(Bloomberg) -- President Joe Biden said in his State of the Union address that Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine "has been a test for the ages, a test for America, a test for the world," adding that the US and its allies had risen to the challenge.
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Biden spoke to Congress after Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands said they would supply Ukraine with as many as 178 older generation Leopard 1 battle tanks as Kyiv braces for an expected intensification of fighting. The first deliveries would arrive in Ukraine in a few months.
Moscow is trying to spend its way out of its self-inflicted economic crisis. Facing initial forecasts for a decline of up to 20% in capital expenditure, Russia instead saw it increase 6% in 2022, according to Bloomberg Economics.
(See RSAN on the Bloomberg Terminal for the Russian Sanctions Dashboard.)
Key Developments
Russia Survived a Year of Sanctions by Investing as Never Before
Biden Calls Putin's Invasion of Ukraine a 'Test for the Ages'
US to Sell Himars, Ammunition to Poland in $10 Billion Deal
Ukraine to Get as Many as 178 Leopard 1 Tanks From EU Allies
Russia's Latest Information War Tactic: Spoofing Foreign Media
On the Ground
Russia struck the center of Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine with at least six S-300 missiles, regional governor Oleh Synyehubov said on Telegram overnight. An industrial facility and the city's central park were hit, Interfax-Ukraine reported, citing mayor Ihor Terekhov. Over the past day, Ukrainian forces repelled attacks near 22 settlements in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, Ukraine's general staff said on Facebook. Russian troops are continuing their offensive on several axes in the east, including near the towns of Bakhmut, Avdiyivka, Vuhledar and Kreminna.
(All times CET)
Russia Invests as Never Before to Survive Sanctions (7:45 a.m.)
Russia is trying to spend its way out of the self-inflicted economic crisis that threatened to deliver the deepest recession of Putin's more than two-decade rule.
Roaring exports of commodities funneled capital into the coffers of the government and companies, feeding an upswing in business investment that was without precedent during previous economic contractions and proved crucial to powering the war effort in the year since the invasion of Ukraine.
Zelenskiy Meets New German Defense Minister Pistorius (7:45 a.m.)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Tuesday met new German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who visited Ukraine in his first overseas trip in that post. Zelenskiy praised Germany for a long-expected decision to supply Leopard tanks to Ukraine and allow third countries to do likewise.
"The recent decisions on the tank coalition and the initiative from our European friends in cooperation with our Ministry of Defense can really give us not advantages, yet parity on the battlefield," the Ukrainian President's Office said in a statement on its website citing Zelenskiy. "It is necessary to understand that it depends on time, on the quantity and modernity of the tank coalition's equipment."
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