10 things you need to know today: February 15, 2022

Biden administration shuts embassy in Ukraine as Russian invasion threat looms, Trump's accounting firm cuts ties with him, and more

The closed U.S. embassy in Kyiv
The closed U.S. embassy in Kyiv
(Image credit: ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images)

1. U.S. shuts Kyiv embassy but Russia moves some troops away from Ukraine

The Biden administration said Monday it was shutting down its embassy in Kyiv as the United States and its allies warned that Russia could invade Ukraine within days. The U.S. believes Moscow has massed as many as 130,000 troops near the Ukraine border, with tens of thousands of them participating in military exercises in Belarus. Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized that the U.S. is continuing to work closely with Ukraine on "intensive diplomatic efforts to deescalate the crisis." Russia announced that it was pulling back about 10,000 of the estimated 130,000 troops it has massed near the Ukraine border, although it said it was continuing military drills.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.