Stock futures plunge, oil and gold soar as long-anticipated invasion is launched.
Russian military units invaded Ukraine overnight after months of threats and failed attempts at a diplomatic resolution, putting Europe in its greatest crisis since the collapse of the Soviet Union and roiling global financial markets.
Explosions were heard in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, and other major cities across the country, the New York Times reported. Russian forces landed near the key port city of Odessa, on the Black Sea coast the Times reported, citing Ukrainian officials.
U.S. stock futures plunged. S&P 500 futures fell more than 2%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures lost more than 600 points. Gold and oil prices surged, while bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies fell.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index fell more than 2%.
The White House condemned the military action. President Joe Biden said the world will “hold Russia accountable.” The U.S. has threatened economic sanctions repeatedly in recent weeks in an attempt to head off Putin’s move.
Putin issued a threat against “anyone who tries to interfere.”
It was the second Russian invasion of the Ukraine in recent years. In 2014 Russian dictator Vladimir Putin ordered his military to take over the Crimean peninsula with its warm-water seaport of Sevastapol.
In the intervening years, Russia has egged on separatist movements in eastern portions of Ukraine, with significant Russian populations. It has also built a permanent link between its mainland and Crimea.
Ukraine, a key wheat-producing region has repeatedly seen bitter fighting for more than a century, starting with the Russian Civil war, the Nazi invasion during World War II and the current ongoing conflict with Russia.
