Vladimir Putin has officially declared war on Ukraine

I agree with you. It might have been an old Tweet, but it was relevant.

Simply amazing. Never in a million years would I have guessed Switzerland would do this.

I've been watching this on my flight tracker app (Flightradar24) and it's been fascinating. There's not any air traffic that I can see in Belarus, either (other than Belavia, the country's national airline). 

I love FlightAware, it’s such a fascinating app my inner nerd loves.

I worry about that, too. I have been stashing away some cash just in case.

This is a Twitter thread on the same topic. Even the comments I read are knowledgeable and thought-provoking.

russia may have the fire power but i'm pinning my hopes on the international community and the Ukrainian people.

Me too! I have a sneaky feeling that Putin is a bit surprised right now at how his unprovoked war on Ukraine is bringing so many together against him. 

Maybe the world did actually learn something from WWII about how to not enable a madman in his attempt to take over a continent.  

Another question about sanctions....are they indefinite, regardless of what happens in Ukraine at this point? Or if Russia would decide to just leave, would the sanctions be lifted? I know it Is unlikely that Putin will leave without "winning" something. But I was just curious if there are conditions on the sanctions.

(Source: The Hill) Federation Internationale de Football Association Bans Russia: FIFA, the global governing body of soccer, imposed on Monday an indefinite ban on Russia from participating in all competitions. The decision came amid international pressure to ban Russia from soccer's World Cup, which is to take place later this year in Qatar.

(Source: Foreign Policy) The United Nations plans on Monday to appeal for up to $2 billion in assistance over the next three months to address a looming humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, as hundreds of thousands of civilians flee their homes for safety and Russian forces continue their attacks on the nation’s major cities, according to a diplomatic source briefed on the plan.

(Source: BBC) The EU has imposed a blanket flight ban on Russian planes, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has announced. "We are shutting down EU airspace for Russian-owned, Russian-registered or Russian-controlled aircraft," she said. All such planes, including the private jets of oligarchs, will now be unable to land in, take off from or fly over any EU nation. Russian planes have also been banned from UK airspace.

(Source: CNN) Five days into Russia's invasion of Ukraine, it seems things haven't gone exactly to plan for Vladimir Putin so far. Western intelligence officials briefed repeatedly over the weekend that Russian forces have encountered "stiffer than expected" resistance from an outmanned and outgunned Ukrainian military. Russia has thus far failed to take key cities across Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv. On Sunday, Ukrainian forces successfully repelled a Russian advance on a strategic airfield near Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, which has been under near-constant attack. In addition to a fierce fight back from Ukrainian forces and civilians, the Russian invasion has suffered logistical challenges, with soldiers on the front line running short of fuel, ammunition and food.

(Source: The Economist) On Monday, as financial markets began trading in Asia, the value of the Russian ruble collapsed. The cause was harsh Western sanctions introduced over the weekend. In effect these freeze Russia’s foreign currency reserves and begin to lock Russian banks out of the SWIFT network for arranging international transactions. If the weakness of the ruble endures and efforts to prevent capital from leaving the country continue, the financial damage to Russian businesses and livelihoods could be lasting.

(Source: The Guardian) The French president, Emmanuel Macron, spoke with the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, in a phone call on Monday, where he reiterated demands to halt Russia’s offensive in Ukraine. The EU is preparing to grant Ukrainians who flee the war the right to stay and work in the 27-nation bloc for up to three years, EU officials said.

(Source: NBC News) The head of the U.N. refugee agency on Monday said that more than 500,000 people had fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion began last week — and more than half had gone to neighboring Poland. Poland has accepted the most Ukrainians, at 281,000, a global spokesman for the U.N. refugee agency told NBC News on Monday. Hungary has taken in nearly 85,000 refugees, while Moldova, Romania and Slovakia have each accepted 30,000 to around 36,000. Close to 35,000 have fled to other European countries.

I forgot to check did the Russian stock market open today, or has he taken the “if it doesn’t open, it can’t crash” approach, that seems somehow very familiar?

Edit, I guess they aren’t opening for a bit.

www.foxbusiness.com/markets/moscow-suspends-stock-trading-until-march-5.amp

I don’t know. I seem to recall someone whose name begins with S or C.

I went looking, it’s closed until March 5.