Recap:

• In February and March of 2014 Russia invaded Ukraine and annexed the Crimean Peninsula, conflicts arose but both countries signed Minsk ll, an agreement that settled the dispute. Until on February 24, 2022, Russia initiated a full scale attack, nicknamed a “special military operation,” on Ukraine. This “operation” was announced to try and “demilitarize and denazify” Ukraine. Just minutes after this announcement, Russia launched several missiles and airstrikes into Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, the capitol, and Kharkiv. Since then, over three and a half thousand missiles have been released into Ukraine by Russia.

What’s New?:

• With no end in sight, Russia is still pursuing Ukraine with full force. Ukraine has put up a strong defense against Russia, with Ukrainians holding on to their capital of Kyiv. As of September 11, Ukraine has retaken over 6,000 km of land, including two of Russia’s key hubs Izyum and Kupiansk. Russian soldiers have shown many weaknesses as of late, feeling “demoralized and degraded” with Ukraine feeling optimistic stating that all they need to do is “drive the enemy out.”
• As of September 8th, 2022, the United States has authorized 20 military drawdowns. The latest of these included $675 million of additional munitions, equipment, and arms for Ukraine. The President also informed Congress of an intent to add $2.2 billion of long-term investments in order to build up security for Ukraine and 17 neighboring countries. With the addition of these $2.8 billion of proposals, this brings the total amount of U.S investments to $15.2 billion for the Biden Administration. 
• In the midst of this war, Vladimir Putin has been questioned for many war crimes including targeting the civilians of Ukraine, along with his unjust and unprovoked action of war. As of right now more than 5,500 Ukrainian civilians have been killed in the hands of Putin. Convicting Putin and Russia will be very difficult however. Russia has the ability to veto any chance at a tribunal case, making conviction very hard. 

What’s Next?

• Ukraine is hoping to drive Russia completely out. If not, the conflict could last for a long time. Contrary, if Russia succeeds in capturing Zelensky, then Russia will have the opportunity to capture Ukraine as a whole. This is due to experts believing that if Zelensky gets captured, Ukrainians will start to lose hope. And if they start to lose hope, it will be much easier for Russia to take over control of Ukraine. The question is, will Russia settle with Ukraine, or will they take more?