Ukraine and Russia’s shared heritage goes back over a thousand years, to when Kyiv was at the center of the first Slavic state, also the birthplace of both countries. In the 1990s, Ukraine voted to leave the Soviet Union, and this was the beginning of the more recent tensions between Russia and Ukraine. After months of Russian troops patrolling Ukraine’s borders, Russia invaded Ukraine in the early hours of Thursday, February 24th. The war is in it’s fourth month. 

After months of Russian troops patrolling Ukraine’s borders, Russia invaded Ukraine in the early hours of Thursday, February 24th. This invasion consisted of attacks using shelling and rockets on various major cities, and the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv, this led to dozens of deaths. The fatal explosions occurred minutes after Vladmir Putin, Russia’s President, had declared a “special military operation”. Some of the Russian military entered from Belarus, located above Ukraine near their capital Kyiv, where they were stationed to “perform military exercises”. The Russian military also entered from Crimea, an area in which Russia had claimed as their own since 2014, even though it’s still located in southern Ukraine.

According to BBC News, over 14 million Ukrainians have fled there homes because of the war. Poland has taken more than 4 million of these refugees into their country. President Biden pledged another $40 Billion in assistance to Ukraine, with half of it going to Military Assistance; “The funding is intended to support Ukraine through September, and it dwarfs an earlier emergency measure that provided $13.6 billion.” according to CNBC News.

There is no end in sight to this war. As of this publishing, Russia is making progress in the east.  Stay up to date with NPR.org