Russian Invasion in Ukraine: What do we know so far
Since February 2014, Russia (along with Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine have been at odds in the Russo-Ukrainian War, also known as the Russia-Ukraine War. Following the Ukrainian Revolution of Dignity, Russia annexed Crimea and aided pro-Russian rebels in their conflict with Ukrainian government forces in the Donbas. During the first eight years of the conflict, there were also naval incidents, cyberattacks, and an uptick in political tensions. Russian military buildup near Ukraine's border caused bilateral tensions to increase throughout 2021, and on 24 February 2022, the conflict saw a major escalation as Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The invasion is ongoing right now:
Here are some updates on Russia Ukraine War Right Now, based on Reuters ( 8 November 2022)
- Deaths: At least 38,000 people
- Non-fatal injuries: At least 53,616 people
- Displaced: Approximately 14M people
- Buildings destroyed: At least 140,000
- Property damage: Approximately $350B
Some critical issues are affecting Russia and Ukraine Issues worldwide: (we will talk briefly in the next blog)
- World Politics, superpower: World politics are significantly affected by the Russia-Ukraine war. There has been a psychological cold war of being a superpower in the world geopolitical issues were extensively displayed in this war. Russia Ukraine war is not just a war between two countries, it’s a matter of so many countries.
- Tiktok War: Russia Ukraine war is also called the First Tiktok war or information war. Millions of misinformation, disinformation, and fake news are circulated intentionally or unintentionally during this war. Sometimes that information is also distributed by the government.
- Economic Crisis, Sanctions: Following the Russian annexation of Crimea, which started in late February 2014, international sanctions were put in place against Russia and Crimea at the start of the Russo-Ukrainian War by a large number of nations, including the United States, Canada, the European Union, and international organizations. Belarus has also been subject to sanctions because of its support and cooperation with the Russian military. Sanctions were put in place against people, organizations, and government representatives from Russia and Ukraine.
In retaliation, Russia imposed sanctions on a number of nations, including a complete ban on food imports from the EU, Australia, Canada, Japan, the United States, and Norway. The sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States are still in place as of April 2022. The EU announced the most recent extension of the sanctions until July 31, 2022, in January 2022. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, sanctions against Vladimir Putin and other government officials were enacted or significantly increased by the US, the EU, and other nations. Additionally, they disconnected a few Russian banks from SWIFT. The 2022 Russian financial crisis was brought on by the boycott of Belarus and Russia.
To be continued:
Information collected from Wikipedia, CNN, Reuters, Al Jazeera, BBC
Feature Image: @Yale Alumni Association