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War In Ukraine: What Is Happening Today and Why It’s Happening

By: Isabela Solano and Ana Olivo - 9B

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DISCLAIMER: The following events happened from April 14th to 17th. Things may have changed.

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February 24th 2022, Russia invades Ukraine. This was the kind of headline found in most newspapers and news broadcasts around the world that week of February. Many were surprised because they didn’t see it coming. Others, even though they were informed to some degree about the situation before the war, didn't expect for it to actually happen. Still, at the end of the day, all of us hoped the invasion wouldn’t escalate to something worse and hoped it would end quickly. Unfortunately things didn't go as we had hoped. Vladimir Putin, Russia’s former president, decided to start a war with Ukraine to reclaim Ukrainian territory that had previously been part of the Soviet Union. There are many reasons why the Ukrainian War is happening. This article is here to explain the “why”, give you context of the history between Ukraine and Russia, and also to inform you about what has happened in the last week. Moreover at the end you will find some ways in which you can help.

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The Russian invasion in Ukrainian territory has been happening in the cities and regions located in the borderlines with the Russian country.

 

Currently the areas around the cities of Khariv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Mariupol and Kherson are under Russia’s military control, as is the case for the peninsula Crimea since 2014. In the areas between the cities of Kherson and Mykolaiv, and the cities Kharkiv and Luhansk there have been Russian advances into the country.

 

The Ukrainian counter-attacks have been reported in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Chernobyl and Mykolaiv. This week, the Russian forces withdrew two weeks ago from the northern areas and the capital Kyiv, and went to Russia and Belarus. 

Still, recent reports from the UK Ministry of Defense and U.S officials have claimed that this weekend and the beginning of the week of 18th April, the Russian military forces could start returning to Ukrainian territory as there have been mortar shell attacks in the Darnitsky district located in Kyiv. Furthermore, on Friday 15th the Russian military attacked an Ukrainian factory producing anti-ship cruise missiles. Hours later the mayor of the capital, Vitali Klitschko, warned the citizens of the city who were planning their return during the past week, to not return to the city since the absence of Russian attack will not last any longer.

And indeed, Klitschko was right, on April 17, Russia restarted its attacks on the capital. Recent reports inform that the events that happened with scatter missile attacks in the cities of Kyiv and Khariv have left them heavily damaged, and 5 civilian deaths were reported along with 13 injured.

 

Since this week’s assessments Ukraine has been preparing its artillery. The United States government has announced that it will be sending 40,000 artillery rounds, still, because the Ukrainian military uses thousands of artillery per day, it seems that the input of the U.S government won’t last for more than one week or even less since Russia warned that the missile attacks will intensify due to the counter-attack from Ukraine to the Russian battleship Moskva. This means that right now Ukraine doesn’t have enough military defense and weapons to defend itself. Still, the American country has been encouraging other allies to send military aid to Ukraine.

 

Context on the war: Why did Russia decide to invade Ukraine?

 

We all know that there is a current war between Russia and Ukraine that has brought death and destruction amongst the Ukranians, and maybe we all have heard at least a little about the reason why Mr. Putin, the former president of Russia, has decided to invade this country, but believe me, there are many things you probably don’t know yet. In order to understand the meaning of this war, we have to go back some years, more specifically to 2014, when the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine began. The Ukrainian president at the time, Víktor Yanukóvich, was about to sign an agreement with the U.S.A that would enhance the political and economic ties between these two countries, but he ended up canceling the agreement due to the pressure Russia exerted on him. People were not happy, and they decided to manifest their discontent with Yanukóvich’s decision all over the country, being Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, Lutsneko and Klistchko, the cities where there were more manifestations of the disagreement. In response to this, Yanokóvich decided to create some laws which restricted the right to protest, which made Ukrainians even angrier. As they continued to protest, riots between civilians and police were inevitable, and it left many injured from both sides. That’s when the US intervened and threatened transactions against Ukraine unless the president did something to stop the violence in the country under his power. That is how the US made an agreement with Yanukóvich and opposition leaders (the leaders of the protest) that called for early elections and the formation of a unity government for a small amount of time while things returned back to normal. With this, a series of changes such as reducing the power of the president (remember Ukraine also has a prime minister) granting full amnesty for protestors, and other things were done, which put the president in a dangerous position, and he fled the country before the results of a vote that was made came out in order to revoke his presidential powers. Another prime minister and a president were chosen, but that is not the last Russia did to Ukraine. The peninsula of Crimea was invaded by Russia in 2014, and it was taken barely without opposition due to the fact it was full of pro-Russians who did everything in their power to separate from Ukraine and be recognized as a part of Russia. The constant quarrel with Russia has provoked the current president, Volodimir Zelinski, and the prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, to take the decision to join the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) in order to be able to defend Ukraine from the threat that represents Russia to them. However, this was not a decision Russia liked because Putin assures it is a threat for his country that Ukraine joins this organization since it is a strategic place that can be used by the US military to organize US troops and high tech missiles, which he considers a direct threat. Nevertheless, we all know that is just the tip of the iceberg. Another reason why Russia is after Ukraine is because of its potential. It is home to 10% of the global wheat export, 14% of global corn exports, 47% of global sunflower oil exports, besides having numerous oil and gas reserves, and other natural riches that paired with economical, cultural, and political ties have made this country in particular an important target for Russia. Plus, Russia wants to recover the territory that was lost with the demise of the Soviet Union, and Ukraine is one territory which has had Russia’s eyes on for a long time. These are the main reasons why the current war is happening, and even though it is a conflict that has been lasting for years, it has intensified to the current date. 

 

Ways to help:

Looking at the situation the Ukranians are going through every day on the news and media, most of us can feel powerless without being able to find ways to help, but don’t worry, we can all help, even if it's just a little. Remember, one simple action can be the one that forms a big movement or change in our society. So one way you can help is by donating to foundations that are helping the Ukranians directly, below, you will find links to different campaigns. Also, you can help with simply being informed about the situation, and you can do this by going to trustworthy newspapers or media accounts such as BBC News, DW news, the Guardian, etc. 

In this link you will find a page where you will be informed of different organizations where you can donate: https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/ways-to-help-ukraine-conflict/

 

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