Via Inews
On the 21st of February, tensions stirred on the border as Russia claims five Ukrainian soldiers were killed during a failed breach attempt by Ukraine. However, Ukraine denied all such claims, stating that no forces were situated at the time of the "incident"
There had always been tensions between Russia and Ukraine (a former Soviet republic), however, the situation started becoming uncontrollable in early 2021 when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged US President Joe Biden to let Ukraine join NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). However, Russia didn’t seem to take this well. They started sending troops near the Ukraine border for “training exercises”, in the spring of last year and increased it during autumn. In addition to this, Russia demanded that the West give a legally binding guarantee that NATO will not have any military activity in Eastern Europe and Ukraine.
The tensions between Russia and Ukraine were on the brink of collapse, however, it was not the first time this had happened. Russia had invaded Ukraine before in 2014, charring the thin relationship between them. Ukraine and Russia had also signed the Minsk Peace Accord, to put an end to the armed conflict in East Ukraine. As the tensions continued to rise, the repercussions on the EU have caused them to join the US in announcing sanctions against Russian entities.
But this was only the start. On the 23rd of February, Putin requested Ukraine to lay down its arms as Russia never intended to enter Ukraine. Not too soon after, Russia followed up with an attack on Ukrainian cities- the motives being to, "demilitarize and denazify Ukraine". Missiles were launched, hitting military control centers and explosions could be heard from Ukraine's capital, Kyiv. Around 40 Ukrainian soldiers and 10 civilians were killed. Ukraine has called upon willing citizens to pick up arms to aid in pushing back against Russia's forces, burning the already charred relationship between the two countries.
In response to the sudden developments, NATO and other countries have begun to take action. Central Europeans have started preparing to welcome refugees from Ukraine and the European Union plans to freeze Russian assets and cut off their banks' access to the European financial market The president of the USA, Joe Biden, has promised to deliver severe punishment in accordance with Russia's, "premeditated war".