Read another Fieldston News article about Ukraine:
On Thursday, February 24, 2022, at 5:00 am Eastern European Time, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” in eastern Ukraine. After the announcement was made, minutes later, missiles struck the Ukrainian capital city, Kyiv.
Currently, the Ukrainian borders are surrounded by Russian and Belarussian troops making it practically impossible to flee. And yet, refugees, mainly women and children, are fleeing into Poland. Ukraine has been assaulted by amphibious landings in the south, armored attacks from the north and east, as well as airborne assaults in multiple locations. In the cities, families are running to subway stations and apartment house basements as bomb shelters against the missiles and attacks made in big cities and residential areas. Men who are between the ages of 18-60 are eligible to fight, meaning they are not permitted to leave.
Russian troops have bombarded, approached or entered several major cities destroying homes, airports and populated areas. The Ukrainian military is far outmanned, outgunned and outnumbered when compared to one of the strongest military forces in the world. And yet, the Russian assault has not been wholly successful. Resistance has been stronger than anticipated. Russian military casualties have been high. Fighting an intense battle, Ukrainians continue to keep control of their capital and other cities around the country.
This war between Russia and Ukraine has been the hottest topic in this past week’s headlines and in Fieldston’s hallways. People from all around the world are having concerns about how this would affect them or rather how to be safe in this time of crisis. How does this affect the United States? How will it affect New York? Will this eventually lead to World War III? Will this get bloodier? All of these questions and concerns are real—-answers to them are not predictable and must be taken into serious consideration.
With stiff resistance to the Russians has grown an increasingly strong international condemnation and the application of sanctions against Russia. Putin expected capitulation or vacillation. Instead, there was international condemnation. The rippling effects of those sanctions are having a deleterious impact on the Russian economy. Ordinary citizens are feeling the pinch as they run to the cash machines to pull out their savings. Interestingly enough, there is growing opposition to the war in the streets of Moscow. That opposition is also being attacked by internal security forces.
The United States is not allowed to directly help Ukrainian resist Russian forces but they, as well as other countries, such as the United Kingdom, have sent weapons, like surface-to-air Javelin missiles and “tank killer” shoulder-launched rockets. The President of the United States, Joe Biden, decided that the U.S. military, “boots on the ground,” not engage with the Russian troops, and instead chose what the administration has called “swift and severe” economic sanctions in order to help Ukraine fight off the invasions. Prior to Putin’s invasion, Biden made a statement to the nation on Tuesday, announcing that he had authorized U.S. forces and equipment to be stationed and sent to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. It was the last military decision by the United States before the conflict between Russia and Ukraine escalated.
A key element in this war centers around the fact that Ukraine has been drifting increasingly towards “the west” and towards “democracy” over the years. It is not a part of NATO (The North Atlantic Treaty Organization) which was created in the early days of “The Cold War” as a Western European bulwark against The Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies. Since the collapse of The Soviet Union in 1991, Russian policymakers have feared the “drift west” of its former “satellite nations.” The possibility that Ukraine would become a member state of NATO became a bone of contention for Moscow. Russia, specifically Putin, wants Ukraine to be a part of Russia again and is determined to deter Ukraine from joining NATO and wants to steer Ukraine away from Western influence.
Biden, in a recent speech to the nation, said that U.S. troop movements in the region are only temporary and defensive and are by no means an indicator that the United States will participate in the war with Russia. Biden stated on Tuesday, “These are totally defensive moves on our part. We have no intention of fighting Russia.” On Thursday Biden publicized a new round of serious sanctions against Russia and Putin after a meeting with the national security official and world leaders. It seems as if each day involves a “ratcheting up” of pressures.
Ever since the fall of the Soviet Union, which Ukraine was a part of, both countries have feuded. On multiple occasions, Russia has meddled with Ukrainian politics, seeking politicians more openly sympathetic to Moscow. In recent interviews circulating before the war, Putin claimed that the purpose of the attack was to protect and defend Russian speakers living in Ukraine, especially those in those “breakaway” sections of eastern Ukraine, now being referred to as the independent republics of Donetsk and Luhansk.
In high rhetorical excess, Putin called for “the demilitarization and de-Nazification” of Ukraine. He has decried “genocide against Russians.” But there has been no genocide against Russians in Ukraine. The last genocide in Ukraine was the Nazi-directed “final solution” against the Jewish population. That genocide followed a Stalin directed genocide against Ukrainians, the “holodomor” of the 1930s where millions were starved to death or executed because they were enemies of the communist state.
In 2014-15 Putin moved against Crimea. The claim was, historically, it belonged to Russia. Then he moved against the eastern provinces of Ukraine. Historically, they belonged to Russia. In late 2021, Russia transferred a large number of troops close to Ukraine’s border but denied any attack would ever happen. Now in 2022, Putin has disobeyed the 2015 peace deal for the east and is waging war.
Ukraine is part of a steady power grab made by Putin to reabsorb regions of the old Soviet Union that became independent republics. The Russians have annexed Georgia. They have absorbed Belarus. They are attacking Ukraine. They will then move against Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
In addition to Putin’s announcement of invasion, he accused NATO of threatening Russia’s “historic future as a nation.”
Russian troops launched an attack on Thursday in Ukraine that began with explosions before sunrise in the capital Kyiv and other smaller cities. Russia’s intent was to quickly destroy the state. As the Russian attack slowed or stalled Putin raised the stakes by saying he was moving missiles to Russia’s western borders in anticipation of a NATO nuclear strike. Another lie within a pantheon of lies.
The concern of World War III has been spirling ever since the first attack, including anxiety from us Americans. In a national interview, Putin warned other countries that if they tried to interfere in this conflict it would “lead to consequences you have never seen in history” raising the question of another world war. As of now, this conflict is between Russia and Ukraine not yet making it an official world war nonetheless, the West, as well as other European countries, have been providing resources and backup for Ukraine as they are outmatched.
NATO defensive alliances had made it clear that they have no intention to send combat troops to Ukraine itself rather offer advisers, weapons and field hospitals. The West is doing its part to cut ties with Russia by cutting off key Russian banks from the international Swift payment network which allows fast and smooth transfers of money across borders. Airspace and the right to land in Europe have been denied to Russian airlines. Western banks are now seizing Putin’s personal overseas fortune dispersed around the globe.
According to USA Today, the U.S. doesn’t heavily depend on Russia for any major imports and exports but the invasion could cause “increases in global energy prices or exacerbate global supply shortages” confirmed by central bankers in a recent meeting. Russia’s invasion would also delay normalcy after a two-year-long pandemic and Covid restrictions. Even though the U.S. imports only a small portion of Russian oil, the oil price changes will impact the United States if changed in one part of the world, stated by the Wall Street Journal. The Biden Administration assures that they are “taking active steps to bring down the cost, and American oil and gas companies should not exploit this moment to hike their prices to raise profits,” reported by USA Today on Thursday in a Biden interview. In addition, Biden assured his citizens that his administration is using “every tool at its disposal to protect American families and business from rising prices at the gas pump.”
As an American citizen of both Russian and Ukrainian descent, there have been many worries about this war, particularly affecting my home, New York. I’ve also been worried about members of my family living in Ukraine and in Russia.
Governor Hochul of New York has been in close contact with the White House and Homeland Security, saying that a cyberattack could tremendously alter the New York infrastructure. In a recent statement made by Hochul, reported by Daily News, she stated, “The reality is that because New York State is a leader in the finance, health care, energy and transportation sectors, our state is an attractive target for cybercriminals and foreign adversaries.”
Mayor Adams, who has also been in contact with the governor about security threats these past few days, includes that a serious cyberattack could freeze fundamental systems such as water and electricity.
There have been protests in Times Square with hundreds of people demonstrating for Ukraine and protesting against Putin.
Make no mistake about it: This is an aggressive war and it could get bloodier. It is the largest land war in Europe since World War Two. It might be the bloodiest civil war in Europe since the collapse, in the 1990s, of the former Yugoslavia into Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro and Bosnia. The situation remains highly fluid and highly unstable.
Sources worth consulting:
Balk, Tim. “As the Prospect of War Looms Over Europe, N.Y. Officials Assess Local Cyberthreat.” NY Daily News. Last modified February 21, 2022. Accessed February 27, 2022. https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/new-york-elections-government/ny-ukraine-nyc-cyber-security-russia-threat-20220221-3riovx4uk5e4fdtmhqoxeo6zgm-story.html.
Kirby, Paul. “Why is Russia Invading Ukraine and What Does Putin Want?” BBC News. Last modified February 27, 2022. Accessed February 27, 2022. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56720589.
Miranda, Gabriela. “Why is Russia invading Ukraine? Could it be the Start of WWIII? Here’s What We Know.” USA Today. Last modified February 24, 2022. Accessed February 27, 2022. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2022/02/24/russian-invasion-ukraine-questions-explained/6921368001/.
The New York Times, ed. “Ukrainian. Fighters Battle to Hold Kyiv.” The New York Times. Last modified February 25, 2022. Accessed February 27, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/02/25/world/russia-ukraine-war.
Rouan, Rick. “Will the US Help Ukraine in War vs Russia? American Troops Bolster NATO in Europe.” USA Today. Last modified February 24, 2022. Accessed February 27, 2022. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/02/24/us-military-troops-ukraine-europe/6921612001/.
