Putin Green Lights Military Operations in Ukraine

In an address Wednesday evening, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he has decided to green light military operations in Ukraine.

“I’ve made the decision to conduct a special military operation,” Putin said. “Our analysis has concluded that our confrontation with these [Ukrainian] forces in inevitable.”

“A couple of words for those who would be tempted to intervene. Russia will respond immediately and you will have consequences that you never have had before in your history,” he added.

President Biden has been receiving regular briefings from his national security team, a White House official told Fox News’ Peter Doocy Wednesday.

The news comes as fears grow that Russia is set to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine has closed its airspace to civil aircraft as Russian leaders are seemingly poised to launch a full-scale invasion of the country.

A NOTAM alert Wednesday evening notified civil aircraft that Ukrainian airspace was closed due to a “potential hazard for civil aviation.”

Meanwhile, ABC News reported that Russian military leaders have returned their command center as cyber attacks on Ukraine are underway, a potential sign that a full-scale invasion of Ukraine could be near.

During an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken did not rule out the possibility that Russia could launch a full scale invasion before the end of the night.

“I do,” Blinken responded when asked by Holt if he had “reason to believe” Russia would launch such an attack within the next few hours. “Russia has positioned its forces at the final point of readiness across Ukraine’s borders.”

“Everything seems to be in place for Russia to engage,” Blinken continued.

Asked to clarify whether he believed such an invasion could come Wednesday night, Blinken responded that he “cannot put a date an exact time on it.”

The United Nations Security Council will hold an emergency session on the developing crisis in Ukraine Wednesday night.

The session comes just one day after the security council held an emergency session at the request of Ukraine on Tuesday, which saw most countries in attendance speak out against Russia’s recent actions in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a direct plea to the Russian population, arguing Ukraine is not the enemy Russian President Vladimir Putin has made them out to be.

In an emotional Facebook video directed at the Russian population Wednesday, Zelenskyy said that he has tried to reach out to Putin directly in an attempt for diplomacy to no avail.

He defended Ukraine from Putin’s comments comparing the country to Nazi Germany, arguing that 8 million Ukrainians died fighting during the second world war.

Zelenskyy noted that while Russians and Ukrainians are a different people, they don’t have to be enemies.

The leaders of two separatists regions in eastern Ukraine have requested assistance from Russian President Vladimir Putin, claiming they need to “repel aggression” from the Ukrainian military, according to Russian government news agency TASS.

The leaders of the separatists regions pointed to an escalation of the crisis in Donbas, claiming they were currently under threat from the government in Kiev.

The news comes as Russia has moved troops into eastern Ukraine under the guise of keeping peace after Putin recognized the two region’s claims of independence from the Ukrainian government, stoking fears that the move could be a pretext for a larger full scale invasion of Ukraine.

“This means it’s on. Russian forces will initiate the military offensive operation now,” former DIA intelligence officer Rebekah Koffler, who also authored ‘Putin’s Playbook: Russia’s Secret Plan to Defeat America,’ told Fox News Digital Wednesday.

Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin would be responsible for the loss of life if he chooses a full scale invasion of Ukraine, noting that he would also be putting at risk the lives of Russian soldiers.

“He’s going to have to answer to Russian moms and dads,” for Russian soldiers that die in a potential war, Kirby said during a Wednesday press briefing.

Kirby said that a potential war would not be “bloodless,” arguing that Putin would be choosing that option over diplomacy that is still an options.

“We still think there’s time to deescalate… not pursue a war of choice,” Kirby said.

Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said Wednesday that the Department of Defense believes Russia is “ready” to launch a large scale invasion of Ukraine.

“We continue to see him form his capabilities in such a way that leads us to believe that we are potentially close to some sort of action,” Kirby said Monday, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Russian forces continues to assemble closer to the border and put themselves in advance stage of readiness to act… virtually any time now,” he continued. “We believe they are ready.”

The Ukrainian Parliament approved a state of emergency for the country Wednesday that will be in place for 30 days.

The move comes after s National Security and Defense Council recommendation earlier Wednesday, which came as a massive cyber attack hit several of the country’s websites.

President Biden announced that he will be imposing sanctions on the owner of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline connecting Russia and Germany, in response to Russian actions in Ukraine.

President Biden announced that he will be imposing sanctions on the owner of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline connecting Russia and Germany, in response to Russian actions in Ukraine.

In a statement issued from the White House Wednesday afternoon, Biden referenced Germany’s recent announcement that it would halt the pipeline’s certification and thanked Chancellor Olaf Scholz for his cooperation in “holding Russia accountable” for its aggression.

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A senior U.S. defense official has said Wednesday that Russian troops “arrayed around Ukraine and Belarus are as ready as they can be.”

“We believe that he that he, Mr. Putin and his forces are as ready as they can be and… they have uncoiled. They’re ready to go,” the official warned.

“It is our assessment that he is fully prepared to conduct a large scale invasion and that that is that is a likely option,” the official added.

“We would assess that about 80 percent of their forces are in what we would consider forward positions ready to go,” the official also said, noting that “if ever we wanted to be wrong, we want to be wrong about this.”

Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin contributed to this report.

Turkey, a NATO member which shares a Black Sea border with Russia and Ukraine, says the “decision of the Russian Federation to recognize the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk Republics… constitutes a clear violation of Ukraine’s political unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“We reiterate once again our commitment to the preservation of Ukraine’s political unity and territorial integrity and invite all concerned parties to act with common sense and to abide by international law,” a statement from Turkey’s foreign ministry added.

Bipartisan lawmakers – ranging from members of the far-left Squad to the far-right Freedom Caucus – joined together Tuesday to call on President Biden to receive authorization from Congress before involving U.S. forces in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Rep. Peter DeFazio, an Oregon Democrat, and Rep. Warren Davidson, an Ohio Republican, led the diverse group of 43 members of Congress in a letter to Biden, urging him to follow the Constitution when considering deploying U.S. troops.

“The American people deserve to have a say before we become involved in yet another foreign conflict,” DeFazio said in a tweet.

Biden on Tuesday announced sanctions against Russia after President Vladimir Putin declared the independence of two separatist regions in Ukraine and deployed military forces in what Biden said is the “beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.” Biden also authorized additional U.S. forces to the region, but maintained that the United States has “no intention” of fighting Russia.

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As Russia ramps up its invasion of Ukraine, Russian media is ramping up a different picture of the conflict. 

Social media has become a battlefield of its own with content produced by Russian media, which is under the control of the Kremlin. Viral videos purportedly showing the Ukrainian military being the aggressors have turned out to be false.  

“Videos and other content posted on social media … are part of Russia’s information warfare doctrine,” former Defense Intelligence Agency officer Rebekah Koffler told Fox News Digital. “The goal is to favorably predispose Russia’s population to the government’s actions, in this case, military incursion into Ukraine; and to sway foreigners who are sympathetic to Russia, to see the Russian side of the story.”

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U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield is urging members of the General Assembly Wednesday to “get off of the sidelines and let us together show Russia that it is isolated and alone in its aggressive actions.” 

“Let us show Russia that every other U.N. member state believes that it is time to de-escalate, to come back to the negotiating table and to work toward peace, so Ukrainians can live in security and the tenets of the U.N. charter can be upheld for future generations to come,” she added. 

Thomas-Greenfield also said a larger military conflict in Ukraine could create a massive refugee crisis “with as many as five million more people displaced by Russia’s war of choice and putting pressure on Ukraine’s neighbors.”

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the General Assembly that Russia is the “aggressor” in the current situation unfolding in Ukraine. 

“There is no middle ground here,” she said. “Calling for both sides to de-escalate only gives Russia a pass. Russia is the aggressor here.” 

Thomas-Greenfield, referencing Russia’s involvement in eastern Ukraine since 2014 and President Vladimir Putin’s speech earlier this week in which he questioned Ukraine’s existence, also said “Russia’s aggression not only threatens all of Ukraine but every member state in the U.N. itself.” 

“President Putin gave us the clearest indication of his intentions on Monday when he asked the world to travel back in time by more than a 100 years before the United Nations even existed to an age of empires,” Thomas-Greenfield continued. “He asserted that Russia can recolonize its neighbors and that he will use force to make a farce of the United Nations. The United States rejects that firmly.” 

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Chinese news media posted instructions to social platforms about how to approach coverage on Ukraine, including a note of China’s need for Russian “support” with Taiwan. 

One outlet appeared to accidentally post guidelines on what should and should not be published, while an editor from another outlet weighed in with guidance on language and approaches that he believed necessary in walking a fine line. 

Ming Jinwei, senior editor at Xinhua News Agency, wrote in his WeChat blog about how his outlet needed to walk a tight line on its Ukraine coverage, noting that China “has to back Russia up with emotional and moral support while refraining from treading on the toes of the United States and European Union.” 

“In the future, China will also need Russia’s understanding and support when wrestling with America to solve the Taiwan issue once and for all,” his post read. Ming said that it “doesn’t hurt” to use moderately pro-Russia language. 

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Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has told the United Nations Wednesday in New York that “we are at a critical juncture in world history and our actions today define it for decades to come.” 

Kuleba says his country’s some 40 million residents “only wish to live in peace and prosperity, not in fear, intimidation – not under Russian fire, bombs and shelling.” 

“We are currently in the middle of the largest security crisis in Europe since the second world war,” he continued. “This crisis was created and is being escalated by one side unilaterally – by the Russian Federation.” 

“Russia’s accusations of Ukraine are absurd, Ukraine has never threatened or attacked anyone,” Kuleba also said. “Ukraine has never planned and does not plan any such action. Ukraine has never planned and does not plan any military offensive in the Donbas [region], neither any provocations or acts of sabotage.” 

“It is ultimately absurd to suggest that Ukraine could have prepared or anything like this and waited for months until Russia amassed an enormous military force along our borders to proceed with such plans,” he added. “This absurdity defies basic logic.” 

Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation, says ongoing disruptions of government websites are the result of a “new mass distributed denial-of-service attack,” according to Fox News staff on the ground in Ukraine.

“At about 4 pm, another mass DDoS attack on our state began,” Fedorov said on the Telegram messaging service. “We have relevant data from a number of banks, and there are also problems with access to the websites of the Verkhovna Rada [parliament] (already in operation), the Cabinet of Ministers and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This is due to switching traffic to another provider to minimize the damage from the attack.”

All three websites appeared to be operating again Wednesday after being inaccessible earlier.

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This Tuesday satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows new deployments of troops and equipment that have been established in rural areas southwest of Belgorod, Russia, less than 12 miles to the northwest of the border with Ukraine.

The RBC-Ukraine news agency is reporting Wednesday that several government websites have been targeted in a new cyberattack.

The attack is disrupting the websites of the Ukrainian parliament, its Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its Cabinet of Ministers, according to reports on Twitter.

All three of the websites currently appear inaccessible.

Last week, a round of cyberattacks brought down websites belonging to Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense, army and popular banks, with Ukrainian officials suspecting Russia as the culprit.

In a joint statement Wednesday, Lithuania and Poland — both close neighbors to Ukraine — said the eastern European country “deserves EU candidate status and the Republic of Lithuania and the Republic of Poland will support Ukraine in achieving this goal.”

“We, the Presidents of Ukraine, the Republic of Poland and the Republic of Lithuania – the Lublin Triangle, gathered in Kyiv on 23 February 2022, express our strongest condemnation of the decision by the Russian Federation
to recognize the quasi-entities in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine – the so-called ‘Luhansk People’s Republic’ and ‘Donetsk People’s Republic,” the statement read.  

“We urge Russia to de-escalate and to withdraw its armed forces deployed around Ukraine’s borders and in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, and to refrain from taking any further military actions,” it added.

Serhii Sternenko discusses what he will do if a further Russian invasion occurs and how Ukrainian allies can help the nation.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday that “it is not possible for us to give up on either of them” when speaking about Russia and Ukraine, its Black Sea neighbors.

“We have economic, military and economic ties with Russia. We also have political, military and economic ties with Ukraine… Our aim is to take such a step that we can solve this problem without having to give up on neither of them,” Erdogan continued.

Turkey has repeatedly offered to mediate the tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

People look into a destroyed house after shelling earlier this week near the front line, near the city of Novoluhanske in the Donetsk region of Ukraine.

An armed clash between Ukraine and Russia, coupled with punishing sanctions for Moscow, could push U.S. stocks toward another major loss, according to Goldman Sachs economists.

The S&P 500 entered correction territory Tuesday, down 10% from its last peak, as investors weighed the conflict and fresh U.S. and U.K. sanctions on Russia. For the year, it’s down over 9%. 

In a note this week, Goldman economist Dominic Wilson said the S&P 500 could drop 6.2% in a scenario in which the crisis escalates and “outright conflict” breaks out. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, could plunge 9.6%. The benchmark is already off over 14% this year. 

“Although Russia/Ukraine tensions appeared to affect primarily local assets in January, spillovers to global assets have been much more obvious in February,” the analyst note said. “If risks flare up further, and we shift to an outright conflict scenario coupled with punitive sanctions, the build in political risk premium would very likely extend.”

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Hatzalah Ukraine CEO Shlomo Rosilio says that large nations need to abide by their agreements and commitment to protect Ukraine.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is warning its citizens across the border in Russia to depart “immediately” Wednesday as uncertainty surrounds Russia’s next military moves.

“In connection with the intensification of Russian aggression against Ukraine, which, among other things, may lead to significant restrictions on the provision of consular assistance in the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommends that Ukrainian citizens refrain from any trips to the Russian Federation,” it said in a statement.

“We emphasize that ignoring these recommendations will make it much more difficult to ensure proper protection of Ukrainian citizens in the Russian Federation,” the statement added.

Ukraine’s parliament on Wednesday has approved sanctions against 351 Russians following Moscow’s recognition of the Donetsk and Luhansk breakaway regions, according to Reuters.

The sanctions restrict movement into Ukraine and prevent those targeted from access to assets, capital, property and business licenses in the eastern European country.

“We should… impose sanctions against criminals, against every deputy of the State Duma of Russia, who voted for dismembering Ukraine,” lawmaker Iryna Herashchenko was quoted as saying.

A state of emergency is set to be imposed across all regions of Ukraine, according to National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov.

The Russian
-backed Donetsk and Luhansk breakaway regions are exceptions, where a special status has remained since 2014. 

The state of emergency must be approved by parliament, though limited opposition is expected.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a video address Wednesday, asserted that the country’s core interests were “non-negotiable” amid tensions with Ukraine – and with the U.S. and other Western nations.

But Putin also said Russia was “always open for direct and honest dialogue,” and was willing to address “the most difficult issues” through diplomacy, according to reports.

Putin’s remarks came on Defenders of the Fatherland Day, the Russian equivalent of Veterans Day in the United States, according to Max Seddon, Moscow bureau chief of The Financial Times of Britain.

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As tensions continue to rise in Ukraine and Russia, U.S. intelligence officials are on the watch for manipulated video and audio that could result in multiple cases of misinformation.

The FBI continues to wage a campaign against illegal deepfakes, as the technology continues to improve.

“Audio, video, text and images that are created to show something that didn’t necessarily happen, or never occurred,” FBI Cyber Division Unit Chief Pranav Shah said of deepfakes.

Shah tells FOX News the technology, once reserved for cyber wizards, is becoming more user-friendly. He says it is getting easier to make these digital deceptions, and they aren’t always illegal. 

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Pope Francis on Wednesday urged Russia and Ukraine to take a step back from the threat of war, saying the latest developments “discredit international law.”

“Once again, the peace of everyone is threatened by vested interests,” the pope said.

The Vatican is walking a fine line as the Church has been attempting to reach out to the Russian Orthodox Church and set up a meeting with its leader.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

After Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen ordered the island’s armed forces to be on alert amid tensions between Russia and Ukraine, Beijing on Wednesday balked at the comparison, calling the move “self-serving.”

“Taiwan is not Ukraine,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said, according to Reuters. “Taiwan has always been an inalienable part of China. This is an indisputable legal and historical fact.” Taiwan considers itself an independent state.

Last weekend, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson drew parallels between the Russia-Ukraine situation and mainland China and Taiwan.

“If Ukraine is endangered, the shock will echo around the world,” he said at the Munich Security Conference. “And those echoes will be heard in east Asia, will be heard in Taiwan. People would draw the conclusion that aggression pays, and that might is right.”

Beijing sees Taiwan as a breakaway province that could be taken by force if deemed necessary.

Beijing Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Ma Xiaoguang accused Taiwan of trying to stir anti-mainland sentiment by playing up “so-called military threats” from China, which he called “self-serving,” according to the South China Morning Post.

Sanctions imposed by the White House against Russia “cannot solve a thing” Anatoly Antonov, Russian ambassador to the U.S., told reporters. His response was posted to the embassy’s Facebook page.

“I don’t remember a single day when our country lived without any restrictions from the Western world,” he said. “We have learned to work in such conditions. And not only to survive, but also to develop our state.”

He continued, “Anti-Russia sanctions will solve nothing. It is difficult to believe that someone in Washington expects Russia to revise its international political line under the threat of restrictions.”

On Tuesday, President Biden announced economic sanctions on Russian banks and Moscow officials, including imposing “full blocking” on two large Russian financial institutions and “comprehensive sanctions” on Russian debt.

Kenyan ambassador to the United Nations Martin Kimani condemned Russia’s actions late Monday, drawing parallels to colonialism in Africa, the Washington Post reported.

“This situation echoes our history,” he told the U.N. Security Council in the viral speech. “Kenya and almost every African country was birthed by the ending of empire. Our borders were not of our own drawing. They were drawn in the distant colonial metropoles of London, Paris and Lisbon, with no regard for the ancient nations that they cleaved apart.”

Stock markets in Asia rebounded on Wednesday after global stock prices fell Tuesday over Vladimir Putin ordering troops into eastern Ukraine and sanctions placed on Moscow by the U.S.

“Current U.S. sanctions on Russia are less-than-feared by the market,” said Anderson Alves of ActivTrades in a report. Alves noted American officials have more “acute options” including reducing Russia’s access to the SWIFT system for global bank transactions.

On Wednesday, the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.6% to 3,476.15 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained 0.7% to 23,682.90.The Kospi in Seoul advanced 0.5% to 2,720.20 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 added 0.5% to 7,196.40.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 fell to 4,304.76 Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.4% to 33,596.61. The Nasdaq composite lost 1.2% to 13,381.52.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday night announced he would be calling up the country’s military reservists to active duty but isn’t ordering a general mobilization because he is seeking a diplomatic solution, according to Reuters.

The decision came after Russia recognized the Russian-backed separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as “independent.”

“We must increase the readiness of the Ukrainian army for all possible changes in the operational situation,” Zelenskyy said in a video.

Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Wednesday said the country will impose financial sanctions and travel bans on eight members of Russia’s national security council who he said are helping with the invasion along with two areas of eastern Ukraine held by Russian-backed separatists, according to ABC News Australia.

“The invasion of Ukraine has effectively already begun. This invasion is unjustified, it’s unwarranted, it’s unprovoked and it’s unacceptable,” the prime minister said. “Australians always stand up to bullies, and we will be standing up to Russia.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the country’s first round of “severe” economic sanctions against Moscow after President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into eastern Ukraine Monday.

Moscow also voted to officially recognize the separatist-backed Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent.

“Russia’s brazen provocations are a threat to security and peace in the world,” Trudeau said in a news conference.

He said Canada will sanction members of Russia’s parliament who voted to recognize the two regions as independent, Canadians will be banned from doing business there and will prohibit dealings with two state-backed Russian banks, according to Reuters. Canadians will also be prohibited from purchasing Russian sovereign debt.

“I am also authorizing the deployment of up to 460 members of the Canadian Armed Forces to Operation Reassurance. This involves more troops to Latvia, as well as the deployment of an additional frigate and maritime patrol aircraft,” he said.