Russia's Troops Move To Take Control Of Kyiv, Major Explosions Heard; Taiwan Announces Sanctions

Russian forces have advanced to the outskirts of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. Saboteurs are already in the city, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Russian Forces Advance: Russia’s special forces and airborne troops were on the outskirts of Kyiv, according to a report from The New York Times.

As per the assessment of U.S. officials, the goal of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and his generals appears to be the replacement of Zelensky with a puppet regime, the Times reported.

Zelensky said 137 Ukrainians, both soldiers and civilians, had been killed in the conflict so far. He said Russian saboteurs had entered Kyiv and he was “target No 1” for Russian forces followed by his family, as per the Times.

Large Explosions Over Kyiv: A large explosion was seen over Kyiv on Friday morning (local Time), as per the Times. Fiery debris was reported to be descending by witnesses over parts of the city. Two surface to air missiles can be seen firing in the video before the explosion took place. 

Twitter handle “Osint Ukraine” shared several videos of the explosions. 

Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted that  Kyiv was struck by “horrific Russian rocket strikes.”

S&P 500 Futures and Nasdaq Futures traded 0.3% and 0.4% lower respectively at 4,270.75 and 13,914.25 at press time. On Thursday, SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY closed 1.5% higher at $428.30.

Taiwan Announces Sanctions: Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-Wen condemned “Russia’s infringement on Ukranian sovereignty” in a tweet this week. 

The foreign ministry of Taiwan said it will impose sanctions against Russia, as per a report from India’s ANI news agency. 

“In order to compel Russia to halt its military aggression against Ukraine, and to restart peaceful dialogue among all parties concerned as soon as possible….Taiwan announces it will join international economic sanctions against Russia,” said the ministry, as per the report. 

Japan has already announced plans to limit semiconductor exports to Russia and said it will freeze assets of some people and groups linked to the country and stop issuing visas to certain Russian individuals, according to the Times.

Notably, Taiwan is also a large semiconductor powerhouse. According to Taiwan’s Bureau of Foreign Trade, Taiwan’s exports to Russia amounted to $1.02 billion in 2020 with main export items being computers and relevant parts, flat-rolled stainless steel and auto parts.

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Photo: Courtesy of Andriy155 via Wikimedia