Russia Tensions Mounting During Winter Olympics 🌎

The U.S. just announced that all Americans in Ukraine should leave the country in the next 48 hours — Russia’s building military presence at Ukraine’s border is making it look like Russia could invade at any time.

A PBS report announced that the United States believes Vladimir Putin has given the green light to the Russian military to invade Ukraine. The U.S.’s national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, shared “It is the time to leave now. We are in the window when an invasion could begin at any time should [Russian President] Vladimir Putin decide to order it.” It’s possible that Russia could even choose to invade during the Winter Olympics.

There could be real consequences globally if Russia chooses to invade Ukraine, and we’ve covered those before in our Jan. 24 edition of The Daily Rip. A Russian invasion of Ukraine could signal a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which could be devastating for the U.S. (Taiwan produces the vast majority of semiconductors in the world, and we’re already experiencing a massive semi shortage.) A potential invasion could also impact Europe’s natural gas pipeline. In the end, though, a Russian invasion would just be… not fun to deal with after a 2-year-long pandemic. 🌎

In a press briefing, defense secretary Jake Sullivan also shared “If a Russian attack on Ukraine proceeds, it is likely to begin with aerial bombing and missile attacks that could obviously kill civilians without regard to their nationality.”

We’ll be keeping up with this situation closely.

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