<h2 id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



Ukraine’s capital city, Kyiv, witnessed multiple explosions and what government officials called “horrific rocket strikes” early on Friday as Russian forces continued to press deeper into the country in an attempt to capture the city, home to nearly 3 million people.



<h2>KEY FACTS</h2>



<a href="https://forbes.ua/news/putin-ogolosiv-pro-pochatok-viyskovoi-operatsii-na-donbasi-ta-proignoruvav-zvernennya-zelenskogo-golovni-novini-24022022-3843" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">According to</a>&nbsp;Forbes Ukraine, explosions were heard throughout Kyiv early on Friday morning.



Ukraine’s Deputy Interior Minister&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/ukraine-russia-news-02-24-22-intl/h_e6c92eba96f9436542099ad74eef40e7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">claimed</a>&nbsp;that one of the major explosions heard over the city—videos of which were&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/ChristopherJM/status/1497043832168493067?s=20&amp;t=Mt30Qbyk8uFKyYcIkHgQ7w" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">circulating</a>&nbsp;on social media—was the result of a Ukrainian air defense system shooting down a Russian missile out of the sky.



Interior ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko in a separate statement said Kyiv had been hit by Russia “cruise or ballistic missiles,” on Friday and shared several photos of residential buildings on fire.



Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba reiterated these claims of “horrific Russian rocket strikes on Kyiv” in a <a href="https://twitter.com/DmytroKuleba/status/1497058048430460934" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweet</a> and compared the situation to the 1941 invasion of the country by Nazi Germany.



By Siladitya Ray, Forbes Staff



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A man walks his dog in front of a damaged residential block hit by an early morning missile strike on February 25, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Yesterday, Russia began a large-scale attack on Ukraine, with Russian troops invading the country from the north, east and south, accompanied by air strikes and shelling. The Ukrainian president said that at least 137 Ukrainian soldiers were killed by the end of the first day. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)



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A member of the congregation bows their head to pray as Reverend Simon Ckuj delivers a service at St Andrew&#8217;s Ukrainian Catholic Church, Lidcombe on February 25, 2022 in Sydney, Australia. Russia has launched a military invasion of Ukraine, despite facing financial sanctions and condemnation from Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom and several other nations. (Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)



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 A burnt, damaged bedroom of an apartment is seen in a residential block hit by an early morning missile strike on February 25, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Yesterday, Russia began a large-scale attack on Ukraine, with Russian troops invading the country from the north, east and south, accompanied by air strikes and shelling. The Ukrainian president said that at least 137 Ukrainian soldiers were killed by the end of the first day. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="683" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/GettyImages-1238746109.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-54423" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/GettyImages-1238746109.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/GettyImages-1238746109-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/GettyImages-1238746109-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure></div>



Hundreds of residents from a residential building damaged by a missile gather in a bomb shelter in the basement of a school on February 25, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Yesterday, Russia began a large-scale attack on Ukraine, with Russian troops invading the country from the north, east and south, accompanied by air strikes and shelling. The Ukrainian president said that at least 137 Ukrainian soldiers were killed by the end of the first day. (Photo by Pierre Crom/Getty Images)



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="684" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/GettyImages-1238745910-1024x684.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-54422" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/GettyImages-1238745910-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/GettyImages-1238745910-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/GettyImages-1238745910-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/GettyImages-1238745910-1536x1027.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/GettyImages-1238745910.jpg 1616w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure></div>



Civilians are seen after a missile struck a residential building during Russiaâs military intervention in left bank Kyiv, Ukraine on February 25, 2022 (Photo by Wolfgang Schwan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)



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 Ukranians gather in protest outside the Russian Consulate on February 25, 2022 in Istanbul, Turkey. Yesterday, Russia began a large-scale attack on Ukraine, with Russian troops invading the country from the north, east and south, accompanied by air strikes and shelling. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said this week that his country, which is a NATO member, did not &#8220;recognize any step against Ukraine&#8217;s sovereignty and territorial integrity.&#8221; (Photo by Burak Kara/Getty Images)

UKRAINE-RUSSIA-CONFLICT

Photos Show Devastating Impact Of Rocket Strikes And Shelling On Kyiv

<h2 id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



Global stock indexes and major cryptocurrencies dived on Thursday while commodities like oil and precious metals rallied as Russia’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/2022/02/23/russia-orders-special-military-operation-in-ukraine/?sh=72e111fc2321">invasion</a>&nbsp;of Ukraine sent shockwaves through international markets.&nbsp;



<h2 id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



European stocks tumbled as markets opened on Thursday morning, with key indexes including London’s FTSE 100 down 2.46%, Germany’s Dax 3.48%, France&#8217;s CAC40 3.01%, Spain’s Ibex 2.58%, Euronext 100 2.62% and Euro Stoxx 50 3.37%.



The slump mirrors falling stocks in the Asia Pacific region Thursday, with Japan’s Nikkei down 1.81%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng 3.21%, Australia’s All Ordinaries 2.95% and Shanghai’s Composite 1.70%.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



U.S. markets are on a similar path for when markets open, with the Dow down 1.38% in pre-market trading, Nasdaq 2.57% and S&amp;P 500 1.84%, with the latter&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sergeiklebnikov/2022/02/23/sp-500-falls-deeper-into-correction-territory-as-ukraine-declares-state-of-emergency/?sh=793035b35e67">continuing</a>&nbsp;a days-long downwards trend.



The Moscow stock exchange, which uses the Russian ruble, suspended all trading Thursday amid enormous volatility in the currency and benchmark index MOEX was down nearly 40%.



Oil prices, meanwhile, jumped past $100 a barrel with the highest prices since 2014—Brent crude rose nearly 7% to $103 a barrel—and safe haven&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/gold-rises-escalating-ukraine-crisis-spurs-safe-haven-bids-2022-02-24/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">assets</a>&nbsp;like gold, silver platinum and palladium grew between 1.5% and 3%.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



Major cryptocurrencies also crashed in the wake of the invasion, with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/digital-assets/assets/bitcoin-btc/?sh=23274a6d4357">bitcoin</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2022/02/23/bitcoin-falls-below-35000-as-putin-orders-military-operation-in-ukraine/?sh=56d6315f4a3a">down 8%</a>&nbsp;in the last 24 hours,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/digital-assets/assets/ether-eth/?sh=6457a2717b0e">ether 12%</a>, Binance’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/digital-assets/assets/binance-coin-bnb/?sh=6b8afc44ae78">BNB 11%</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/digital-assets/assets/ripple-xrp/?sh=38a7ebe1535a">Ripple’s XRP 13%</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;



<h2 id="h-what-to-watch-for">WHAT TO WATCH FOR</h2>



More sanctions. World leaders have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2022/02/23/russia-sanctions-tracker-first-barrage-of-penalties-span-japan-to-us/?sh=3379f45c149a">already imposed fresh sanctions</a>&nbsp;on Russian banks, lawmakers and oligarchs and President Joe Biden warned Thursdays’ G7 meeting would yield more “<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2022/02/24/russias-invasion-of-ukraine-draws-international-condemnation-and-threats-of-more-sanctions/?sh=3f2fd15c7b3b">severe sanctions</a>’ on Russia.&nbsp; The sanctions—which could be severe given the scale of Russia’s incursion—could cripple Russia’s economy and bar it from key markets. European&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-russia-new-sanctions-package-ukraine/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">leaders</a>&nbsp;have already scheduled an emergency meeting to discuss the measures on Thursday evening.&nbsp;



<h2 id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2022/02/24/russias-invasion-of-ukraine-draws-international-condemnation-and-threats-of-more-sanctions/?sh=3f2fd15c7b3b">Russia’s Invasion Of Ukraine Draws International Condemnation And Threats Of More Sanctions</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/2022/02/23/russia-orders-special-military-operation-in-ukraine/?sh=72e111fc2321">Russia Orders ‘Special Military Operation’ In Ukraine</a> (Forbes)



By <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/"></a>Robert Hart, Forbes Staff

Oil Prices Moving Down

Global Stocks Plummet And Oil Soars As Russia Invades Ukraine

<h2 id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



The price of bitcoin dropped below $35,000 for the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/annakaplan/2022/01/22/bitcoin-falls-below-35000-as-selloff-nears-50-from-record-high/?sh=695298aa6079">first time</a> since January on Thursday as Russia began its military operation in Ukraine, a selloff that some analysts have <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanponciano/2022/02/18/bitcoin-tumbles-as-crypto-market-plunge-erases-150-billion-but-worst-may-be-ahead/?sh=4ba8ff604a10">previously warned</a> could continue to worsen until tensions subside in eastern Europe.



<h2>KEY FACTS</h2>



The price of the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency has slumped more than 7% since Wednesday evening (more than 9% in the previous 24 hours) dropping to about $34,763 by 11.50 pm ET before climbing back over $35,000 after midnight.



Since hitting a record high of more than $69,000 in November, the cryptocurrency has lost more than $600 billion in market value.



Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency has taken an even bigger hit losing more than 12% in the past 24 hours.



In contrast, the price of oil continued to shoot up with Brent crude futures jumped more than 4.5%, crossing $100 per barrel for the first time since 2014.



This is a developing story.



By Siladitya Ray, Forbes Staff

Bitcoin and candlestick chart

Bitcoin Falls Below $35,000 As Putin Orders Military Operation In Ukraine

<h2 id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a “special military operation” in Ukraine early Thursday, a chilling announcement that was immediately followed by reports of explosions across Ukraine, propelling the country into war after months of massive Russian troop buildups.



<h2 id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



Russia launched the operation in response to calls for assistance from Russian-backed separatist leaders in eastern Ukraine, Putin claimed in a speech aired on Russian television.



CNN&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/ukraine-russia-news-02-23-22/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>&nbsp;explosions were audible from Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv and the eastern cities of Kharkiv and Kramatorsk after Putin’s speech.



Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/DmytroKuleba/status/1496695889401896964" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweeted</a>&nbsp;that Putin has “launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.”



In a&nbsp;<a href="https://dpsu.gov.ua/ua/news/Derzhavniy-kordon-Ukraini-piddavsya-ataci-rosiyskih-viysk-zi-storoni-RF-ta-RB/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">statement</a>&nbsp;issued on its website, Ukraine’s State Border Guard said the country was also facing an attack along its northern borders by Russian troops with support from Belarusian forces.



In&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/zelenskiy.official/posts/3017478685169154?__cft__[0]=AZUsWu88Ns6ISNqguybw-W6LiMYzgDov6KnJBFAOkSEVR6FuKs4ggYpmWI8Oa0WsxZM-R-u6bprFJ7QDnHs0XfjWoVWRfslIQS-_JXWjY2X5H1oovMYTf3WwiGj3EIqPCY3NO1xlY_OI35QrjZ8DXBZz&amp;__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">brief video</a>&nbsp;shared on Facebook, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared martial law across the whole territory of Ukraine while urging the country’s citizens to not panic.



Putin called on Ukrainians to lay down their weapons and insisted he doesn’t want to occupy the country, claiming the military action is designed to “demilitarize and denazify” Ukraine.



Putin’s speech also included an ominous warning that he will&nbsp; bring to justice “those who have committed numerous bloody crimes against civilians, including citizens of the Russian Federation.”



The Russian leader also issued a stern warning against any international opposition to the move, stating any attempts to impede Moscow’s actions “let alone create threats for our country” will lead to consequences “never seen in history.”



<h2 id="h-chief-critic">CHIEF CRITIC</h2>



In a statement, U.S. President Joe Biden denounced Putin’s actions and vowed to impose additional sanctions for the “needless act of aggression” on Ukraine. “President Putin has chosen a premeditated war that will bring a catastrophic loss of life and human suffering,” Biden said. “Russia alone is responsible for the death and destruction this attack will bring, and the United States and its Allies and partners will respond in a united and decisive way.”



<h2 id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h2>



In a statement issued after a call with Zelenskyy, Biden said “I condemned this unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces. I briefed him on the steps we are taking to rally international condemnation&#8230;Tomorrow, I will be meeting with the Leaders of the G7, and the United States and our Allies and partners will be imposing severe sanctions on Russia.:



<h2 id="h-surprising-fact">SURPRISING FACT</h2>



Putin launched the attack during an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council in New York called to deal with the Ukraine crisis. Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations, denounced Russia’s actions in a fiery speech: “There is no purgatory for war criminals. They go straight to hell,” he said. Russian ambassador Vasily Nebenzya—who currently serves as the Security Council’s chair—responded by denying that Russia declared war, insisting Putin’s “special military operation” is somehow distinct from a war.



<h2 id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h2>



Shortly before Putin announced the invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a final plea for peace in a late-night speech. Zelenskyy said he attempted to contact Putin, but the Kremlin didn’t respond.



<h2 id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a tense relationship since 2014, when Russia invaded and annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, an area roughly the size of Vermont whose 2.4 million inhabitants are mostly ethnic Russians. Russian troops and military hardware were also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/191186/Hiding-in-Plain_Sight_0529.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">deployed</a>&nbsp;eight years ago in support of separatists in the Donbas, an area of Ukraine bordering Russia, though the Kremlin&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-crisis-denial-idUSKBN0GS22Z20140828" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">officially denied</a>&nbsp;participating in the conflict. In December, Russia moved about 100,000 troops close to its border with Ukraine, a number that swelled to more than 150,000 by last week according to the U.S., prompting the White House to warn that Russia could launch an attack justified by a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacharysmith/2022/02/03/russia-plans-fake-explosion-video-to-justify-ukraine-invasion-us-alleges/">“false-flag” operation</a>&nbsp;portraying Ukraine as the aggressor. Violations of a ceasefire in the Donbas have become more frequent over the last week, a trend U.S. officials viewed as an attempt by Russia to create a pretext for war. On Monday, Putin&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2022/02/21/putin-reportedly-said-hell-recognize-pro-russia-states-in-ukraine---heres-why-that-matters/">said</a>&nbsp;Russia will recognize the independence of Ukraine’s partially separatist-controlled Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and accused Ukraine of military aggression, a move the White House called a likely prelude to invasion, though the Kremlin has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/31/europe/ukraine-russia-latest-news-monday-intl/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">dismissed</a>&nbsp;concerns about a Russian invasion of Ukraine as “madness and scaremongering.” American and European officials have searched for a diplomatic solution to the crisis, but Russia has continued to push for Ukraine to be barred from joining NATO, a demand the U.S. and its allies have not accepted.



<h2 id="h-what-to-watch-for">WHAT TO WATCH FOR</h2>



Reactions from Western governments. The U.S. and its allies’ responses to Russian aggression so far have ranged from supplying the Kyiv government with weapons to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/22/business/nord-stream-pipeline-germany-russia.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">halting</a> the activation of Nord Stream 2, an $11 billion natural gas pipeline connecting Russia to Germany—a move that threatens to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/05/nord-stream-2-is-a-major-item-of-leverage-against-russia-ex-german-ambassador.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">deprive</a> Russia of tens of billions of dollars in natural gas revenue. NATO <a href="https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_191040.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announced</a> January 24 that member states had sent ships and fighter jets to Lithuania and Bulgaria in response to the crisis. Though U.S. troops have been deployed to Eastern European NATO allies, Biden has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/08/russia-talks-of-rapid-ukraine-discussions-after-biden-putin-summit" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ruled out</a> the possibility of deploying U.S. troops to defend Ukraine or to evacuate Americans, arguing a clash between U.S. and Russian troops would spark “a world war.”



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/"></a>By Joe Walsh, Forbes Staff



By Zachary Snowdon Smith, Forbes Staff

Ukraine Warns Of Encirclement As Russia Conducts Exercises In Belarus

Russia Orders ‘Special Military Operation’ In Ukraine

How can Russian President Vladimir Putin afford the costs—both direct and indirect—of a new war in Ukraine? Easy—he’s been preparing for years. Russia’s central bank reserves now stand at&nbsp;<a href="https://cbr.ru/eng/hd_base/mrrf/mrrf_7d/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$640 billion</a>, a record. That pile is equivalent to 17 months of Russian export revenues, and continues to grow, thanks to surging oil prices.&nbsp;



Russia exports some 5 million barrels per day of crude oil, plus 2.5 million bpd of refined petroleum products, according to Cowen &amp; Co., amounting to about 10% of the global oil trade. With Brent crude hitting an eight-year high of $88.88 this morning, that amounts to more than $600 million a day in petro-cash.&nbsp;



On top of that is 23 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas exports (roughly 2 bcfd of which now transits through Ukraine)—worth another $400 million a day at today’s&nbsp;<a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PNGASEUUSDM" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">elevated European prices</a>.&nbsp;



Importantly, it’s no longer apt to refer to Russia’s fossil fuel income as “petro-dollars,” as Putin has been working hard to “de-dollarize” the Russian economy. Back in 2013 Russia received dollars for 95% of its exports to Brazil, India, South Africa and China. Today,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.everycrsreport.com/files/2021-07-23_IF11885_09a6986fb2de221b83de761f118062ca2def8737.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to the Congressional Research Service</a>, after a decade of de-dollarization just 10% of that trade is in greenbacks.&nbsp;



And Putin has created new payment processing systems, as a replacement for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, or SWIFT (from which Biden has threatened to cut Russia off); in 2015 after U.S. sanctions Moscow launched the Mir payment platform (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/russias-mir-card-payment-system-connects-apple-pay-2021-07-20/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">now even connected to Apple Pay</a>). 



Putin has increasingly replaced trade in dollars with gold. From a record low of $2 billion worth of gold in 1995, Russia has piled up a mountain of it—<a href="https://cbr.ru/eng/hd_base/mrrf/mrrf_m/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">now worth $130 billion</a>, or 20% of total reserves. That’s equivalent to about 72 million 1 oz. gold coins, or 4.5 million pounds. Only the U.S., Germany and Italy hold more gold.



Though Russia mines a lot of gold, platinum and palladium itself, some of the pile may be coming from friends like Venezuela, which <a href="https://nypost.com/2019/01/31/russian-airplane-in-venezuela-sparks-rumors-of-gold-theft-by-maduro-ally/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">in 2019 reportedly</a> loaded 20 tons of it onto a Russian Boeing 777, part of a liquidation of some <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210303-venezuela-opposition-accuses-government-of-illegal-gold-sales" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">300 tons from Caracas</a> coffers.



(Putin is not the only goldbug—central banks have added&nbsp;<a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Datawatch/Central-banks-accelerate-shift-from-dollar-to-gold-worldwide" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">4,500 tons</a>&nbsp;of gold reserves over the past decade.)



According to Johns Hopkins University economist professor Steve Hanke, Russia’s central bank has displayed high competence in managing the rouble, and it shows: Since 2016 it has held mostly steady at .013 per dollar, though dropping about 8% in recent months during the Ukraine military buildup.&nbsp;



Clearly, Putin has been putting funds to work investing in his military. Spending ramped up to a peak of $90 billion per year in 2013, ahead of his Crimea invasion, and totaled $60 billion in 2020,&nbsp;<a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.CD?locations=RU" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to World Bank data</a>.



This pales in comparison to U.S. military spending <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.CD?locations=US" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">of $780 billion</a> and China’s <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.CD?locations=CN" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$250 billion</a> in 2020—though Russia does spend more as a percentage of GDP, at 4%. Putin could likely ramp that spending more if he wanted to—according to <a href="https://economic-research.bnpparibas.com/Views/DisplayPublication.aspx?type=document&amp;IdPdf=43370" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">BNP Paribas data</a>, Russia’s public debt is 18% of GDP, while total external debt is less than 30% of GDP. Ukraine’s debt load is 80% of GDP, while the U.S.’ is <a href="https://www.ceicdata.com/en/indicator/united-states/external-debt--of-nominal-gdp" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">more than 100%</a>. 



By Christopher Helman, Forbes Staff

Russian President Putin Holds Annual Press Conference

How Can Putin Afford War In Ukraine? His $130 Billion Gold Horde Helps

From the rapprochement between North and South Korea at the Winter Olympics in January to December’s frantic news agenda, 2018 has had no shortage of surprises. Below are my key picks for the defining moments of the year. 



Elon Musk, Mars, and a roller coaster year for billionaires



On Feb. 6, Elon Musk’s Falcon Heavy rocket&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apps-space-commentary/commentary-spacex-launch-opens-new-frontier-in-space-commerce-idUSKBN1FQ38W">blasted into space</a>&nbsp;from Florida and sent a cherry-red Tesla roadster hurtling toward Mars. It was a powerful statement about the influence and ambition of a new generation of tech billionaires.



Overall, however, 2018 would be a rough year for the group, and Musk was no exception. By July, he was&nbsp;<a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-tesla-ceo/tesla-shares-fall-after-ceo-musk-abuses-british-caver-idUKKBN1K62H7">embroiled in a high-profile spat</a>&nbsp;with a British cave rescue diver over a miniature submarine he had hoped would help rescue 12 boys trapped underground in Thailand, just one of a series of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/aug/19/elon-musk-tesla-timeline-difficult-painful-year">increasingly negative headlines</a>.



Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg – once touted as a potential U.S. presidential candidate – had scarcely a better year, his firm plagued by its own stream of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.recode.net/2018/11/15/18097064/facebook-political-reaction-new-york-times-capitol-hill">scandals and political headwinds</a>.



Google, whose chief executive Sundar Pichai became the latest tech chief&nbsp;<a href="https://www.recode.net/2018/12/11/18134984/live-google-ceo-congress-hearing-china-testimony-house-judiciary-committee-censored-search">summoned before Congress</a>, faces a mutiny from some workers on multiple topics, including his dealings with the U.S. and Chinese governments. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/sep/14/jeff-bezos-low-income-people-pay-amazon-workers-better">faces mounting criticism</a>&nbsp;over working conditions and low tax payments.



Yet none of this looks set to stop tech firms from continuing to radically disrupt the world – indeed, many of their founders appear to believe their mission is to do so. Expect these battles to grow in 2019, particularly if new technology such as artificial intelligence and driverless cars accelerate change.



Trump fires advisers, tightens his grip



One billionaire learning his way around the political system in 2018 was U.S. President Donald Trump. After reports of growing frustration with some of his most senior officials, March saw him fire Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster. Both had been viewed as moderating influences on Trump, with successors Mike Pompeo and John Bolton&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apps-bolton-commentary/commentary-with-bolton-trump-shakes-off-generals-restraints-idUSKBN1GZ2W4">perceived as less prone</a>&nbsp;to questioning him.



<a href="https://uk.reuters.com/news/picture/john-kelly-to-leave-white-house-idUKRTX6HPZZ">December&#8217;s departure</a>&nbsp;of White House Chief of Staff John Kelly leaves Defense Secretary James Mattis the key restraining influence.



Overall, Trump seems increasingly keen to trust his own judgment rather than that of establishment-based gatekeepers or Republican insiders.



POTUS woos Kim and Putin. Elsewhere, diplomacy unravels.



In Singapore in June and in Helsinki in July, Trump upset many in his own administration with the warmth of his meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The friendliness of the summits stood in stark contrast to the G7 gathering of Western and Allied leaders in Canada, also in June. There, Trump appeared&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-g7-summit/trump-torpedoes-g7-effort-to-ease-trade-spat-threatens-auto-tariffs-idUSKCN1J50H3">more isolated than ever before</a>&nbsp;on topics including climate change, protectionism and relations with Russia. The G7 leaders were unable to agree on a communiqué, with the six non-U.S. members making their own statement independent of Washington.



Events at the G7 pointed to a wider malaise in international diplomacy. World leaders at November’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Papua New Guinea&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apps-china-commentary/commentary-can-u-s-china-relations-be-saved-idUSKCN1NO2EJ">also failed to agree</a>&nbsp;on a communiqué, this time due to divisions between China and the United States and its allies over trade.



Military posturing is also on the rise. Russia, China and NATO&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apps-wargames-commentary/commentary-why-china-and-russia-are-obsessed-with-vast-new-war-games-idUSKCN1LE1O6">each held their largest wargames</a>&nbsp;in recent history this summer, while confrontations between jets and warships in the South China Sea and Europe have also increased markedly.



Khashoggi killed as authoritarian states take the gloves off



The world’s authoritarian states appeared at least equally as focused on stifling dissent and opposition. Nowhere was that clearer than in the case of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-saudi-khashoggi-adviser-insight/how-the-man-behind-khashoggi-murder-ran-the-killing-via-skype-idUKKCN1MW2H4">murdered and reportedly dismembered</a>&nbsp;in his own country’s consulate building in Istanbul. Like the suspected Russian nerve agent assassination attempt on a former double agent in the UK town of Salisbury the previous year, the killing sparked international outrage and some diplomatic isolation of Riyadh – but little in the way of convincing apology from those believed responsible.



A string of autocratic governments appear increasingly dismissive of human rights, openly taking draconian action against critics and enemies alike. Russia is continuing its ruthless military campaign against remaining rebel enclaves in Syria, and a Saudi-led coalition has persisted in its war in Yemen – at catastrophic cost to civilians, where millions now face starvation.



China is cracking down on its Muslim Uighur minority, with a U.N. report&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-rights-un/u-n-calls-on-china-to-free-uighurs-from-re-education-camps-idUSKCN1LF1D6">citing estimates Beijing has</a>&nbsp;interned up to one million in “reeducation camps.” Such steps suggest authoritarian rulers like China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Putin may not feel as secure as they appear – or that they believe such brutal tactics are simply necessary to retain their grip.U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea&#8217;s leader Kim Jong Un leave after signing documents that acknowledge the progress of the talks and pledge to keep momentum going, after their summit at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore June 12, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst



G20 meets as Paris burns



November’s G20 gathering in Argentina was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apps-g20-commentary/commentary-for-g20-leaders-greater-problems-yet-to-come-idUSKBN1O22FW">perhaps the year’s most successful</a>&nbsp;multilateral gathering, with world leaders managing to agree on a largely bland communiqué on reform of global trade. Trump’s meeting with China’s Xi brought some temporary relief from the two countries’ trade war, even as Ukraine tensions and Mueller’s Russia probe made a Trump-Putin meeting impossible. There was still no shortage of disagreements on show, however – and as the leaders met, riots in Paris were grabbing global headlines.



Almost every Western leader in Argentina returned home to an existential political crisis. French President Emmanuel Macron has since bowed to some of the demands of the “yellow vest” protesters, particularly over fuel tax, but that has not been enough to stem the unrest. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has signaled she will shortly leave politics, although she has seen some success in appointing a protegé to lead her party. Trump went back to Washington to face the fallout from former lawyer Michael Cohen’s admission of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/cohen-new-charge-trump-1.4925270">lying to Congress</a>&nbsp;about a Trump Tower project in Moscow; British Prime Minister Theresa May has so far failed to find a Brexit deal she can get through Parliament.



Many of these impasses stem from a much wider crisis in Western nations, with rising wealth gaps and often mounting discontent and hardship among the poorest. Solving those issues will be tough – and more disruption feels inevitable through 2019 and beyond. &#8211; Reuters



<ul><li>Peter Apps </li></ul>

gettyimages-855492078-594×594

Commentary | Five Moments That Defined 2018

Hundreds of fake Facebook accounts and Pages that were likely affiliated with one another and operated out of Russia bought $100,000 in political advertisements on the social network over the past two years, Facebook said in a statement. Facebook shared its findings with U.S. authorities investigating Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
The fake accounts and Pages were allegedly connected to a “shadowy” Russian company seeking to target voters, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/facebook-says-it-sold-political-ads-to-russian-company-during-2016-election/2017/09/06/32f01fd2-931e-11e7-89fa-bb822a46da5b_story.html?utm_term=.d0be98616b7a" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to a report in The Washington Post </a>on Wednesday. The company, called the Internet Research Agency, is known for using fake accounts to comment on news stories and post on social media. U.S. intelligence agencies said in January that the likely backer of the Internet Research Agency is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Congressional investigators and special counsel Robert Mueller are probing allegations of Russian interference in the U.S. election and possible coordination with members of President Donald Trump&#8217;s campaign. In January, U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that the Russian government, under orders from Putin, hacked Democratic targets in an effort to hamper Hillary Clinton’s election prospects and aid Trump’s.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/current-affairs/2017/08/14/even-minor-nuclear-war-ecological-disaster-felt-throughout-world/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Even a &#8216;minor&#8217; nuclear war would be an ecological disaster felt throughout the world </a>
While the ad spending figure is small, Facebook’s findings raise questions about the extent of Russian involvement in the U.S. election and how misinformation on social media may have affected voters. Under federal law, foreign governments and foreign nationals are prohibited from making contributions or spending money to influence a federal, state or local election in the U.S. Facebook briefed the House and Senate intelligence committees about the findings on Wednesday.
These 470 fake accounts and Pages purchased approximately 3,000 ads focused on divisive social and political topics such as LGBT matters, race, immigration and gun rights, Facebook <a href="https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2017/09/information-operations-update/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said in a blog post</a> by chief security officer Alex Stamos. The large majority of the ads did not specifically reference the U.S. presidential election, voting or a particular candidate. The ads were purchased between June 2015 to May 2017, and about a quarter of the total ads were geographically targeted. Facebook shut down the inauthentic accounts and Pages that were still active, because fake accounts violate the social network’s policy, the company said.
“There have been a lot of questions since the 2016 US election about Russian interference in the electoral process,” Stamos wrote in the blog post. “One question that has emerged is whether there’s a connection between the Russian efforts and ads purchased on Facebook. These are serious claims and we’ve been reviewing a range of activity on our platform to help understand what happened.”
Facebook said it has also done a broad search for ads that might have originated in Russia, for example, ads purchased from accounts with U.S. IP addresses but with the language set to Russian. In this search, Facebook said it found an additional $50,000 in advertising spending with a potential Russian connection across about 2,200 ads.
Facebook has taken a series of new steps since the U.S. presidential election to crack down on the spread of misinformation on the social network, including launching a third-party fact-checking program and improving artificial intelligence technology that can detect fake accounts. In August, Facebook said it will no longer allow Pages that repeatedly share false news to advertise on Facebook. The company also curbs the spread of stories from sources that consistently post clickbait headlines. In the past few months, Facebook has taken steps to block fake accounts in Germany and France.
Stamos said Facebook is looking into a range of improvements to keep inauthentic accounts and bad actors off of its platform. For example, Facebook is testing ways to use its technology for detecting fake accounts to better detect inauthentic Pages and the ads they could run. The company is also experimenting with tools to stop the creation of inauthentic accounts at the time they are formed. &#8211; Written by <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kathleenchaykowski/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-ga-track="contrib block byline">Kathleen Chaykowski</a>, FORBES STAFF

Facebook  Friends Finance

Facebook Says Fake Accounts Likely Tied To Russia Bought $100,000 In Political Ads

In its five-year history, the community of countries that make up BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa)—collectively home to 45% of the world’s population; 20% of output and whose contribution to global economic growth over the last decade has reached 50%—has been more pilloried than praised.
And its critics made it clear that they were not about to let up. Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, China’s newly-elected leader Xi Jinping, host Jacob Zuma, and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, met again on March 26-27, for the first time on African soil, in Durban, South Africa. They were joined by 15 of Africa’s 54 heads of state.
Bold announcements at the end of the summit did not seem to placate the critics either—including the decision to create a Brics development bank that could rival the World Bank and the IMF; the signing of a Contingent Reserve Agreement (CRA) to pool $100 bilion from the five countries’ reserves; as well as a Multilateral Agreement on Co-operation and Co-financing for Sustainable Development.
Although grudging acknowledgements were made here and there and backhanded compliments were given, the coverage of major American and British publications was around inherent problems within and among the BRICS countries.
“The alliance faces serious questions about whether the member countries have enough in common and enough shared goals to function effectively as a counterweight to the West. For all the talk of solidarity among emerging giants, the group’s concrete achievements have been few… partly because its members are deeply divided on some basic issues and are in many ways rivals, not allies, in the global economy,” wrote the New York Times.
Parallels were drawn between India, Brazil and South Africa’s strong democratic traditions on the one hand, and Russia and China’s autocratic one on the other, although the good democrats were not spared either. The host country came in for a hiding for its small economy and anemic growth rates, while Brazil’s economy had cooled drastically, and India’s hope of reaching double-digit growth had ebbed.
The BRICS economic development ministers, met ahead of their heads of state to tie down decisions for final approval. They must have wondered as to whether there was any co-incidence in the release, the day before the BRICS summit, of a comprehensive report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. The detailed report showed how the BRICS countries hardly invest in one another, preferring their neighbors and the developed world’s major economies instead, like those of the European Union, the United States and Japan.
Previous remarks of President Zuma, criticizing the way trade was conducted between China and the African continent were hauled out to show how he had appeared to have a change of heart before the summit meeting. But the same was not done to Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the 2011 FORBES AFRICA Person of the Year and head of Nigeria’s central bank, who has been just as critical of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank as he was in the opinion article published in The Financial Times about how China has grown to be “a significant contributor to Africa’s de-industrialization and underdevelopment”.
The morning after the summit, China threw a lavish breakfast for the African heads of state. There are no prizes for guessing why it felt the need to do so.
With the promises of the BRICS heads of state from the previous afternoon’s session gnawing at their minds, African leaders were queuing up, one by one, at the office of their host. The purpose of the meetings were to strike the iron while it is still hot—ostensibly to open discussions that could lead to trade deals and to make sure they were not taken for a ride as guests who just came to hobnob and have a party.
Indeed, the time for African leaders to party and enjoy crumbs falling from their dishonorable colonial friends, while the looting of the continent’s resources continues unabated, is over. And so too should be the growing tendency of having too few people—usually a motley bunch of well-connected, cigar-puffing, whisky-drinking and posh-car-driving elite—benefitting handsomely from the opportunities that are being created by the world’s renewed focus on the continent.
According to Standard Bank, BRICS-Africa trade will increase threefold, from $150 billion in 2010 to $530 billion in 2015. Between 2010 and 2015, BRICS’ share of Africa’s total trade will increase from one-fifth to one-third and BRICS FDI stock in Africa will swell from around $60 billion in 2009 to more than $150 billion by 2015. The IMF also conducted a study, which indicated that the trade and investment from BRICS to low-income countries was deemed as a critical factor to protect them from the shock of the recent global recession.
With all its remaining problems and imperfections, Africa is a much better place today than it was two decades ago. But leaders would do well to remember that the reason coup d’états are frowned upon, elections are held regularly, and governments are a lot more open and transparent, is because Africa’s people are ready to take care of their own destiny, if they feel that their leaders are betraying their trust.
BRICS and many other opportunities that are sure to come our way need not be squandered.
And given our dreadful colonial past, now is the time to be even more vigilant. It’s the only way to deal with the derision emanating from pretentious, ideological dispositions of the western media, its commentators and research institutions—all of whom seem to have conveniently forgotten how they built their countries on the carcasses of Africans, their mineral resources, and how those structural adjustment programs imposed on the ‘dark continent’ by the IMFs and the World Banks of the so-called first world, have continued to play their part in strangulating many an African country, to this day.

Tag: Vladimir Putin

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA