Washington Warns Ukraine Of Full-Scale Russian Attack Within 48 Hours

According to US intelligence sources speaking to Newsweek, the US has informed Ukraine of a Russian plan to invade with 48 hours.

An intelligence official said that the US had informed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the Russian plan would involve air strikes, cruise missiles, ground troops and cyberattacks.

The US intelligence source said that they had information suggesting Russian aircraft violated Ukrainian airspace on Wednesday, and perhaps could have been a reconnaissance mission.

Another US intelligence source said that an invasion operation would likely begin at night and would be pre-empted by cyberattacks. Somewhat ominously, separate reports indicate that several Ukrainian government websites are suffering from cyberattacks.

The positive impact of easing fears over a military conflict between Russia and Ukraine on the risk sentiment faded away in the second half of the day on Tuesday as the US introduced sanctions against Russia.

Wall Street’s main indexes closed the day deep in the negative territory and the 10-year US Treasury bond yield declined for the fourth straight day. Markets stay relatively quiet early Wednesday as investors stay focused on geopolitics. Wednesday’s economic calendar will not be offering any high-impact data releases.

Early Wednesday, the market mood stays moderately upbeat with US stocks futures indexes rising between 0.15% and 0.25%. The US Dollar Index, which closed little changed near 96.00 for the second straight day on Tuesday, continues to move sideways.

Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said late Tuesday that they were not sure how sanctions against Russia would impact the economic activity. “The Fed needs to move off of emergency policy stance and can do so without jeopardizing employment,” Bostic added but these comments failed to trigger a noticeable market reaction.