In recent weeks tension between Ukraine and Russia has led to fear, confusion, and even memes. However, not many understand the magnitude of the conflict and its effect on innocent people. Let’s break down the Ukraine-Russia conflict in simple terms:

To gain an understanding of the conflict, we must look back to the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. When Ukraine gained its independence in 1991, its people aimed for closer ties with the West, NATO and European Union membership, and a pursuit of democracy.

Fast forward to 2014, the Ukrainians were angry with former president Viktor Yanukovych, who rejected economic deals with the EU in favor of keeping allegiance to Russia. Long story short, the Ukrainian people rebelled against Yanukovych and installed anti-Russian- influence leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Putin quickly responded with the annexation of Crimea and military backing of separatist groups in Eastern Ukraine. With many Eastern Ukrainians identifying culturally closer to Russians, many choose to support Russia and even fight for them. This led to Ukrainian on Ukrainian violence, with many people attacking people they were friendly with a short while before.As violence continued, Germany and France formed a peace agreement in 2015 with efforts to stop large-scale battles.
That brings us to today. For the past few months, both sides have accused one another of violating the agreement. With an estimated 100,000 Russian troops on the border between the two nations and many more performing military drills on the northern border of Ukraine and Belarus, tensions have come to an all-time high.

Russia has since then criticized the U.S. and its allies for supporting Ukraine with weapons and other supplies. Russia has also been concerned with the creation of NATO nations’ military bases in Ukraine, seeing it as an act of aggression. Furthermore, Putin claims that Ukraine had unfairly received Russian lands after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Ever since the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia has always seen Ukraine as part of “Greater Russia” and has always tried to keep Ukraine in its sphere of influence. Therefore, Putin and Russia have made it clear that Ukraine can never join NATO. Additionally, Russia seeks legal guarantees that the U.S. and its allies stop moving further east of Ukraine.

In response to Russia’s actions, President Biden has ordered 8,500 troops on alert for potential deployment. NATO has also shown strong disapproval of Putin’s demand that Ukraine should never join NATO, and has proposed activating the NATO response force: a multinational army of 40,000 troops.

Though using military force is certainly an option, most nations have restrained themselves to economic sanctions instead. President Biden has proposed the idea of shutting down the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline project if Russia were to invade. The project is a pipeline being built in the Baltic sea which delivers natural gas from Russia to Germany and the rest of Europe. Shutting down the pipeline would be a huge hit for the Russian economy as the natural gas industry is the foundation of its economy. Plus, taking away Russia’s pipeline would also strip them of their leverage on European nations.

But the idea of shutting down the pipeline would severely affect the rest of Europe, which is dependent on Russian natural gas. That leads to another proposition of removing Russia from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (aka. SWIFT), a financial service that connects financial institutions around the world and allows for easy transfer of money. The NY Times describes Russia’s removal from SWIFT as a “nuclear option” and for good reason. Putin’s regime is only intact because of the support he has from the social elite in Russia. If Russia were to be removed from the financial service, it would result in anger from the elite class and perhaps the demise of Putin.

It’s easy to get caught up in the facts about SWIFT “blah blah blah” and NATO “blah blah blah”. The truth is, real people will be hurt by this situation. In the Donbas region where much of the fighting has occurred, women and children have been evacuated and taken to Russia for safety. Since the fighting started in 2014, 14,000 people have been killed and that number only seems to rise due to the impending invasion. Wayne Hills student and Ukrainian-American, Mik Kochanowsky are one of the many who is “concerned for my family and friends in Ukraine. If Russia would stop being so annoying we would have less a headache and more peace”.