The Ripple Effect: Ukraine

On February 24th, 2022 Russia launched a full scale invasion of Ukraine, forcing families to split in search of refuge from the fighting. Now almost two years later, the conflict continues and the effects of this war have been felt all over the world. 

Many citizens of Ukraine have been displaced to other countries and some of them have even come to Central New York to seek safety in these perilous times. Many students from Liverpool have family that live in Ukraine and worry deeply everyday for them. Mariya Orisyuk is a senior at Liverpool High School, whose family is from Ukraine. “What I can say is that for myself that the first few days of school after spring break when the full blown invasion started were really tough, because there was that uncertainty of ‘Oh God, are they going to bomb everyone?’ and the anxiety that led around seeing literally any plane or hearing anything fly over head.” Orisyuk remarked.

The toll that this war has taken on not only Ukraine, but the whole world itself is excruciatingly apparent as you begin to understand how its arms of terror reach around the world. Leaving people on the other side of the planet fearing for family and themselves as other countries verge closer to war everyday. Students in the U.S. such as Orisyuk feel that “...the waiting period of trying to get ahold of family over Skype to see if they're alive and well” is particularly anxiety inducing.

When the invasion first started, Russian military strategists assumed that the takeover would be swift and without resistance. However, the Ukrainians fought hard and withheld the Russian forces to Russia's dismay. Due to this fact, many people worry that Russia could use a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine if the fighting continues to favor the Ukrainian military. This would carry heavy consequences as the use of nuclear weapons has been heavily scrutinized since their creation and wield a power like no other.

The United States and NATO countries continue to supply Ukraine with relief packages and weapons as the terror continues. This has caused the tensions of the Eastern and Western worlds to divide even farther, as Russian leader Vladimir Putin has been seen visiting with many of NATO’s adversaries in the last year. Most of these meetings have led to harm towards the United States as oil prices rise and inflation soars.

The world waits to see what will develop next out of Eastern Europe as the fighting perils on. “Even now I still get the anxiety and a bit paranoid when seeing something on the news about Putin,” said Orisyuk. With both sides reluctant  to work towards a resolution for the conflict, there seems to be no end in sight for this war of terror.