WELL: Putin Puts Nuclear Deterrent on ‘Special Alert.’

Related: West unleashes SWIFT bans, more crushing penalties on Russia. “The United States and European nations agreed Saturday to impose the most potentially crippling financial penalties yet on Russia over its unrelenting invasion of Ukraine, going after the central bank reserves that underpin the Russian economy and severing some Russian banks from a vital global financial network. . . . The central bank restrictions target access to the more than $600 billion in reserves that the Kremlin has at its disposal, and are meant to block Russia’s ability to support the ruble as it plunges in value amid tightening Western sanctions. U.S. officials said Saturday’s steps were framed to send the ruble into ‘free fall’ and promote soaring inflation in the Russian economy.”

If they’re as good at that as they have been with inflation in the U.S. economy, they should succeed admirably.

Also: Police detain anti-war protesters in Russia.

MORE: Closed.