What's the Endgame in Ukraine?

🇺🇦 A theater in Mariupol holding an estimated 1,300 Ukrainian civilians partially collapsed under Russian shelling yesterday; satellite images before the bombing showed the word “children” written twice in Russian on either side of the building.

• Roughly 130 people had been rescued from the theater as of yesterday evening, per reports.
• Russia’s Defense Ministry denied culpability for the attack, instead blaming Ukraine’s forces for blowing it up as a “bloody provocation.”
• 7,000+ Russian troops have been killed three weeks into the invasion, per the Pentagon. That’s more than the number of American troops killed over 20 years in Iraq and Afghanistan combined.
• The House overwhelmingly passed legislation to end normal trade ties with Russia, which could result in higher tariffs for some imports from Russia and Belarus.
• President Biden will speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping later today to discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and other issues.

How the invasion is impacting…

⚡🛢️ Energy: Ukraine’s electrical grid was hooked up to the rest of Europe on a trial basis yesterday, ending the country’s dependence on Russian power.

• Oil jumped nearly 9% to close at more than $103 per barrel. The average price for a gallon of gas in the US has fallen slightly over the past week to $4.29.

📈 Markets: All three major US indexes closed up at least 1% for the third straight day. (Dow: +1.2% | S&P: +1.2% | Nasdaq: +1.3%)

• Russia reportedly avoided its first foreign currency debt default in more than a century, paying out $117 million in interest using US dollars – as stipulated by its contract – ahead of a midnight deadline on Wednesday.