Each new move Russian President Vladimir Putin makes has left U.S. officials more fearful he's preparing for a very real war, Axios national security reporter Zachary Basu writes.

• Why it matters: A month of diplomatic talks has achieved nothing. Russia's alarming military buildup keeps growing.

In his first public comments about the spiraling tensions in over a month, Putin yesterday accused the West of goading Russia into a conflict.

• Between 100,000 and 130,000 Russian troops are estimated to be stationed on the border with Ukraine — a presence that continues to grow.

5,000 Russian troops have been deployed in Belarus — potentially giving Putin a direct route to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, which lies just 140 miles from the Belarus border.

• At a heated meeting of the UN Security Council on Monday, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said there's evidence Russia intends to expand its Belarus presence to 30,000 troops.

The big picture: There are few signs that would distinguish a bluff from legitimate preparations for an attack. The West isn't taking any chances.

• The Pentagon has placed 8,500 U.S. troops on "heightened preparedness to deploy" to NATO countries in eastern Europe, which President Biden said will happen "in the near term."
• The U.K., Poland, the Baltic states and other NATO allies have transferred weaponry and training forces to Ukraine, warning that a Russian invasion would have massive ripple effects across Europe.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said at a press conference yesterday: "This is not going to be a war of Ukraine and Russia. This is going to be a European war, a fully fledged war."

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"Ten million dollars, $15 million, $25 million, more: Big money is back on Wall Street," Bloomberg reports.

• Why it matters: Not since 2009, "when lavish bonuses rained down before and after federal bailouts, have pay packages at U.S. investment banks swelled as much as they have right now."

What's happening: Amid 2020's frenzy of corporate dealmaking and trading, investment banks — worried about the pandemic optics — restrained bonuses. But as "the boom rumbled into 2021, Wall Street professionals demanded more and began defecting," Bloomberg writes.

• Now, Manhattanites are "uncorking $2,000 bottles of wine ... buying bigger homes in fashionable TriBeCa, and snapping up yachts. It's a long-awaited moment for a generation of rising executives."

Keep reading.

Global electric-vehicle sales — battery electric and plug-in hybrids combined — more than doubled last year to 6.6 million vehicles, Ben Geman writes in Axios Generate.

• They accounted for 8.6% of global light-duty vehicle sales, compared to 2.5% in 2019, according to the International Energy Agency.

Analysts see another growth surge this year, with research firm BloombergNEF projecting over 10.5 million in sales.

"Guerilla projectionists" from The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong emblazoned these taunting images on China's embassy in D.C. on Monday night.

"Just as it dominates our economy, Big Tech now dominates Fortune's annual ranking of corporate reputation," Fortune says this morning in unveiling its annual "World's Most Admired Companies."

• "It's Apple's 15th straight year in the No. 1 spot, a fitting coronation for the world's most valuable company."

The list is based on a poll of 3,700 corporate executives, directors and analysts. The top 10:

1. Apple
2. Amazon
3. Microsoft
4. Pfizer
5. Walt Disney
6. Berkshire Hathaway
7. Alphabet (Google)
8. Starbucks
9. Netflix
10. JPMorgan Chase

Explore the list.

The U.S. national debt exceeded $30 trillion for the first time.

• Why it matters: It's "an ominous fiscal milestone that underscores the fragile nature of the country's long-term economic health." —N.Y. Times

ABC News President Kim Godwin last night suspended Whoopi Goldberg from "The View" for two weeks "for her wrong and hurtful comments" she made on the show about Jews and the Holocaust:

• "While Whoopi has apologized, I’ve asked her to take time to reflect and learn about the impact of her comments."

On Monday's episode, Goldberg made the comments during a discussion of a Tennessee school district's decision to ban "Maus," a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel depicting the horrors of the Holocaust.

• "Well, this is white people doing it to white people, so y'all gonna fight amongst yourselves," Goldberg said.

Goldberg told Stephen Colbert during a previously scheduled appearance on CBS' "The Late Show": "I thought it was a salient discussion because as a Black person, I think of race as being something that I can see. So I see you, and I know what race you are."

• "I felt that it was really more about man's inhumanity to man."
• "I don't want to fake-apologize, you know. I'm very upset that people ... misunderstood what I was saying. ... I did a lot of harm, I guess, to myself. ... Folks are angry. I accept that. And I did it to myself."

Video: Goldberg on Colbert ... Go deeper.

Florida civil rights leaders Harry T. and Harriette Moore have been nominated by Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.) for the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Ben Montgomery writes for Axios Tampa Bay.

• The educators founded the first Brevard County NAACP in 1934, protested lynchings and police brutality in Florida, and helped register more than 100,000 Black voters, Crist writes to President Biden.
• A bomb exploded under the Moores' bed on Christmas Day, 1951, killing them both. Their murders were never solved.

Harry Moore "laid the groundwork for the modern civil rights movement," Bill Gary, former head of the Brevard NAACP, told NPR.

• Read the letter.

Tom Brady — who retired as the best QB in NFL history, and one of the greatest athletes ever — was so good for so long that ESPN argued he had three Hall of Fame careers in one, Kendall Baker writes for Axios Sports:

• The underdog (2000-06): Three Super Bowls, two Super Bowl MVPs, three Pro Bowls.
• The GOAT (2007-13): Two NFL MVPs, six Pro Bowls, two First-Team All-Pros.
• The Immortal (2014-20): Four Super Bowls, three Super Bowl MVPs, one NFL MVP, five Pro Bowls, one First-Team All-Pro.

🏈 Also yesterday: Brian Flores, fired last month as head coach of the Miami Dolphins, sued the NFL for racial discrimination. Read the lawsuit.

When Girl Scout cookie deliveries start Sunday, there'll be a new treat: Adventurefuls — brownie-inspired bites topped by caramel-flavored creme.

Our taste test ... John Frank writes for Axios Denver:

• The baker's chocolate notes are nostalgic in their simplicity. The hint of caramel sweetness seals the deal.

🍺 Believe it or not, there's a guide to craft-beer pairings with Girl Scout cookies ("the dark chocolatey wafer character shared in a stout").

• John's Adventurefuls pairing: A crisp dark lager to accentuate the chocolate tones — or a big pastry stout with caramel or vanilla.

Cookie sales run through March 13.

• Cookie Finder, by ZIP Code.