Local reaction to potential Russian invasion on Ukraine

With a potential Russian invasion on Ukraine set tomorrow, News 25 wanted to ask local experts about any potential impact it could have in South Mississippi.

Associate Professor of political science at Southern Miss Dr. Joe Weinberg tells News 25 that the United States first response would most likely not be military, but in other ways such as trade embargos.

He says we could possibly see gas and oil prices increase due to the large number of pipelines going through Ukraine.

Dr. Weinberg also believes there is potential of cyber attacks on the United States that could possibly target large companies and internet providers to try and slow our response. “I mean I think that the urgency is high to pay attention any time we’re dealing with the Russians. They are a big, powerful country. They are aligning themselves with the Chinese and the United States certainly needs to pay attention, and as American citizens, I think we need to pay attention too.”

Dr. Weinberg says the Europeans will most likely feel an even larger impact of an invasion compared to the United States.