Monday morning news - February 21, 2022

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington. 

Russia extends military drills along Ukraine’s northern border » Russia has extended military drills in Belarus, near Ukraine's northern borders that were originally set to end on Sunday.

Russia has an estimated 30,000 troops in Belarus. Moscow could use those forces to sweep down on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, which is less than a 3-hour drive from the northern border.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Sunday said Russian President Vladimir Putin has assembled a powerful invasion force.

AUSTIN: He’s been very deliberate in terms of assembling the right kind of combat and combat-support capabilities in the border region. And so he has a number of options available to him, and he could attack in short order.

Russia has positioned another 150,000 troops along Ukraine’s borders to the east and south.

President Biden told reporters on Friday that he fully believes Putin intends to give the order to invade.

BIDEN: We have reason to believe the Russian forces are planning to and intend to attack Ukraine in the coming week, in the coming days. We believe that they will target Ukraine’s capital of Kiev, a city of 2.8 million innocent people.

U.S. leaders say they believe Putin has made up his mind, but they remain hopeful that he will change his mind and seek a path of diplomacy.

Meantime, Ukraine and some U.S. lawmakers are urging Western allies to hit Russia with sanctions preemptively. But Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said “crippling” sanctions must remain as a threat.

KIRBY: They’re gonna be unprecedented, and we mean this as a very strong message to Mr. Putin and as a deterrent. If you pull the trigger on that deterrent, well then it doesn’t exist anymore as a deterrent.

Kirby said if you punish somebody for something they haven’t done yet, they might as well just go ahead and do it.

Police clear ‘Freedom Convoy’ protesters in Ottawa » Hundreds of police in riot gear swept through Canada’s capital over the weekend, clearing the streets of protesters in front of Parliament buildings.

Truckers parked their big rigs in downtown Ottawa for weeks to protest vaccine mandates for truck drivers and other COVID-19 restrictions.

Interim Ottawa Police Chief Steve Bell said police are committed to ending the so-called Freedom Convoy protest.

BELL: If you are involved in this protest, we will actively look to identify you and follow up with financial sanctions and criminal charges.

He said, “This investigation will go on for months to come.”

While some protesters vowed to stay on Ottawa's streets, one organizer told reporters they had “decided to peacefully withdraw.” Tom Marazzo added, “We will simply regroup as a grassroots movement.”

Queen Elizabeth II tests positive for COVID-19 » Queen Elizabeth II tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: British leaders expressed concern for the 95-year-old monarch. But Buckingham Palace said the queen is only experiencing mild, cold-like symptoms, and added that she plans to carry on working.

The palace said she would continue with “light” duties at Windsor Castle over the coming week.

The queen is fully vaccinated and had a booster shot.

Both the queen's eldest son Prince Charles and daughter-in-law Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall contracted COVID-19 earlier this month.

People in the U.K. who test positive for COVID-19 are now required to self-isolate for at least five days, although the British government says it plans to lift that requirement for England this week.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

Winter Olympics come to a close » The Olympic flame was extinguished on Sunday as the Winter Games in Beijing came to a close.

The United States finished fifth in the overall medal count with 25 in total. One of those medals belongs to Jessie Diggins who won silver in the Women’s Cross Country skiing 30-kilometer freestyle. She recalled collapsing from exhaustion after crossing the finish line.

DIGGINS: So I felt like I couldn’t give up and I had to keep pushing as hard as I could. But yeah, it was very, very hard.

U.S. athletes captured eight gold medals.

Norway topped the medal count with 37—16 of those gold.

Officials on Sunday passed the Olympic flag to Italy, which will host the 2026 Winter Games.

I’m Kent Covington. For more news, features, and analysis, visit us at wng.org. 

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