On February 24, Russia launched an invasion on Ukraine to expand and re-realize its status as a superpower before the collapse of the Soviet Union. Tanks and troops rolled into Ukraine as world leaders began to take action in order to de-escalate and end the conflict. Currently the war is in full force as Russian soldiers battle Ukraine, creating one of the most disastrous diplomatic and humanitarian crises in the 21st Century.

The invasion of Ukraine was not entirely unexpected. After WW2, the Soviet Union was composed of numerous countries, the most significant being Russia, and a series of satellite states to serve as communist alliances against the capitalist west. When the Berlin Wall and communism itself fell during the late 1980s, the USSR collapsed, and Russia relinquished its superpower status alongside millions of miles of territory.

“There is still tension between Russia and nations that have been part of the Soviet Union, and Ukraine borders Russia,” said social studies department chair Adrijana Bisevac. “Putin has been in power for 22 years, and one of the things he talks a lot about is kind of restoring the glory and superpower days that had been the Soviet Union. What was almost like a tipping point is two provinces in Eastern Ukraine which have heavy Russian populations, and there has been fighting going on for the last eight years. You have Putin arguing that those provinces want to break away and should be part of Russia and then Ukraine, on top of that, wanting to join NATO, also really serves as a catalyst.”

This is not the first time Russia has attempted expansion after the Cold War. In 2014, Russian president Vladamir Putin had annexed Crimea, another country that was originally a part of the Soviet Union. However, the situation in Ukraine has received exponentially more push back as the majority of countries around the world morally condemned and placed economic sanctions on Russia. But that raises the question: will forcing Russia into submission escalate or deescalate the situation?

“Crimea was taken by Russia, and we did not do anything,” said history teacher Scott Ewen. “The outside pressures and sanctions might be the thing that makes life unlivable in the average everyday Russia to where they want to overthrow their leader.”

Specifically in Russia, a fallacy is that there is overwhelming support for the invasion of Ukraine that reflects the views of all the citizens. The desire for expansion is primarily fueled by the government and Putin himself, and although many citizens do support the invasion, it is important to remember that it does not reflect each and every individual Russian.
“I believe that in some respects there is cruelty with sanctions,” said senior Viktoriia Rybakova. “Because not all Russians approve of Putin’s cruelty towards Ukraine. Many are also for peace; they do not want this.”

Rybakova had moved from Ukraine to the United States last year. And as she stated, it is truly difficult to witness real Russian public opinion because Russian media is state sponsored or censored. But in major cities, numerous people oppose the war and are condemning Putin for the invasion. Many athletes and players are also speaking up about the humanitarian crisis.

“It’s interesting because Russia is a very large country. There are millions and millions of people, and what you are seeing again via social media, that’s where people are seeing Russian opposition to, like the protests that were happening in St.Petersburg and Moscow and were taking in some cases hundreds of thousands of people who collectively have protested against Russia’s involvement of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. People are sending petitions. Russian athletes are speaking out. Medvedev and Rublev have been speaking out saying they do not want war,” Bisevac said.
The reasons why these protests have been so popular and so effective is the increasing use of social media. The humanitarian crisis, the troops, and everything that is happening in Ukraine is available to every user, alerting society of the current issues.

“One of the things that I personally see in comparison to things that happened historically or just during my lifetime is what kind of a role that social media is playing in this and how people are able to now see in real time almost how this is unfolding, and you have individuals who are in Ukraine who are experiencing this and capturing footage and are kind of able to disseminate that. And it’s reaching globally, so you are seeing a war and an invasion and humanitarian crisis, all of this literally unfolding in real time for the whole world to see,” Bisevac said.

One of the main reasons tje international response has been so effective is the quick and efficient consolidation of the Western nations, specifically ones part of NATO. Economic sanctions were quickly placed. And in the United Nations, a vote was held to morally condemn Russia in which the vast majority of the world clearly demonstrated their disagreement with Russian invasion. At the UN, when the Russian delegate got up to speak, everyone else had left, condemning Russia but at the same time completely ignoring their case despite its validity.

“That we have stopped listening to each other, which is where it becomes a problem, and because Putin didn’t expect the West to come together,” said science teacher Joseph Rogalski. “He’s backed into a corner. That is when you lash out because you got this huge attack dog with nuclear weapons backed into a corner.”

As a result of this tension and fighting, a side effect has been one of the largest humanitarian crises in history. According to The New York Times, at least two and a half million Ukraine citizens were forced to flee from their homes to more developed nations. More so, sources suggest over 700 have been murdered with more than 50 of them being children. It is difficult to be in the position of someone fearing for their life, and in the current situation in Ukraine, that fear has been realized for everyone.

“Half a year or a year ago, I heard that Russia had put its tanks, military equipment near the border with Ukraine, but I didn’t want to believe it. I didn’t want to admit until the very end that there would be a war,” Rybakova said. “And on February 24, Russia invaded my country. His first target was my city of Kherson, because it was located two hours from the Crimea, which Putin annexed. The first hours after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I walked like a ghost. I didn’t want to believe it. I can’t be near my family, and I can’t help them with anything.”

To provide aid, there is a drive at Grayslake North for people in Ukraine. People can donate non-perishables outside the athletic office. Meest-Karpaty is another way to assist. Recommended by Rybakova, it is a Ukrainian based group that packs and delivers materials to assist soldiers in Ukraine.