Russian invasion of Ukraine: 8th anniversary of Crimea
Today marks the 8th anniversary of the Russian invasion of Crimea.
Following the invasion, Russia annexed the region of Crimea. Many nations, including the United States, still do not recognize Crimea as part of Russia.
The anniversary comes at the beginning of a new Russian attack. Early Thursday morning, Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine and attacked multiple Ukrainian cities. In response, the US, UK, and EU each separately announced severe sanctions on Russian banks, imports, and individuals. These came in addition to the sanctions placed Tuesday following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recognition of two regions in Ukraine partly held by Russian separatists, Luhansk and Donetsk. Germany has also halted the advancement of permits for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
Expect Russia to continue its aggression in Ukraine because nothing has sufficiently discouraged them yet. In response, Western nations will likely implement harsher sanctions on banks, individuals, and imports to deter Russia. While there has been some question about freezing Russia out of the SWIFT banking system, this is unlikely. Germany and Italy oppose doing so due to their dependence on Russian gas.
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