibly dangerous times. The people making the decisions haven't made them when all sides are nuclear powers. One stupid move...

    I so want to be wrong.

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    Dustin Anglin

    I remember when my parents let my brother and I stay up and watch the live coverage of Operation Desert Storm, with the skies over Baghdad filled with random anti-aircraft fire. That was the first real *serious* world event I can remember. I also remember watching the Shock and Awe invasion of Iraq almost a decade later. But even though both of those were wars, it didn't feel like the world was at risk of breaking out into war.

    This feels so different, and I honestly have no idea what the future holds, other than I'm almost certain we won't be talking about peace on the European continent for a long, long time. I hope Ukraine gives the Russians hell, and that the US and its allies do everything in their power to make sure Putin's ambitions on reestablishing the Soviet Union die in Ukraine.

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    Mike B

    Was that the first AAAPWOC? If so, it is a momentous achievement. As one who looks forward every day to the PWOC, I say: as many Alsos as it takes. Perhaps you will be the first to land a quad Also-PWOC in international competition.

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  6. Jaybrown

    QOTD:

    1. JFK assassination. I was a freshman in high school. Got sent home early, watched TV and tried to figure it out.

    2. Vietnam protests. Kent State students killed by national guard (not where I was in school). I was a junior in college and it closed before finals after the administration building was taken over by protesters. Everyone got P/F that year in every class.

    3. Nixon resignation.

    4. 9/11. Working in a national security facility, got evacuated at noon to go home by grim-faced security guards in SWAT gear and Humvees.

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    Brian

    I don’t understand why Putin announces what he’s doing. Does he gain anything from releasing the information, or is he just enjoying the reaction and getting his ego stroked?

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    C C Writer

    Hmmm, Russians are protesting in the streets and saying things like “We, the Russian people, are against the war Putin has unleashed. We don’t support this war, it is being waged not on our behalf.” “I want to ask Ukrainians for forgiveness. We didn’t vote for those who unleashed the war.”

    Of course the government is going to crack down on them. But at least Putin will now have to deal with a Russian front! I don't think he can succeed in shutting down all protest in this day and age, because he can't completely isolate people from each other--communication can still happen and I expect the protesters to get pretty clever about it. Maybe he underestimated this even though he must have anticipated this (or did he?). I'm going to have some good thoughts for these Russians, along with those I have for the Ukrainians.

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      Aylene Wright

      And Navalny, who just happened (?) to be in court today, also publicly stated he opposed the war. Although that doesn't surprise me. But after reading some accounts that claim only a handful of Russians are actively protesting, I was pleasantly surprised to see footage showing at least hundreds, if not thousands, of protesters. (Although I suppose Team Putin will claim the pictures are fake, or the protestors are CIA agents, etc.)

      Unfortunately these were quickly shut down, but it does add some nuance to the narrative that Russians as a whole support the war because they actually buy into what Putin is selling them. How many more would protest if they didn't fear being arrested?

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    Theirn Scott

    Well, I was 11 for the Cuban mussel crisis, 12 when Kennedy was assassinated, 911 was as traumatic a national crisis can get. This is different. A war in Europe, it’s Not something I thought I would see. And definitely not a replay of Sudetenland.

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  10. Brittonlaw

    Well, I have to admit, I was completely wrong about this. I didn't think Putin would actually do it. I thought he would understand that there was too much risk involved in a full-scale war, and now I think I may have been wrong about the level of risk too. Anyone else?

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