If you haven’t been watching the news lately,  you may not know what’s going on in Russia and the Ukraine. As of last week, Russia had put 75% of its army to the border of Ukraine. Currently, Russia has around 1-million active troops and 2-million reserves. Ukraine has around 2-million total troops. Overall, Russia’s military is twice as strong as Ukraine’s. You might be wondering why would Russia ever invade Ukraine? Although there is only a complicated answer, we will do our best to explain.

One of the reasons why Russia wants to invade Ukraine is because of the Black Sea. Ukraine is on the Black Sea which could be a huge seaport for Russia. This will not only help with shipping, but it will also help Putin with more naval opportunities to upgrade his navy. Additionally, Ukraine would act as a border between Russia and NATO. Over the past few years, leaders in Ukraine and Russia have been working on settling the conflict between the two countries. However, these discussions have gone to waste now that Russia has officially invaded Ukraine.

Unsurprisingly, the United States has denounced Putin’s actions and imposed severe sanctions, such as cutting off Russia to all Western banking, in an attempt to dissuade further Russian military operations. Despite the moral issue, America is also getting involved because of the effect this conflict could have on the economy. If Russia makes a run at the gas prices, they could continue to climb at the pumps even though we are already reaching an 8 year high in gas prices, with some states hitting as high as $4 per gallon.

On February 25th, Russia invaded Ukraine. This was an unprovoked act described as a “special military operation” according to Russian media. According to various news sources, Putin has stated that “To anyone who would consider interfering from outside, if you do, you will face consequences greater than any you have faced in history.”

Although the invasion of Ukraine is terrifying, they country has been holding their own and attempting to fight for their land. Males aged 18-60 in Ukraine are banned from leaving the country. Martial law has come into effect and Ukraine has told its residents to defend its capital. Russia has bombed Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Kramatorsk, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Mariupol, Kherson, Odessa, Mykoliav, Ivano Fankivsk, Lutsk, and the capitol Kyiv.  

It is unprecedented to view this war during a technology-driven time period with a plethora of social media mediums to capture what is happening on the ground. Somebody that has been getting some publicity is the Ghost of Kyiv. The Ghost of Kyiv has taken a storm on social media platforms, such as Tiktok. The ghost of Kyiv is a Ukrainian Ace pilot, who has been running the skies in Ukraine. He shot down six Russian planes and is still flying. 

At this time, it is unclear as to how the conflict will end. However, we can only hope for peace and a de-escalation of violence for the people of Ukraine.