Last night (February 23) Putin announced the beginning of a military operation to protect "The People's Republics of Donbas". This was initially framed as a defensive operation, however in the same speech he went on to say that he wanted to "demilitarize" and "de-Nazify" Ukraine. Within moments of this speech explosions were reported in major cities throughout Ukraine including Kiev and Mariupol. The Russian defense ministry then announced that they were attacking Ukrainian military facilities, air defense sites, airfields and aircraft. The question now is whether the U.S. and its allies will respond militarily in this first round. If they do, any country that is used to launch attacks on Russian forces will be targeted. The Ukrainian war becomes a European war and then a world war. ~ StormCloudsGathering