Thread by @maxseddon

Vladimir Putin has launched a massive invasion of Ukraine.

The FT will be tracking every development with me and @NastassiaAstra in Moscow, @polinaivanovva and @JohnReedwrites in Kyiv, @HenryJFoy in Brussels, @VJMallet in Paris, and @GuyChazan in Berlin.

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@NastassiaAstra @polinaivanovva @JohnReedwrites @HenryJFoy @VJMallet @GuyChazan A tale of two speeches: how Putin's bloodcurdling declaration of war and Zelensky's heartfelt appeal for peace showed, as the latter said, that "Ukraine on your TV news and the real Ukraine are two totally different countries."

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“The Putin whom Macron met at the Kremlin was not the same as the one he saw the previous time they had met in December 2019. This Putin was more rigid, more isolated, and basically one who had gone haywire in terms of ideology and security policy.”

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This map from @ftgraphics shows how far-ranging Putin's invasion of Ukraine is.

Attacks everywhere from Ivano-Frankivsk in the west to Kharkiv on the Russian border. Incursions all across the north, including Belarus, and from Crimea. New troop presences detected.

Russian markets today:

– Ruble at record lows
– Moex index down 45 per cent
– Gazprom down 48 per cent, Lukoil and Novatek both down more than 40 per cent
– Bond prices collapse

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A report from @polinaivanovva and @JohnReedwrites on the ground in Kyiv.

“This is our land, this is Ukraine. It is a disgrace; that man should be destroyed for what he is doing . . . he should be crushed,” Irina said, referring to Vladimir Putin.

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@polinaivanovva @JohnReedwrites After Russia invaded today, the FT is making our key Ukraine coverage free to read, as we did with the Covid-19 pandemic.

Follow this page for all the latest

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@polinaivanovva @JohnReedwrites Russia's state banks are going to get hit with some big, big sanctions very soon.

@OwenWalker0 and I explore what that could mean, with comments from @elinaribakova and @maria_shagina

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@polinaivanovva @JohnReedwrites @OwenWalker0 @elinaribakova @maria_shagina "Western security services believe that Putin intends to overthrow the government and install a puppet regime. This “decapitation” strategy will also take in local governments. Lists have been drawn up of Ukrainian officials to be arrested or killed."

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Former Italian PM Matteo Renzi and Finnish PM Esko Aho have resigned from Russian corporate boards. Will former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and French ex-PM François Fillon be next?

Scoop by @silvia_sb_ and @NastassiaAstra

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@polinaivanovva @JohnReedwrites @OwenWalker0 @elinaribakova @maria_shagina Latest from FT's @Philgeorgiadis: the EU Aviation Safety Agency has issued a warning about airspace controlled by Moscow and Rostov air traffic control "due to heightened military activity, which may include launches of mid-range missiles penetrating into controlled airspace."

@silvia_sb_ @NastassiaAstra "Putin’s transformation into a messiah-like figure has been illuminated. He is nurturing a new Leviathan set in revanchist conservatism. Armed with a belief in his historical destiny, Putin is acting more strongly and boldly," writes @Stanovaya

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@silvia_sb_ @NastassiaAstra @Stanovaya "Public discontent and anger will gradually accumulate. By dismantling mechanisms for society to blow off steam, Putin is planting a bomb under the state. Inevitably, it will explode, causing massive destruction when the regime begins to fall apart."

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New UK sanctions on Russia just dropped, @GeorgeWParker @Laura_K_Hughes and @PickardJE report

VTB's assets are frozen, Aeroflot can't fly to London, high-tech exports will be curbed. But only five "oligarchs" listed – that'll disappoint campaigners.

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The EU banking sanctions now hit Russia's biggest private bank, Alfa-Bank, and Otkritie, the bank Russia's regulators had hoped to sell off to private investors in an IPO around this time.

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Putin's war in Ukraine is in its second day. Fierce battles are raging across the country as Russian forces prepare for an assault on Kyiv.

Ukraine says it has killed 800 Russian soldiers and suffered 137 casualties. Russia hasn't cited any yet.

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