(Mark Pellin, Headline USA) Less than two days after President Joe Biden blustered and stumbled his way through a speech that vowed severe sanctions and harsh reprisals for Russia if they invaded Ukraine, long-range Moscow missiles were flying over the border and explosions echoed in Kyiv.
image from the Ukrainian President’s office sent to CNN’s @mchancecnn following the loud explosions the team heard on the ground in #Kyiv #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/IpJTDdmSCc
— Michael Holmes (@holmescnn) February 24, 2022
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the invasion early Thursday morning, calling it a “special military operation for the de-Militarization and de-Nazification of Ukraine,” reported Breitbart.
“Russia cannot feel safe, develop, and exist with a constant threat emanating from the territory of modern Ukraine,” Putin obfuscated.
“A couple of words for those who would be tempted to intervene. Russia will respond immediately and you will have consequences that you never have had before in your history,” he warned.
As the invasion escalated, Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba informed that, “peaceful Ukrainian cities are under strikes. This is a war of aggression. Ukraine will defend itself and will win. The world can and must stop Putin. The time to act is now.”
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, provided his own running update.
A number of key government websites in #Ukraine just went dark#Russia’s plan calls for a massive cyber attack on the Ukrainian government & disruption of communications followed by targeted missile strikes against air defense sites & ammunition/weapons depots
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 23, 2022
#Russia’s airborne forces are attempting to take control of the airport in #Kyiv to they can fly in forces to occupy the capitol city
An amphibious assault on the key port city of #Mariupol is now underway
Ground forces now moving in from Belarus,Crimea & from #Russia
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 24, 2022
To clarify what is underway is a full scale & comprehensive military assault throughout #Ukraine
Airborne & amphibious landings,missile strikes from air,ground & naval forces, electronic & cyber attacks & a large ground force to occupy a large swath of territory
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 24, 2022
In the early stages of the invasion, Biden leapt into action, or at least out of bed long enough to proofread a press release from the White House.
“The prayers of the entire world are with the people of Ukraine tonight as they suffer an unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces,” Biden said in the statement. “President Putin has chosen a premeditated war that will bring a catastrophic loss of life and human suffering.
“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,” Biden claimed. “The world will hold Russia accountable.”
The world shouldn’t be facing the current crisis, said former President Donald Trump.
“This is something that should have never happened,” Trump told Fox News host Laura Ingraham on Thursday. “This would not have happened during my administration.”
Trump blamed the Biden administration’s past failures for precipitating Putin’s decision to invade, sensing a profound weakness coming from the White House.
“It’s a terrible thing. The way it started, I really don’t believe [Putin] wanted to do this initially,” Trump said. “I think he wanted to do something and negotiate. It just got worse and worse, and then he saw the weakness
“[Putin] saw the weakness,” Trump said. “It really started, I think, with the weakness in Afghanistan and the way they pulled out of Afghanistan.”
How it will end doesn’t bode well based on Biden’s history.
In just one year, Biden has:
🌎 Emboldened ISIS-K and Al Qaeda with his botched Afghanistan withdrawal
🌎 Failed to secure the release of detained Americans
🌎 Removed sanctions on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) February 21, 2022