The War Between Russia And Ukraine

As it approaches mid year, many people are looking forward to the Kentucky Derby 2022 sports event. However, this year might bring about a whole lot of mixed emotions with the escalating war that’s taking place between Russia and Ukraine. To get an overall summary on it, keep reading for more. 

The Battle Between Russia And Ukraine

It was February 24th 2022 that Russia decided to launch a military invasion into Ukraine. Set to be a full-scale mission, the battle has claimed over 200 civilian lives and also pushed many Ukrainian families to seek refuge in neighboring countries. 

It was in October 2021 when Russia started moving their military equipment and troops near the Ukrainian border which caused massive concern to the Ukrainian government over a possible invasion. It was in November and December 2021 that Russia started publicly releasing commercial satellite imagery and social media posts that showed missiles, heavy weaponry, and armor being moved towards the Ukrainian border with no official explanation being given on what exactly was happening. 

By the time December 2021 arrived, Ukraine witnessed more than 100,000 Russian troops settling near the border between Russia and Ukraine. After seeing this, officials from the US intelligence started sending out warnings stating their suspicion that Russia may be planning an invasion within the following months. By the time it was mid-December 2021, the Russian foreign ministry began issuing various demands that required the US and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to hold off on any military action to take place in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. There were also other demands being made for those parties to commit against additional NATO expansion towards Russia, and also to stop Ukraine from being part of NATO in future. 

When the US and NATO heard of these demands, they immediately rejected them and moved on to warn Russia that they would not be afraid to impose any severe economic sanctions if they were to launch an attack on Ukraine. After this, the US went on to send additional military assistance to Ukraine. This also included the help of small arms, ammunition, and defensive weaponry. 

At the start of February 2022, the president of the United States, Joe Biden, ordered roughly 3,000 troops within the US to deploy to Romania and Poland which happen to be the NATO countries that are bordering Ukraine. This would then counter Russian troops that are placing themselves near the Ukrainian border and also provide the necessary reassurance needed by NATO allies. Shortly after this, satellite imagery saw Russian troops being deployed to the Belarus border and negotiations between Russia, other European powers including Germany and France, and the US, ended in no resolution being found. At this time, Russia had released a statement providing a draw down on how many troops it would release. Yet, reports began emerging stating that Russia was increasing its troop presence. 

During this time, the US was well aware of what was going on and even went on to warn the world about this Russian invasion into Ukraine towards the end of February. While this happened, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin began ordering their troops to Donetck and Luhansk, which are the eastern sections of Ukraine that are still being controlled by the Russian government. But the Russians kept claiming that their deployed troops were only serving a peacemaking function. 

When the US saw this, they started imposing sanctions on the two regions. It was on February the 24th that the United Nations Security Council warned Russia against attacking Ukraine when Putin had announced that they were beginning a full-scale invasion from all corners of the Ukrainian border targeting all of its cities and military assets. 

This upset the US president stating that the attack was unjustified and unprovoked. Since then the US has issued serious sanctions in line with other European allies that were targeting four of Russia’s largest banks, gas and oil industry, as well as technological exports. From this point, many countries and leading organizations condemned Russia for their actions and started showing great support towards Ukrainian forces. 

A lot has happened since then and with the world backing Ukrainian forces, there have been direct negotiations happening between Ukraine and Russia but with no sign of a resolution being in place. Weeks into the invasion, the battle still continues in major parts of Ukraine with more countries opening their borders to refugees fleeing the country.