The Russian-Ukrainian conflict has been an ongoing issue for several years now. Russia saw how Ukraine was getting closer to the NATO alliance, which Russia sees as a threat. For this reason, Vladimir Putin and Russia decided to invade.  

Since the invasion, the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, has praised allied responses of supplies and weapons from the west in continued efforts to combat Russia’s military might.

International support for Ukraine is at the highest it’s ever been since 2014. Ukraine is heavily outnumbered by Russian forces in terms of weaponry as well as active and reserve troops. It is because of this, that Ukraine welcomes any help that it can get in order to fight back, but Russia has surrounded Ukraine with superior troop numbers.

Russia decided to invade on the early morning of Feb 24, 2022. They invaded the territory of Crimea first, slowly making their way into Ukraine.

Shortly after this, the president of Russia Vladimir Putin gave a speech explaining his reasons as to why he invaded and made threats to anyone who gets involved.

This was a huge shock to the world because no one ever thought it would actually happen. Right after this speech, Russia began full missile strikes on Ukraine. These strikes spread quickly around all central and eastern Ukraine.

The world quickly responded to this act of war. President Zelensky spoke to U.S. President Joe Biden shortly after the attacks. He explained that the west was on their side to fight against Russia. The United States has made it clear that will hold sanctions against Russia and send troops to surrounding NATO countries. They are doing this in order to help refugees who are fleeing Ukraine as well as protect its allies against any possible attacks.

As of now, Ukraine is holding up strong against Russia. The president of Ukraine ordered that all men ages 18-60 not leave the country and are ordered to fight against Russian forces. Many lives have already been lost, even innocent civilians. At least 352 Ukrainian civilians have already died.  Many Russian soldiers have died as well adding up to around 4,500 dead.  Some estimates number the Russian dead at over 11,000.

Many lives are being lost and this is just the beginning. Around 1.7 million people have fled Ukraine into neighboring countries like Poland, Hungary, and Romania.

This war is far from over as Russian forces keep pushing deep into Ukraine territory. Russia is far from backing down and neither are the Ukrainian forces who are protecting their home. The Ukrainian people have shown their strength to protect what is theirs and will keep fighting for their country.

Ukraine has received support and supplies from all NATO countries. Hopefully, this war does not escalate further and involves additional countries. Something must be negotiated between both of these countries before more of Europe is dragged into this conflict.