UKRAINE TURMOIL - Kliping

Special Media Report:
       UKRAINE TURMOIL

                               BREAKING NEWS
Kyiv curfew lifts as Ukraine wakes to 'crucial 24 hours'
The Ukrainian capital is emerging from a weekend-long curfew, as blasts were heard before
dawn. Air raid sirens have just rung out in several cities, and overnight Russia shelled Chernihiv
and Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials said. President Zelensky says the next 24 hours - the fifth day of
the Russian invasion - will be "crucial" for Ukraine. Negotiators for Kyiv and Moscow are arriving
in Belarus for peace talks but expectations are not high. Russia doubles its interest rate to 20%
as its currency plunges and experts warn of a possible run on banks. The Russian rouble plunges
to a new low against the dollar in the wake of severe sanctions, as analysts warn of a possible run
on Russia's banks. The EU is taking the unprecedented step of sending arms to Ukraine, closing
airspace to Russian aircraft, and banning Russian state media outlets. Member states will also
take Ukrainian refugees and bypass the usual asylum application process. Reports suggest
Belarus - a close Russian ally to Ukraine's north - is going to deploy its own soldiers to fight. The
UN is to hold an emergency special session on Monday involving all 193 member countries.
Source: BBC

WAR MAP   Source: Wikipedia

GRAPH OF THE DAY      Source: BBC & FlightRadar24

SERBIAN PERSPECTIVE
Government adopts National Security Council conclusions on Ukraine crisis
The Serbian government on Sunday adopted a February 25 conclusion by the National Security
Council on the crisis in Ukraine. The 15-point conclusion said that, for Serbia, Russia and Ukraine
had always been friendly countries and that Serbia provided full and principled support for
respect of the principle of Ukraine's territorial integrity. The conclusion also said that, in the
process of considering a need to potentially introduce restrictive measures or sanctions against
any state, including the Russian Federation, Serbia would be governed exclusively by the
protection of its own vital economic and political interests. Source: RTS
Brnabic: Serbia will protect its interests
Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said that Serbia would continue to protect its own interests
and adhere to international law in its foreign policy, regardless of the pressures that would
follow. She said that “no one can begrudge Serbia its stance on Ukraine.” “Our position is not
easy, but we will defend it,” she said, stressing that “Serbia can’t be asked not to respect its own
territorial integrity.” According to Brnabic, Serbia respects Ukraine’s territorial integrity the way
it wants Serbia’s territorial integrity to be respected. She reiterated that Serbia would also not
impose sanctions on Russia, in line with its vital interests. “We are facing difficult times, but the
most important thing is to preserve peace and stability, so we can continue to progress,” she
said. Source: RTS
Vucic: Patrushev’s visit cancelled
The visit of Secretary of the Security Council of Russia Nikolai Patrushev to Belgrade has been
cancelled, announced Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, denying claims that Patrushev had
already been to Belgrade. “He hasn’t come here and he won’t come to Belgrade,” Vucic told
reporters after the opening of the renovated section of the Clinical Centre of Serbia. He recalled
Patrushev’s visit had been announced about ten days earlier. “Serbia shows the biggest concern
and the biggest responsibility for peace in the region. We are not using the situation to attack or
accuse anyone of what happened to our country in 1999,” Vucic said, reiterating that Serbia was
adhering to international law. Source: N1

                     EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE
Ukraine is one of us and we want them in EU, Ursula von der Leyen tells Euronews
Ukraine is "one of us and we want them in the European Union", Ursula von der Leyen has told
Euronews. The interview came after Brussels announced it was sending weapons to Ukraine,
banning Russian-backed media in the EU and prohibiting Russian aircraft from the bloc. But
despite backing Ukraine for EU membership, she gave no indication it would be the rapid

accession demanded by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday. She told Euronews: "We
have a process with Ukraine that is, for example, integrating the Ukrainian market into the single
market. Source: Euronews
EU Approves 450 Million Euros of Arms Supplies for Ukraine
European Union foreign ministers agreed to send 450 million euros ($500 million) in military aid
to Ukraine for lethal weapons, according to Josep Borrell, the bloc’s foreign policy chief. The aid
will be financed by the EU’s European Peace Facility and will see the bloc supply arms to a country
at war for the first time in its history. Another 50 million euros will be provided for non-lethal
purposes, Borrell said at a press conference in Brussels Sunday. Source: Bloomberg
EU to sanction Russian Central Bank, destabilise the ruble
Top European Union officials announced new EU sanctions against the central bank of Russia
(CBR) on Sunday (28 February), which will severely limit the central bank’s ability to access its
reserves and thus destabilise the Russian ruble. “We will […] ban the transactions of Russia’s
central bank and freeze all its assets, to prevent it from financing Putin’s war,” European
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Sunday, referring to Russian President
Vladimir Putin and the invasion of Ukraine he had ordered. The EU’s top diplomat, High
Representative Josep Borrel said this would “effectively cripple the Russian financial market”.
Already on Saturday the EU, the UK, the US, and Canada had announced “restrictive measures”
against the CBR. It is now clear that this means a total freeze of the CBR’s assets by the EU. Source:
Euractiv

EU Closes Its Airspace To Russian Planes
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the European Union will close its airspace to
Russian airlines and private jets due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The ban was decided on
February 27 by the bloc's foreign ministers. The decision is among several actions announced by
the foreign ministers after their meeting in Brussels. “We are shutting down the EU airspace for
Russians. We are proposing a prohibition on all Russian-owned, Russian registered, or Russian-
controlled aircraft. These aircraft will no more be able to land in, take off, or overfly the territory
of the EU," von der Leyen told a news conference. Many European countries had already
announced they would close their airspace to Russian planes. Source: Radio Free Europe
EU to ban Russian state-backed channels RT and Sputnik
The EU has announced it will ban the Russian state-backed channels RT and Sputnik in an
unprecedented move against the Kremlin media machine. The European Commission president,
Ursula von der Leyen, said: “Russia Today and Sputnik, as well as their subsidiaries, will no longer
be able to spread their lies to justify Putin’s war and to sow division in our union. So we are
developing tools to ban their toxic and harmful disinformation in Europe.” The move, which was
not trailed or widely discussed, came as part of a package of tougher sanctions against Vladimir
Putin’s government and the regime of the Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, which
Von der Leyen described as “complicit in this vicious attack against Ukraine”. Source: The Guardian
EU: We will suppress Russian influx on the Balkans
Due to the danger of the consequences of the Ukrainian crisis spilling over onto other countries
in Russia’s neighbourhood, the EU must help Moldova and Georgia and “keep an eye out for the

Western Balkans, because we will see provocations there, especially in Bosnia and Herzegovina,”
said EU High Representative Josep Borrell. He said that after the session of the heads of
diplomacies of EU member states, who imposed sharp sanctions on Russia due to its military
invasion to Ukraine. EU diplomatic officials also told reporters that the decision to increase the
EU’s troops in BiH and the stronger commitment to the Western Balkans were “a response to the
worsening security not just because of Ukraine, but the influx of Russia into the Serb entity in
Bosnia, as well as Montenegro and Serbia.” Source: N1

                                US PERSPECTIVE
Putin Declares a Nuclear Alert, and Biden Seeks De-escalation
When Vladimir V. Putin declared Sunday that he was putting his nuclear forces into “special
combat readiness” — a heightened alert status reminiscent of some of the most dangerous
moments of the Cold War — President Biden and his aides had a choice. They could match the
move and put American forces on Defcon 3 — known to moviegoers as that moment when the
Air Force rolls out bombers, and nuclear silos and submarines are put on high alert. Or the
president could largely ignore it, sending out aides to portray Mr. Putin as once again
manufacturing a menace, threatening Armageddon for a war he started without provocation. For
now, at least, Mr. Biden chose to de-escalate. Source: The New York Times
U.S. Looks to Make China Pay for Close Ties to Russia in Ukraine Crisis
The U.S. wants to pry China away from its tight partnership with Russia. One step, U.S. officials
said, is making Beijing feel pain over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Washington is looking to gain
from any divisions between Moscow and Beijing, the officials said, and Russia’s full-scale assault
on Ukraine is an opportunity to force China to choose between siding with Russia and maintaining
valuable economic ties to Europe, the U.S. and other parts of the world. Source: The Wall Street
Journal

How Russia's invasion of Ukraine will affect the American economy
Russia's invasion of Ukraine last week isn’t just an international story. It might also have deep
impacts within the U.S., affecting economics and politics in an electorate that has started the
year in a sour mood. There’s a wide variety of possible impacts; focusing on just three of them
shows the potential for a very bumpy 2022. Let's start with an economic measure people mention
frequently, the state of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Investors and businesses like stability.
War and sanctions create the opposite. Oil prices had been rising since the beginning of January,
but the increases had been more dramatic in the last few weeks as the situation in Ukraine grew
more intense. And one other place Americans could feel the impact of the invasion is at the
checkout line at the supermarket. Together, Russia and Ukraine account for about 29 percent of
the world's wheat export market, and last week's actions sent wheat prices climbing. Source: NBC

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE
Putin orders "special service regime" in Russia’s deterrence force
In response to aggressive statements in the West Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued
orders to introduce what he described as a "special service regime" in the Russian army’s
deterrence force. "Top officials in NATO’s leading countries have been making aggressive
statements against our country. For this reason, I give orders to the defense minister and chief
of the General Staff to introduce a special combat duty regime in the Russian army’s deference
forces," Putin said at a meeting with Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and Chief of the General
Staff Valery Gerasimov in the Kremlin on Sunday. The strategic deterrence forces’ task is to deter
aggression against Russia and its allies, and also to defeat an aggressor in a war by using various
types of weapons, including nuclear ones. Source: Tass
Russia-Ukraine talks to begin on Monday morning
Talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations will begin in the morning on Monday, a
source told TASS on Sunday. "It is not a postponement. The meeting will begin in the morning.
The reason is the Ukrainian delegation’s logistics," the source said. Russian presidential aide
Vladimir Medinsky, who leads the Russian delegation to the talks, said earlier that an agreement
had been reached with the Ukrainian side on Sunday to hold talks in Belarus’ Gomel region. The
Russian delegation has already left Minsk and is heading for the talks’ venue, which, according to
a TASS source, will not be disclosed. Source: Tass

                    UKRAINIAN PERSPECTIVE
Russia has lost about 5,300 troops since beginning of Ukraine invasion – defense official
Since the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, the estimated losses of the aggressor are
5,300 troops. Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar announced this on Facebook.
According to her, the total estimated losses of the enemy between February 24 and February 28
as of 06:00 are: aircraft - 29, helicopters - 29, tanks - 191, armored combat vehicles - 816, guns -
74, Buk air defense systems - 1, Grad multiple launch rocket systems - 21, vehicles - 291, tanks -
60, UAVs - 3, ships/boats - 2, air defense means - 5, personnel - about 5,300 (to be specified).
Source: Ukrinform
Turkey bans passage of Russian warships to Black Sea - Zelensky
Turkey has banned the passage of Russian warships to the Black Sea. President of Ukraine
Volodymyr Zelenskyi thanked his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Turkish
people for their strong support of Ukraine. "The ban on the passage of Russia's warships to the
Black Sea and significant military and humanitarian support for Ukraine today, and it's very
important. We will never forget that," Zelensky said. As reported earlier, on February 24, Ukraine

made an official appeal to Turkey to close the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits for Russian ships.
Source: Ukrinform

                                  ECONOMY
LME aluminium hits record high as Russia sanctions fuel supply woes
London aluminium surged to a record high on Monday as fears of supply disruptions jumped after
Western countries ratcheted up sanctions on Russia for invading Ukraine, including blocking
some banks from the SWIFT global payments system. Russia produces about 6% of the world's
aluminium and accounts for about 7% of global nickel mine supplies. It is also a major producer
of gas used to generate electricity, a key component of aluminium production. Three-month
aluminium on the London Metal Exchange hit a record $3,525 a tonne earlier in the session, and
was up 3.6% at $3,477, as of 0710 GMT. LME nickel was up 1.7% at $24,785 a tonne, after having
gained 3% earlier in the session. Source: Reuters
BP quits Russia in up to $25 billion hit after Ukraine invasion
BP is abandoning its stake in Russian oil giant Rosneft in an abrupt and costly end to three decades
of operating in the energy-rich country, marking the most significant move yet by a Western
company in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Rosneft accounts for around half of BP's
oil and gas reserves and a third of its production and divesting the 19.75% stake will result in
charges of up to $25 billion, the British company said, without saying how it plans to extricate
itself. The rapid retreat represents a dramatic exit for BP, the biggest foreign investor in Russia,
and puts the spotlight on other Western companies with operations in the country. Source:
Reuters

Russian rouble plunges to record low amid outrage over Ukraine
The Russian rouble plummeted to a record low against the dollar on Monday amid an
accelerating Western-led campaign to punish and isolate Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.
Investors flocked to safe-haven currencies, including the US dollar and yen, after Russian
President Vladimir Putin put nuclear-armed forces on high alert on Sunday, the fourth day of the
biggest assault on a European state since World War Two. The rouble plunged as low as 119 per
dollar, and was last down nearly 29 percent at 118. Source: Al Jazeera
Bank of Russia increases key rate by 10.5 pp to 20%
The board of directors of the Bank of Russia has decided to increase the key rate by 10.5
percentage points to 20% per annum starting February 28. This will support the financial and
price stability and protect the savings of citizens from depreciation, the regulator said in a
statement on Monday. This is an all-time high of the key rate. The previous record of 17% was
hit in December 2014. Source: Tass
Joe Biden's Russia sanctions may let Moscow profit from oil, gas
There is a glaring carve-out in President Joe Biden's sanctions against Russia: Oil and natural gas
from that country will continue to flow freely to the rest of the world and money will keep flowing

into Russia. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Biden defended his decision to preserve
access to Russian energy in order "to limit the pain the American people are feeling at the gas
pump." But some academics, lawmakers and other analysts say that excluding an industry at the
heart of the Russian economy essentially limits the sanctions and could embolden Russian
President Vladimir Putin. Source: India Times