Russia military official say Russian troops prevented Ukrainian “saboteurs” from crossing border, five killed

Joel Frank Independent Analyst

According to Russian state-controlled media citing Russian military officials on Monday, Russian troops and border guards prevented Ukrainian "saboteurs" from breaching the Ukraine/Russian border. Five people who tried to cross the border were killed, the officials said, and Ukrainian armed vehicles were also destroyed in Russia's Rostov region.

Ukrainian military forces subsequently denied claims it had sent saboteurs and called the story fake news. The latest headlines add to fears that Russia is building up a litany of false (as the West and Ukraine claim) pretexts for military action against Ukraine, as NATO leaders continue to warn that a full-scale Russian invasion may be imminent.

Market Reaction

Risk appetite had already been on the back foot, with earlier upside as a result of hopes that a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine crisis could be reached with talks of a Biden/Putin summit later in the week having been faded. The latest news seems to have added fresh downside pressure, with S&P 500 futures dipping to fresh session lows under 4320 and the Stoxx 600 continuing its decline towards 455, now down about 1.2% on the day and eyeing its lowest point of the year at 454.52.

Author

Joel Frank

Independent Analyst

Joel Frank is an economics graduate from the University of Birmingham and has worked as a full-time financial market analyst since 2018, specialising in the coverage of how developments in the global economy impact financial asset

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