If you google “News on Ukraine” you get live updates with articles written as recent as 13 minutes ago. Yet when you go to the New York Times top news, you have to scroll down to the bottom of the “top news feed” to find any information on the war. But it’s important to remember that even though the news about the crisis is a major topic right now, there’s a lack of representation as featured news. 

In case you haven’t seen the news, here is the basic information. On Thursday, February 24th  2022, Russia started to invade Ukraine. This prompted what is now known as the Russo-Ukraine war. While Russia originally anticipated that the war would only last a few weeks, it has been six months since it began. Russia currently occupies areas in the west such as Kherson, Mariubol, and Luhansk. Kharkiv is currently being bombed daily. 

One of the main questions people ask when something unfair happens is “why?”. Why would Russia invade Ukraine? Because they want power or thought it would be easy or to build back the USSR? It is safe to say that some of the government figures in Russia have continued to harbor resentment towards Ukraine and its independence. Furthermore, they claim that it was to ensure Ukraine’s neutral status.

But neither of these seem to really be legitimate reasons to go to war, especially one that seemingly no one expected. 

This statement has been proven false. Not only is Russia taking what they are doing to the Ukrainian country and people to the extreme, but they are now “showing” all other countries that they “need” Russia to survive. 

The Russian government has cut off gas to most of Europe. Russia is the world’s largest wheat producer and with Ukraine in third place, so without both of these nations providing wheat, there may be a food shortage for some poorer countries. Russia is a significant part of China’s trade balance and China is a critical trading partner with countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. 

One of the most important things to remember is that it’s not too late. There are still ways to support both Ukraine, but also your peers who may be affected by this crisis. To learn more about the situation and how to support Ukraine, connect with the resources listed below.

To help the country: https://supportukrainenow.org/

To help the children: https://voices.org.ua/en/

Medical aid: https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/what-we-do/where-we-work/ukraine