Daily Kickoff
👋 Good Thursday morning!
Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine overnight, with Russian President Vladimir Putin announcing he is seeking the “demilitarization and de-Nazification of Ukraine,” a continuation of false claims that Ukraine is controlled by a neo-Nazi regime.
In a speech on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy — who is Jewish — pushed back against those claims, noting that his grandfather served in the Soviet military and fought against the Nazis in World War II. Ukraine’s official Twitter account tweeted a picture of Adolf Hitler smiling and gently patting Putin’s face. More on the Russian invasion below.
Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA) reiterated her opposition to the Iran nuclear deal and the Biden administration’s negotiations to rejoin it in a virtual AIPAC event yesterday, arguing instead for “sanctions and strong consequences for their actions.” She added, “It’s very important that we are very strong and we don’t [make] any concessions [to] Iran.”
Following backlash from Jewish students at the University of Texas at Austin, the Palestine Solidarity Committee student group withdrew a student government resolution that condemned the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism and “affirm[ed] the rights of advocates for Palestine.”
The decision to withdraw the resolution, which was set to be voted on in the coming weeks by student-led legislative bodies, came after university officials intervened and expressed concern about the bodies taking up a “non-university issue,” according to a person who attended a Tuesday student government meeting where the issue was discussed. The resolution would have been the first on a college campus to condemn the IHRA definition.
breaking overnight
Russia invades Ukraine

Armored vehicles move across the town of Armyansk, northern Crimea. Early on February 24, President Putin announced a special military operation to be conducted by the Russian Armed Forces in response to appeals for help from the leaders of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. Sergei Malgavko/TASS (Photo by Sergei Malgavko/TASS via Getty Images)
Russia launched an attack on Ukraine overnight, with Russian President Vladimir Putin announcing the beginning of a “special military operation” in a televised address to the nation as troops and tanks crossed the border. The Ukrainian State Border Service said troops attacked Ukraine from Belarus, as well as from the Russian and Crimean borders. Explosions were heard across the country and in some of Ukraine’s largest cities, including the capital, Kyiv. This morning, the Ukrainian government declared martial law and called for international support. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country has cut diplomatic ties with Russia.
Shelling and explosions: “Putin has just launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted this morning. “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.” A senior Ukrainian official said the main airport in Kyiv was under assault, The Washington Post reported. Another official said the city of Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, was being shelled. Large explosions were also seen near Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city. The Russian military claimed to have wiped out Ukraine’s air defenses within hours. Ukraine has halted all civilian flights. Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksii Arestovich said some 40 people had been killed so far and several dozen wounded.
U.S. response: President Joe Biden tweeted late Wednesday night, “President Zelenskyy reached out to me tonight and we just finished speaking. I condemned this unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces. I briefed him on the steps we are taking to rally international condemnation, including tonight at the UN Security Council.” Biden said that he will meet today with the leaders of the G7 nations, and will impose sanctions on Russia while providing support and assistance to Ukraine. “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 said. “The world will hold Russia accountable.” The president will speak later today “to announce the further consequences the United States and our Allies and partners will impose on Russia for this needless act of aggression against Ukraine and global peace and security,” the White House announced on Wednesday night.
Putin’s warning: Amid growing international condemnation, Putin warned, “whoever tries to impede us, let alone create threats for our country and its people, must know that the Russian response will be immediate and lead to the consequences you have never seen in history.” He added that “no one should have any doubts that a direct attack on our country will lead to the destruction and horrible consequences for any potential aggressor.”
EU sanctions: The European Union is set to present a package of new sanctions at an emergency summit this evening. EU President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement today that the sanctions “will target the strategic sectors of the Russian economy by blocking the access to technologies and markets that are key for Russia. We will weaken Russia’s economic base and its capacity to modernize. And in addition, we will freeze Russian assets in the European Union and stop the access of Russian banks to European financial markets.”
Israelis in Ukraine: Israel is calling on citizens still in Ukraine to cross the border into Poland, where Israeli authorities will assist them in flying to Israel, Ambassador to Ukraine Michael Brodsky told KAN News. Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid released the country’s second statement on the crisis today. “The Russian attack on Ukraine is a serious violation of the international order. Israel condemns the attack, and is ready and prepared to provide humanitarian assistance to the citizens of Ukraine,” he said. The statement also noted that “Israel has deep, long-lasting, and good relations with Russia and with Ukraine. There are tens of thousands of Israelis in both countries, and there are hundreds of thousands of Jews in both countries. Maintaining their security and safety is at the top of our considerations.” Lapid said Israel has coordinated with Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Moldova to enable the safe exit of Israelis from the conflict zone.
Heard yesterday: On Wednesday morning, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) compared Russia’s moves to the pre-WWII Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia, saying, “This is the Sudetenland, that’s what people were saying there.”