Sharjah24 – AFP: Oil prices broke past $100 and safe havens surged while equities tumbled Thursday after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "military operation" in Ukraine, accelerating fears of a major war.
Markets have been hammered this week after the Kremlin recognised two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine and said it would provide "peacekeepers" to the regions, leading to warnings of a conflagration.
The Russian president said in a surprise statement on television: "I have made the decision of a military operation."
He also vowed retaliation against anyone who interfered and called on the Ukraine military to lay down its arms.
There were later reports of explosions in Kyiv as well as other parts of Ukraine with Moscow saying it was targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure with precision weapons.
Russia is said to have up to 200,000 soldiers massed on the border with Ukraine, and Washington has warned for weeks that Putin was planning an incursion.
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