The world watched as two countries once tied together by the Soviet Union, Russia and Ukraine, reached the pinnacle of a decades-long conflict. While this invasion may seem sudden to those influenced by the privileges of Western society, Eastern Europe could have predicted an invasion of this scale for decades. The bombings, the heartbreak, the terror, and Vladimir Putin’s relentless aggression have only intensified over the course of this annexation. To say that Ukrainians are currently living in a war zone would be an understatement. How did this democratic country that lived in relative peace for so many years become such a pit of violence in mere days? The story begins on December 1st, 1991 when Ukraine gains its sovereignty shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union. 

The years following Ukraine’s acquisition of independence are ones characterized by interim peace that would soon be a distant memory. A pinnacle event in the Russia-Ukraine timeline is the signing of the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances in 1994. The document, also signed by the United States and the United Kingdom, solidified Ukraine’s transfer of all nuclear weapons from the Cold War to the Russian Federation. Attached to this contract were the promise of peace and the universal laying down of nuclear arms. While this agreement may have been the best stride toward world peace for NATO allies (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), Ukraine was essentially left unprotected and forced to submit a large fraction of its military power to Russia. In April of 2008, Putin strove to further strengthen his influence over Ukraine by expressing his disapproval of the country’s NATO appeal. He even went on record to state “Ukraine is not even a real nation-state” to United States President George W. Bush, and subsequently, NATO did not offer Ukraine membership in order to tame Putin’s aggression. The next six years in Ukraine were characterized by political unrest and violent riots resulting in fatalities in the name of a new, controversial regime. These uprisings culminated with Russia’s seizing of Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula, in 2014. The annexation was followed by international outrage, which political scientists have come to identify as the official beginning of the Russo-Ukraine war. Eight years later, Ukraine is suffering unimaginable abuse at the hands of a corrupt world ruler. After demanding that Ukraine never be admitted to NATO, Putin sent in troops to the border of Ukraine after recognizing that these territories have become sovereign of the country under the leadership of pro-Russia terrorists. Within days, Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine by sending air raids targeted towards the nation’s capital Kyiv. President Zelensky declared martial law in Ukraine, which is the suspension of civil law in a country in response to an emergency, forcing over forty million Ukrainian citizens into bomb shelter hibernation and fear. 

Weeks have passed since the start of this attack on Ukraine and there are no signs that point to the end of Putin’s abuse. The world has already watched haunting scenes unfold in Ukraine. Journalists have captured stories of children hiding in bomb bunkers, nurses creating makeshift underground hospitals for newborn babies, and maternity wards being bombed. The terror is relentless and Putin has not expressed interest in a ceasefire even after over two thousand casualties and 6.5 million people displaced from a war-ridden Ukraine. World peace is currently on the rocks as Putin’s aggression heightens in the age of nuclear warfare. Although NATO countries have condemned the actions of Vladimir Putin, there has not been much wartime aid taking place apart from sanctions on the Russian economy. What will happen when Putin sends his troops to invade a NATO country such as Latvia or Estonia? The globe as a whole could be looking at a third world war, which is fearfully not so outlandish to propose given the striking parallels drawn between this conflict and the start of World War II. 

A beacon of light amongst this tragedy is the acts of mercy that Ukrainians and citizens of neighboring countries have shown to people in distress. There are unforeseen parallels that can be drawn between this crisis and women's empowerment. Ukrainian men aged eighteen to sixty are banned from fleeing the country for militaristic reasons, therefore women are forced to say goodbye to their husbands and evacuate with children without many personal belongings or the comfort of knowing when they will be safe again. This narrative has grimly followed one Ukrainian mother in her survival and desperate attempts at keeping her children safe. Vika Kurilenko was accompanying her five-year-old daughter at a dentist appointment when the explosions began. Overcome with fear, the mother and daughter combed through the black smoke and air raids to arrive home with the rest of the family. After days of barricading in their house, Vika evacuated the country with her children and left her husband behind to fight. This story is strikingly similar to those of several Ukrainian mothers who have been forced to leave the comfort of their homes. This displacement of Ukrainian women throughout Eastern Europe has caused an outcry for support, to which Polish women have responded. More than one million Ukrainian refugees have arrived in Poland, most of whom are mothers and children without clothing or supplies. Polish mothers are playing their part in combatting this crisis by leaving strollers filled with blankets and baby necessities at the railroad stations where these refugees are pouring in. In wartime, it is difficult to comprehend the impact that this small gesture could have on these women who have fled their country with nothing but the clothes on their backs and children in their arms. It is small steps of this nature, in a time of crisis, that creates the roadmap for humanity to succeed when all signs point to its failure. 

War is unpredictable. It inflicts suffering on the innocent and there is no positive outcome for anyone except the corrupt leaders who instigate it. It is terrifying to imagine surviving in such unpredictability. When one day you are driving your daughter to her dentist appointment and the next you are holding her hand and wiping the tears from her cheek in a bomb shelter. It is absolutely pivotal to stand in solidarity with Ukraine and their right to live as a peaceful nation, free of oppression.