Lydia Glenn 

News Editor

lmg5921@psu.edu

On February 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an attack on Ukraine. 

Putin had been talking of invading Ukraine for several months now, with his first threat coming during the 2022 Winter Olympics. Then, last Thursday, he followed through with his plan of invading Ukraine. Putin sent forces into Ukraine across the north, south and east borders. 

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dymytro Kubela posted on social media that, “the world can and must stop Putin. The time to act is now.” Putin has told Ukrainian fighters and leaders to surrender several times, but there is no sign of surrender in sight. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been fighting alongside his citizens, protecting his country and his people. In a video from Zelensky on Friday he said, “We are here. We are in Kyiv. We are protecting Ukraine.” Zelensky imposed martial law and forbade men 18 to 60 to leave so they could be enlisted in the fight. He also handed out 70,000 AK-47 rifles to citizens so they could protect themselves. Radio stations were also broadcasting to citizens how to make Molotov cocktails. The 44-year-old President, who is the number one target, told the world he would never back down. 

As for the rest of the world, many countries stand behind Ukraine in their defense against Russia. 

President Joe Biden of the United States said, “President Putin has chosen a premeditated war that will bring a catastrophic loss of life and human suffering. Russia alone is responsible for the death and destruction this attack will bring, and the United States and its Allies and partners will respond in a united and decisive way. The world will hold Russia accountable.” 

European Union President Ursula von der Leyen vowed to “weaken Russia’s economic base and its capacity to modernize.” She continued, “We will freeze Russian assets in the European Union and stop the access of Russian banks to European financial markets.” 

The exact scale of the sanctions the European Union plans to place on Russia is unknown, but they confirm that they do plan to hold Russia financially accountable. 

NATO also spoke out on Putin’s attack on Ukraine. Jens Stolenberg who is the Secretary General at NATO said “In the coming days and weeks…we will further increase our presence in the eastern part of the alliance. We have already deployed thousands of troops. The most important thing for Poland and allies in the NATO alliance is that there is more NATO presence in the East.”

After bombing Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, Russian troops moved on to attacking Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv. The city of Kharkiv put up a strong fight against the Russian military. Unfortunately, Russian forces unleashed a barrage of multiple-launch rocket fire against residential neighborhoods in the city. Their attacks killed at least 10 civilians, including three children and their parents who were incinerated in a car struck by a Russian projectile. Attacks also injured at least 40 according to Kharkiv officials. Russian forces have also circled the southern city of Kherson, establishing checkpoints around it. Dmytro Zhyvytski, the regional governor for the city Akhtyrka reported to news sources that rocket launchers killed around 70 Ukrainian soldiers. 

Zelensky, in response to these attacks, announced the creation of a new International Legion of the Ukrainian army, along the lines of the International Brigades that helped defend the Spanish Republic in the 1930s. 

Many civilians have been trying to flee Ukraine as Russian troops make their way further into the country. People have been fleeing westward to the border of Poland, but due to the amount of people trying to leave, traffic is backed up. Many civilians abandoned their cars and took only a few belongings and their children across the border in freezing conditions. 

Poland’s border agency said that more than 281,000 people had crossed over from Ukraine, seeking shelter. 

Putin claims he invaded Ukraine in order to defend the Russian speakers in Ukraine in the two republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. These two republics broke away from Ukraine in 2014 and Putin called it “deNazification.” Political analysts see his statements about Ukraine being filled with Nazi’s as a way for him to try and establish that Ukraine’s is being puppeted by the West. Ukraine has vehemently denied Putin’s claims that they are forcibly trying to take the territory back or is somehow linked to neo-Nazism. 

Putin also still believes that Russia and Ukraine are one. Although Putin believes Ukraine is still rightly his to take back and rule over, Ukrainian civilians are no longer speaking Russian, and their government is not even similar to that of Russia’s. 

As of right now, the death and injured toll is unknown because of the ongoing invasion. Zelensky has maintained that Ukraines is always ready and willing to make peace, but if that is not what Russia wants, then they will continue to defend their country. 

In his most recent press conference, Zelensky states proudly, “When I planned to become a President, I said that each of us is the President. Because we are all responsible for our state. For our beautiful Ukraine. And now it has happened that each of us is a warrior…And I am confident that each of us will win. 

The Russian invasion continues on, and Zelensky continues to defend and fight for the people who elected him President.