Explosions have been reported in at least 16 locations, including the capital city of Kyiv, as well as Lutsk, and Ivano-Frankivsk in the far west, Karkiv in the northeast, Odessa to the south on the Black Sea, and Mariupol on the Sea of Azov.

  A CNN reporter was live on the air this morning as Russian missiles streaked toward Ukrainian targets. A column of tanks also passed.

  Attacks with missiles, aircraft, and artillery were quickly followed by a land invasion. Russian army units were seen driving at high speed on Ukraine highways. They are already on the outskirts of the second largest city, Karkiv.

  At least 40 members of the Ukraine military are already reported to have been killed.

  Partly as justification for his invasion, Putin has been spinning the conspiracy theory that Ukraine plans to lay its hands on nuclear weapons. He said earlier this week, “Ukraine intends to create its own nuclear weapons, and this is not just bragging.” 

  Putin also described his operation as resistance to the American-led world order and an attack on “Nazis” in Ukraine, even though the country’s president is Jewish. 

  Also as a pretext for attack, Russia claims that Ukrainian troops were about to attack separatist forces in the states just declared independent by Putin. 

  The United Nations Security Council met last night with ambassadors making last-minute pleas for Putin to back off but the attacks were carried out even as they spoke.

  President Joe Biden issued a statement saying, “The world will hold Russia accountable,” even though the world has been unable to prevent this from happening.

 The Pentagon says that 80 percent of the 190,000 Russian troops poised near the Ukraine border have been poised for attack.  “They are ready to go,” John Kirby, Pentagon spokesman, told reporters.

  Ukraine says they have been  preparing for is attacks on their energy supplies and power grid. Their parliament voted yesterday to declare a state of emergency. 

 The invasion came as President Biden announced that the United States will impose sanctions on the company in charge of building the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, the latest action by the United States and its European allies against Russia. It remains to be seen how severely the West can punish Russia without going to war.

The Authoritarian Mind: Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright writes of Putin in The NY Times that, “Like other authoritarians, he equates his own well-being with that of the nation and opposition with treason. He is sure that Americans mirror both his cynicism and his lust for power and that in a world where everyone lies, he is under no obligation to tell the truth. Because he believes that the United States dominates its own region by force, he thinks Russia has the same right.” 

  Albright says that as a result of Putin’s actions , “Instead of paving Russia’s path to greatness, invading Ukraine would ensure Mr. Putin’s infamy by leaving his country diplomatically isolated, economically crippled and strategically vulnerable in the face of a stronger, more united Western alliance.”

Trumped and Stumped: The two lead prosecutors in the Manhattan District Attorney’s investigation of former President Donald Trump have resigned after the case was largely inactive for a month. The resignations may have come because District Attorney Alvin Bragg had expressed doubts about moving forward with the case.

  They were investigating whether Trump inflated the value of his assets to get favorable loan terms from banks. A spokesman for Bragg merely said of the two who resigned that the DA was  “grateful for their service” and that the investigation was continuing.

  At the same time, New York State Attorney General Letitia James, has appeared to have stepped up her parallel civil case on  Trump. She has been given approval by  judge to question Trump and two of his adult children under oath, about the valuation of Trump properties.  She has already concluded that the company engaged in “fraudulent or misleading” practices. She can sue the Trumps, but she can’t bring criminal charges.

Nor Dark of Pollution: The US Postal Service has made final plans to buy to 148,000 new gasoline-powered delivery trucks in defiance of the Biden administration’s goals of going climate-friendly with electric. The decision was made by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a holdover from the Trump administration. The Postal Service has about a third of all government-owned vehicles.

The Spin Rack: Stocks fell and the price of oil jumped over $100 a barrel on news of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. — Heavy traffic is exiting the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. — Russian soldiers poised to invade have been targeting Ukrainian women with Tinder messages looking for a hot date, according to the British tabloid, The Sun.

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