An Update on Russia & Ukraine

🇺🇦 Moscow installed a new mayor in the southeastern city of Melitopol on Saturday after its elected mayor, Ivan Fedorov, was abducted by Russian soldiers the night before.

• A Russian airstrike killed 35 people at a Ukrainian military facility ten miles from the Polish border yesterday; US officials warned that NATO would bring "the full force of [its] alliance to bear in responding" to any airstrike on Polish soil.
• Satellite images show the 40-mile-long Russian convoy that had stalled for a week on the way to Kyiv has now dispersed into the surrounding area, with artillery moving into firing positions.
• About 2.6 million people have fled Ukraine, per the UN's refugee agency, with a majority of them ending up in Poland; the UN also confirmed Russia has killed at least 549 civilians, but said the actual death toll is likely much higher.
• American journalist Brent Renaud was shot and killed by Russian troops yesterday while reporting in a suburb of Kyiv.

How the invasion is impacting…

📱 Social Media: YouTube blocked worldwide access to channels associated with Russian state-funded media, while Russia banned its citizens from accessing Instagram starting today.

• The White House has reportedly briefed the world’s most influential TikTok stars on the conflict so they can be more informed when talking to their followers, per WaPo.
• Russia has done something similar.

🌎🌾 Food: Wheat futures hit record highs early last week – then plunged, closing the week with their worst performance since 2014 (-8.5%). Still, the benchmark price remains 72% higher than at this same time last year.

• A UN report found global food prices hit an all-time high in February. US food prices rose 7.9% last month compared to a year ago.

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