The Russia-Ukraine conflict began early last week, when Russia formally recognized the breakaway Donetsk and Luhansk regions as independent republics on Feb. 21. The two areas in eastern Ukraine — collectively known as the Donbas region — adjoin Russia and have been held by Moscow-backed separatists since 2014, when Russia last invaded Ukraine and seized the Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine’s south. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into the Donbas region on Feb. 22. Following that incursion, Putin declared a “special military operation” and mounted a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.
Now, one week later, Russian forces continue their assault on Ukrainian cities, appearing to have captured one of them: Kherson, a port on the Dnieper River near the Black Sea. Meanwhile, the capital of Kyiv remains under threat as a roughly 40-mile convoy of Russian tanks and other military vehicles sits outside the city. Russia forces, frustrated by the Ukrainian resistance, also have ramped up attacks on civilian sites, resulting in accusations of war crimes by the international community.
U.S. sanctions thus far
The Biden administration has unveiled several waves of sanctions against Russia since the start of the conflict, with the U.S. response escalating as the invasion of Ukraine has intensified.
On Feb. 21, President Joe Biden issued an executive order sanctioning Russia for recognizing the Donbas region as independent. His order expanded upon the sanctions that the United States leveled against Russia in 2014 — prohibiting new U.S. investment in the breakaway regions, imports and exports from the regions, and financial and property transactions as determined by the Treasury Department.
On Feb. 22, after Russia’s incursion into the Donbas region, Biden announced a sanctions package that he described as “the first tranche” of penalties against Russia. The package issued sanctions on two major Russian banks and on the country’s sovereign debt, Biden said. In addition, the United States imposed sanctions on Russian elites and their family members.
On Feb. 24, Biden made his third sanctions announcement after Russia launched its full-scale invasion. According to the White House and the Treasury Department, the administration cut off Sberbank from the U.S. financial system; placed full blocking sanctions on VTB and three other Russian financial institutions; imposed new debt and equity restrictions on 13 enterprises and entities; targeted seven Russian elites and their families and 24 Belarusians for supporting Russia’s invasion.
A flurry of punitive measures by the United States and other Western nations followed over the course of last weekend. On Feb. 25, the White House announced it would join the European Union in imposing direct sanctions on Putin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and members of the Russian national security team.
On Feb. 26, the leaders of Canada, the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States announced in a joint statement that they would ensure key Russian banks are cut off from SWIFT, a critical international banking information network. They also sanctioned the Russian Central Bank to prevent it from being able to use its reserves to support the Russian ruble currency. Furthermore, they said they would dramatically increase efforts to hunt down and freeze the assets of sanctioned Russian companies and oligarchs.
On March 1, during his State of the Union address, Biden announced that he had closed off U.S. air space to all Russian flights, joining Canada and the EU in issuing a no-fly order. And on March 2, the White House detailed four more U.S. actions: extending stringent export control policies to Belarus, imposing full blocking sanctions on Russian defense entities, imposing export controls on oil and gas extraction equipment, and adding entities that have supported the Russian and Belarusian militaries to the Commerce Department’s Entity List.
Around the world
After months of diplomatic planning between the United States and Europe, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been met with a largely unified response among Western allies intent on punishing Putin — including those nations which previously appeared reluctant to wade into the crisis.
At the outset of Russia’s incursion into the Donbas region, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that his government would halt work on the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Germany had long argued that the completion of the project — which would transport inexpensive natural gas from Russia to Germany via a 764-mile-long channel under the Baltic Sea — was vital to its energy security, while Russia viewed the pipeline as a means of expanding its influence across Europe. The company that operates the pipeline, Nord Stream 2 AG, is reportedly considering filing for bankruptcy.
In addition, Germany abruptly reversed its own historic policy of never sending weapons to conflict zones, deciding to ship 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger anti-aircraft defense systems to Ukraine.
Swiss President Ignazio Cassis, whose nation is known for its policy of neutrality, also announced that Switzerland would endorse the EU sanctions against Russia and freeze assets belonging to targeted individuals — including potentially Putin, Lavrov and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a regional ally of Putin and fellow strongman, said his nation would not veto the EU sanctions against Russia. Hungary has signed onto an initiative to start EU membership talks with Ukraine amid the conflict, although it has refused to allow the transit of lethal weapons to Ukraine through its territory.
Repercussions for Russia
The effects of the West’s crippling financial sanctions — as well as the widespread fury over the invasion — have rippled across virtually all aspects of Russian life.
Russia’s state-owned energy companies, in particular, have felt the pain. BP said it would exit its $14 billion shareholding in Rosneft, as several other energy giants announced similar moves. UEFA, European football’s governing body, also said it would terminate its sponsorship contract with Gazprom.
In the media and technology spheres, U.K. regulator Ofcom said it had opened 15 investigations into Kremlin-backed RT, formerly known as Russia Today. YouTube said it would block RT and Sputnik, another Russian state-owned news agency, from Europe following similar bans by Facebook and TikTok. The EU also banned RT and Sputnik.
Even the sports community has not been immune from the international outcry. FIFA, world football’s governing body, said it would suspend Russia indefinitely from international tournaments, and the International Paralympic Committee banned athletes from Russia and Belarus just before the games’ opening ceremony. And in the U.K., the Russian billionaire and close Putin ally Roman Abramovich announced plans to sell Chelsea FC, fearing sanctions from the government.
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