Portal:Current events/2022 February 28

February 28, 2022 (2022-02-28) (Monday)

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Russo-Ukrainian War
  • 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
    • Battle of Kharkiv (2022)
      • Dozens of people are killed and hundreds more are wounded in a massive MLRS attack on Kharkiv, according to the Ukrainian interior ministry. (The Guardian)
      • Videos appear to show cluster munitions being used in the rocket attack on Kharkiv. (Sky News)
    • Zhytomyr Airport attack
      • Russia attacks the Zhytomyr Airport using Iskander ballistic missiles launched from Belarus. (The Times of Israel)
    • Kherson offensive
      • The Russian Defence Ministry says Russian Ground Forces have captured the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, and that the plant's operations continued normally under the guard of soldiers. Ukraine denies the power plant has been seized by Russian forces. (Reuters)
    • The Ukrainian engineer of the Russian yacht Princess Anastasia attempts to scuttle her in the port of Mallorca, Spain, damaging the yacht's engine room. (Newsweek)
    • Reactions to the 2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis
      • Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov accuses the European Union of "hostile behaviour" towards Russia, and says the arming of Ukraine was an "extremely dangerous and destabilising factor". Peskov also says that Western arms supplies to Kyiv shows that Moscow was right to try to demilitarise Ukraine. (Reuters)
      • Latvia allows volunteers to participate in the Russo-Ukrainian war. (Reuters)
    • Belarus–Ukraine relations
      • Belarus is expected to directly deploy its armed forces in Ukraine, aiding Russia in its invasion. (The Washington Post)
    • France–Russia relations
      • During a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, Russian President Vladimir Putin agrees to “suspend all attacks on civilians and homes”. (TgCom24) (Reuters)

Business and economy

• Reactions to the 2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis
  • The Central Bank of Russia raises the interest rate from 9.5% to 20%, the highest since 2003; the Russian ruble also loses more than a quarter of its value at the beginning of trading, with ranges of 100–120 rubles to the US dollar. (The Guardian) (Reuters)
  • CBR orders all companies receiving foreign currency to exchange 80% of the revenue into rubles, in a bid to stabilise the market. (Forbes Russia)
  • Russia institutes capital controls, banning trading of Russian securities by all foreign legal entities. (Reuters)
  • The Moscow Stock Exchange will not open on Monday at all, as Russian regulators try to contain selloff of Russian assets and of rubles. (The Wall Street Journal)
• 2021–2022 global energy crisis
  • Petrol prices in the United Kingdom hit an-all time high, according to the RAC. (BBC)
• An EU subsidiary of Sberbank is declared to be "failing or likely to be failing" by European banking regulators. The subsidiary, however, is not very large, with bank's assets amounting to €13.64 billion. Sberbank's shares have fallen about 70% since the beginning of trading in Moscow. (The Wall Street Journal) (Ekonomichna Pravda)

Health and environment

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong
    • A third team of medical health experts arrive in Hong Kong amidst a rise of COVID-19 cases. (Shanghai Daily)

International relations

• Reactions to the 2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis, International reactions to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
  • Russia–Ukraine relations
    • A Ukrainian government delegation arrives in Belarus for peace talks with Russia delegation in an effort to end the war. (The Independent Uganda)
    • Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak announces that peace talks have begun as an effort to end the war. During the talks, Ukraine calls for a ceasefire to end the war. (Reuters) (BBC)
    • Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky says that Russia and Ukraine are interested in reaching an agreement aimed at ending the war. (Forexlive)
  • Russia-European Union relations, Russia-United Kingdom relations
    • In retaliation of the Russian aircraft ban, the Russian authorities forbid EU or UK airlines planes to land on, or cross, Russian airspace. (Bloomberg)
  • Russia–Switzerland relations
    • Breaking from a historic tradition of Swiss neutrality, Switzerland say they will adopt all EU sanctions on Russia effective immediately in response to the invasion. Swiss banks are believed to hold billions of dollars in Russian funds. (Reuters)
  • Belarus–United States relations, Russia–United States relations
    • The United States closes its embassy in Minsk, Belarus, and allows "non-essential staff" at the U.S. embassy in Moscow to leave the country amid war in neighbouring Ukraine. (The Independent)
• Nuclear program of Iran
  • The Iran Foreign Ministry spokesperson says that efforts to revive the 2015 Iran deal could succeed if the U.S. and other Western powers take steps to solve three issues. The three issues include the extent to which sanctions would be rolled back, providing guarantees that the U.S. won’t withdraw from the deal again, and resolving questions over uranium traces found at several old but undeclared sites in Iran. (Al Arabiya)
  • France calls for talks to end this week and for Iran and the Western countries to reach an agreement to revive the 2015 deal. (Times of Israel)
• 2021–2022 North Korean missile tests
  • The KCNA says that the missile test that North Korea conducted on Sunday was to develop a "reconnaissance" satellite system. (Reuters)

Politics and elections

• 2022 Belarusian constitutional referendum
  • Belarus approves the adoption of the changes to the Constitution of Belarus according to Lukashenko's proposal, with just above 65% support, according to Belarusian electoral officials. (France24)
  • Belarus confirms that it has revoked its status as a non-nuclear state thus allowing the country to host and develop its own nuclear weapons. President Alexander Lukashenko says he could ask Russia to return nuclear missiles to his country if any nuclear weapons are transferred to Poland or Lithuania. (Reuters)

Science and technology

• IPCC Sixth Assessment Report
  • A report from the second IPCC working group is published, focusing on adaptation to climate change and population vulnerability. (The Conversation)

Sports

• 2022 NFL season
  • In American football, the Green Bay Packers will play a home game in the NFL International Series in London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the first time in franchise history. (BBC)

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February 2022

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