Russia hits Kiev and other Ukrainian cities with missiles. Biden got it right this time. Towards the third world war?
This time Biden's warning was not empty. As reported by Fox News, Putin declared a "Special Military Operation" to eliminate the "Threats" from Ukraine and its "Denazification", after which there were airstrikes on Ukrainian command structures. Here are videos showing some attacks on Mariupol. Having declared a state of emergency in Ukraine, the parliament will meet very soon in an emergency session.
and Dnieper
There are hourly reports of mass tank attacks towards Kharkiv and landings to the south in the areas of Odessa and Mariupol.
In addition, there have been very intense missile attacks in the direction of Kiev, especially in military depots and at Boryspyl airport, the Kiev airport, where evacuation activities were underway by foreign countries. According to Fox News, air strikes are still ongoing on Kiev. President Zalensky sent a short message that Ukraine intends to resist.
Three questions now arise:
- how determined the response of the Kiev army will be. Obviously, in the very short term Putin will have an easy time invading and occupying the part of Ukraine he wants, but in the medium term it is obvious that Kiev will receive a flood of armaments from NATO. If the Ukrainian anti-Russian army and population passes the first phase, then a deadly guerrilla war against Russian forces could start, with NATO weapons. Right now Ukrainian MPs are calling for the creation of a No Fly Zone over Ukraine to prevent the transit of Russian planes hitting Ukrainian troops on the ground. Biden has made it clear that there will be no troops on the ground, but this option remains open.
- Kiev has been hit by at least 40 air strikes, so the operation is not limited to adjustments in the east of the country.
- At this point, the expulsion of Russia from the Swift system becomes an extremely high probability. At this point, Putin can say what he wants, but invading a country is a step that goes far beyond what he has done so far at the borders . The moderate measures taken so far are likely to be followed by something much more decisive. Biden spoke to Zelensky, probably announcing what will be done next.
- This is the moment when European leaders will have to choose what to do from an energy point of view. If Russia is expelled from the Swift system, the possibility of continuing, as now, with the purchase of gas and oil from Moscow automatically ceases . We have to see how this huge problem, which we have been talking about for months, will be tackled by European countries. We cannot think of dealing with such a situation by talking about "Green deal", "Budget Constraints" etc. Governments will have to make a clear choice: lull themselves into the illusions that followed until yesterday or react.
We will see what happens in the next few hours. If Ukraine reacts militarily in the next few hours and the Western response is decisive, it could be a very big problem for Putin, who risks getting caught up in a long-term operation .
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The article Russia hits Kiev and other Ukrainian cities with missiles. Biden got it right this time. Towards the third world war? comes from ScenariEconomici.it .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/la-russia-colpisce-kiev-ed-altre-citta-russe-con-i-missili-biden-stavolta-aveva-ragione-verso-la-terza-guerra-mondiale/ on Thu, 24 Feb 2022 05:04:20 +0000.