Today’s Russia/Ukraine Update

🇺🇦 Russian forces seized Kreminna, a town in eastern Ukraine with a population of 18,000, late Monday. It’s the first city to fall in Moscow’s new offensive targeting the Donbas region.

• In an address late Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that “Russian troops have started the battle for Donbas, which they had been preparing for a long time.”
• Ukraine has formed what it calls its Internet Army, a group of ~300,000 social-media volunteers who post messages singling out Western companies doing business in Russia or asking foreign government officials to supply Ukraine with heavy weapons.

How the invasion is impacting...

🧸🪀 Toys: Hasbro – which owns Dungeons and Dragons, Monopoly, Nerf, and more – projected a $100 million hit this year from its decision to stop shipping products to Russia.

🌎 The economy: The IMF expects the global economy to grow 3.6% this year, down from 6.1% last year, saying the economic hit from Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine will “propagate far and wide.” The group had previously projected 4.4% annual growth in January.

🌽 Food: Corn futures were trading above $8 per bushel on Monday, the highest level in more than nine years; the market was trading around $6 per bushel at the start of this year. Ukraine and Russia combine to account for over 17% of global corn exports.

• Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned yesterday that the war in Ukraine is exacerbating “already dire” world food insecurity, with estimates suggesting up to 10 million people could be pushed into poverty due to rising food prices.