Situation update

• The U.S., Canada, UK, and Israel are the latest to advise their citizens to leave Russia due to deteriorating conditions and dwindling commercial flight options to leave.
• Those in Russia should leave the country now before transit options disappear or border controls are implemented. Commercial flight options are disappearing due to route closures, lack of insurance coverage, and suspension of Western parts and maintenance contracts. Russia's aviation sector may not survive sanctions, and private charter flight options are extremely limited. 
• Russia's security services have arrested thousands of anti-war or anti-government protesters amid a growing crackdown in the country.
• Russia's flagship airline Aeroflot has announced the suspension of all international flights starting on 08 March.
• Visa, Mastercard, KPMG, and PwC have all suspended operations in Russia. 

• The Kremlin released its demands of Ukraine in order to end hostilities. These include: 

  • Recognition of Luhansk and Donetsk as independent
  • Ceasing all military action
  • A change to Ukraine's constitution to enshrine neutrality (no EU, no NATO membership)
  • Acknowledgment of Crimea as Russian territory

President and CEO Dale Buckner on Kusi "Good Morning SaN DIEGO" 

A RETIRED ARMY GREEN BERET AND HIS SECURITY FIRM HAVE BEEN MAKING AN EFFORT TO EVACUATE AMERICAN EXPATRIATES OUT OF UKRAINE

"It's very high risk," said Dale Buckner, CEO of Global Guardian, an international security firm working for a slew of fortune 500 companies to get their personnel out of Ukraine. "It's incredibly violent. We couldn't get into downtown center city Kyiv until two days ago."

Global Guardian President and CEO Dale Buckner was featured on ABC 6News Philadelphia discussing the situation in Ukraine and how the team is actively evacuating clients and families. 

COMPANIES STRUGGLE TO EXTRACT STAFF FROM UKRAINE AND RUSSIA

"Clients need to prepare for freezing temperatures and to be on their feet for eight to26 hours because the vehicles can get only so close to the border with traffic so backed up. “You’re probably going to get out and walk the last seven miles,” Buckner said."

In a recent article in the Financial Times, President and CEO Dale Buckner discusses the current evacuation efforts happening in Ukraine, including what it takes to coordinate and prepare clients for the journey.

BLOOMBERG BALANCE OF POWER INTERVIEW AT 25:14

“It's visceral, it's more violent, and things are tightening, and we have to be prepared to move as these Russian forces come in from three different sides."

Global Guardian President and CEO Dale Buckner was featured on Bloomberg Balance of Power discussing the situation on the ground in Ukraine as the Global Guardian team evacuates clients and their families. During this interview with Joe Mathieu, Dale also draws on his military experience to weigh in with strategic insight on Russia's capabilities and potential outcomes for this war.

Click below to watch the full video. If interested in skipping ahead, Global Guardian segment begins at 25:14.

Situation update

• Those in Russia should leave the country now before transit options disappear or border controls are implemented. Commercial flight options are disappearing due to route closures, lack of insurance coverage, and suspension of Western parts and maintenance contracts. Russia's aviation sector may not survive sanctions, and private charter flight options are extremely limited. 
• Russian airline S7 has announced the suspension of all international flights after one of its planes was seized by the leasing company that owns it while in Yerevan, Armenia. This risk could halt all international flights out of Russia. 
• President Putin has yet to comment on the rumors that the Russian state may institute martial law that are causing some Russians to flee the country. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov made the first official reaction, denying rumors as “hoaxes”.
• Russian legislation outlawing “public dissemination of false information about the use of the Russian military” could be in effect as soon as tomorrow, 05 March. The bill includes:
  • Imprisonment for sharing any information opposite the official Russian view of its offensive in Ukraine. Longer sentences are attached to information shared as part of the accused’s job duties and if authorities determine sharing it has “serious consequences”.
  • Fines for criticizing the Russian military.
  • Fines or forced labor for calling for sanctions against Russia.

• The list of popular websites accessible from Russia continues to shrink as Facebook, Twitter, BBC, and independent Russian press outlets are blocked.
• The Moscow Stock exchange will remain closed until at least 09 March. Russia’s largest exchange shut its doors on 28 February, making this its longest shutdown in the country’s history.

Retired Green Beret says window to evacuate Ukrainians is tightening as Russia pushes forward

"This is going to tighten and tighten and tighten. Our job is to figure out how to flex as this ebbs and flows and find those pockets where we do have freedom of maneuver as we continue to move through this over the next few months."

In an interview on Fox & Friends on Fox News, Global Guardian President and CEO Dale Buckner discusses evacuation efforts in Ukraine and shares insight into how those efforts have evolved—and will continue to evolve—as the on-the-ground evacuation teams continue to navigate checkpoints, movement of Russian troops, and windows of opportunity to bring clients and their families to safety.

Purported massive leak of Russian soldiers' data could sink morale, digital security

“They're seeing their compatriots being killed, their aircraft being shot out of the sky, their tanks being taken down. They're seeing the nationalism of Ukraine. You can take the morale of a large portion of 120,000 potentially, and you can absolutely put it at the bottom of the ocean and just destroy whatever preconceived notion of Russian nationalism they had. That's why this could be so important.”

In a recent article in CSO Online, President and CEO Dale Buckner weighs in on the purported data leak of the personal information of 120,000 Russian soldiers, how this information could be used by organizations in Ukraine or other countries, and why this alleged leak is significant to the war being waged in Ukraine.  

Global Guardian's mission to extract personnel from Ukraine

"We're at a point at day seven, going on day eight now, where we had freedom of maneuver a week ago that we simply don't have anymore. This is all about patience....We're not thinking in days and weeks right now, we're thinking in months as this ebbs and flows, and we're going to adjust to the threat and everything that comes with the conflict itself." 

In a recent interview on The Claman Report on Fox Business, President and CEO Dale Buckner discusses Global Guardian's evacuation efforts of corporate clients and their families in Ukraine, including how logistics are evolving as conditions on the ground change amid Russia's advancements.     

Dale Buckner sits down with Nick Esponisa on Security Fanatics, discussing the current situation in Ukraine

"We have teams in 134 countries. We’re going to execute 125 to 150 missions next month around the world. We are not utilizing one set or one team of security agents from any one part of the world. Yes, we are surging in Ukraine, clearly, but that does not affect the team in Japan, the team in Saudi Arabia, the team in Bogota Columbia, the team in Argentina, so on and so forth. They are uninhibited and have full capacity.” 

Global Guardian President and CEO Dale Buckner was featured on Security Fanatics, where he sat down with Nick Esponsia, and discussed how Global Guardian is simultaneously supporting clients in Ukraine and around the world, and how our model of having on-the-ground teams in 134 countries allows us to surge in times of crisis. During the interview, Dale also provided an overview of how the team conducts these intensive evacuations and how they help clients located in Ukraine prepare for the journey. Dale and Nick also discuss the immediate situation and the most likely scenarios of how it could play out in the coming months.