The World Bank has said it is preparing options to provide immediate support to Ukraine amid Russia's military intervention.

The development lender together with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will use all its financing and technical support tools for rapid response, said World Bank's chief David Malpass in a statement on Thursday.

"The devastating developments in Ukraine will have far-reaching economic and social impacts. We are coordinating closely with the IMF to assess these costs," he said.

The World Bank is ready to enable immediate support to Ukraine with preparing options for such support, including fast-disbursing financing, he added.

"The World Bank Group is horrified by the shocking violence and loss of life as a result of the events unfolding in Ukraine," Malpass said, adding: "We are a long-standing partner of Ukraine and stand with its people at this critical moment."

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the military intervention in Ukraine early Thursday, days after recognizing two breakaway enclaves – Donetsk and Luhansk – in eastern Ukraine, drawing international condemnation and sanctions on Moscow.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has imposed martial law, said more than 130 people including civilians have been killed so far.

He signed a decree on the general mobilization of the population as Russian attacks continued. Conscripts and reservists will be called up over the next 90 days to "ensure the defense of the state, maintaining combat and mobilization readiness.”/aa

US stocks market rebounded to close in positive territory Thursday as President Joe Biden slapped tougher sanctions on Russia after its military intervention in Ukraine.

The Dow Jones lost more than 800 points, or 2.4%, shortly after opening, but the blue-chip index managed to regain the losses to finish at 33,223 points with a daily gain of 0.28%.

The S&P 500 dove 0.2% after the opening bell but rebounded to end the day at 4,288 points -- up 1.5%.

The Nasdaq was off 245 points, or 1.88%, at the opening. The tech-heavy index jumped back to finish the day with a 436-point, or 3.34%, gain at 13,473.

Biden vowed Thursday to impose more sanctions on Russia for its military intervention in Ukraine, saying Russian President Vladimir Putin "chose this war."

The US Treasury Department later announced additional sanctions on Russian financial institutions and entities, which operate in agriculture, telecommunications, railroads, maritime and freight shipping, energy, mining, as well as actions targeting Belarus.

The VIX volatility index climbed to 37.79 at one point, its highest since November 2020, but the fear index pulled back to 30.20 for a 2.6% daily loss.

The yield on 10-year US Treasury notes was down 0.34% to 1.970%. The dollar index, on the other hand, was up 0.9% to 97.04.

Despite earlier gains as safe-haven assets, precious metals surrendered their gains to dive into negative territory.

Gold was down 0.5% to $1,899 per ounce after climbing to $1,974.47 earlier, its highest level since Sept. 1, 2020.

Silver lost 1.6% to $24.17 after hitting $25.62, the highest since Aug. 2, 2021.

Oil prices, on the other hand, managed to stay in positive territory. Brent crude was trading at $95.52 per barrel with a 1.6% gain and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate at $93.02 -- a 1% increase.

Despite sharp declines earlier, Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies regained some of their losses.

The price of Bitcoin recovered to $38,500 at 4.25 p.m. EDT after sliding to $34,350, its lowest since Jan. 24.

Ethereum, the world's biggest altcoin by market value, dove below $2,303 but managed to climb to $2,640.

The cryptocurrency market's total value plummeted to $1.55 trillion around 0550 GMT Thursday but rebounded to $1.72 trillion at 2125 GMT./aa

Russian chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov on Thursday criticized Russian military intervention and called support for Ukraine.

"Support Ukraine militarily, immediately, everything but boots on the ground. All weapons, intel, cyber," the former world chess champion wrote on his Twitter account.

"Bankrupt Putin's war machine. Freeze & seize Russia's finances & those of him and his gang," he added.

Kasparov said Russia should be kicked out of every international and financial institution in the world, including Interpol.

"Ban all elements of Putin's global propaganda machine. Turn them off, shut them down, send them home. Stop helping the dictator spread lies & hate," he wrote.

He also said all countries' ambassadors should be recalled from Russia, adding, "There is no point in talking. The new unified message is 'stop or be isolated completely'."

Kasparov, who became the youngest undisputed world chess champion in 1985, at the age of 22, argued that Russian oil and natural gas should be replaced.

He advocated that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) should be pressured to increase their crude oil production.

"Acknowledge there will be costs, sacrifices. We waited too long, the price is high, but it will only get higher. It's time to fight," he added./aa

A Russian football player opposed his country's military intervention in Ukraine on Thursday.

Dynamo Moscow forward Fedor Smolov wrote "No to war" on Instagram, in standing with Ukraine.

Smolov also put a broken heart emoji and a Ukrainian flag as well as a black square to express his grief, hours after Russia launched an attack.

Smolov played for the Russian national team 45 times and has scored 16 goals.

The 32-year-old played in the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Separately, he helped Lokomotiv Moscow win two Russian Cups and a Russian Super Cup.

Smolov joined Dynamo Moscow in January with a contract that runs until 2024.

Donbas crisis and Russia's military intervention

Ukraine's February 2014 "Maidan revolution" caused President Viktor Yanukovych to flee the country and a pro-Western government to come to power.

Russia then illegally annexed Crimea, and separatists in eastern Ukraine declared their so-called administrations of Donetsk and Luhansk, both home to large ethnic Russian populations.

Deadly clashes broke out between Russian-backed separatist forces and the Ukrainian army. The 2014 and 2015 Minsk agreements, signed in Moscow with the intervention of Western powers, sought to stop the conflict but cease-fire violations continued, resulting in 14,000 deaths as of February.

Late last year, Russia made headlines by deploying tens of thousands of troops on the border with Ukraine, with the US accusing it of gearing up for an invasion -- claims Moscow denied.

Amid threats of Western sanctions, Moscow recognized the 2 separatist administrations in Donbas as 'independent' on Monday, Feb. 21 and the military intervention started Feb. 24 into Ukrainian territory.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the operation aims to protect people "subjected to genocide" by Kyiv and to "demilitarize and denazify" Ukraine. He called on the Ukrainian army to lay down its arms./aa

Kazakhstan, which ranks first globally in crude uranium production, is taking steps to produce nuclear energy, a senior official said on Wednesday.

Jaslan Kasenov, the head of the Nuclear Energy and Industry Department of the country's Energy Ministry, told journalists in Nur-Sultan that Kazakhstan is currently conducting research in this field, considering the natural and climatic conditions.

Noting that his country is actively working to examine the technologies of six global companies that supply reactors, Kasenov said the examinations are carried out in line with safety, reactor reference, capacity, and cost criteria of nuclear plants.

He said the country is the world's largest producer of crude uranium and that it possesses all necessary resources to produce nuclear energy.

"We have access to uranium isotope enrichment services as well as our own nuclear fuel production," he said, adding that the world and the region are experiencing an electricity crisis, while 31 countries currently operate nuclear power plants./aa