Ukraine has pulled ahead and reclaimed more territory from Russia. Since the Russian-Ukraine invasion started in February 2022, Ukraine has made a large amount of progress in taking back some of its previously taken territories. Ukrainian troops have gotten ahead of Russia, inflicting a blow on Moscow’s military prestige by taking back control of Vovchansk, which was seized by Russia on the first day of the invasion. Vovchansk is only 2 miles away from Russia making it an easy target for the Russians, however, Ukraine has pushed back and is now progressing into Russian territory.

The conflict between Ukraine and Russia started in 2014 following Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Tensions between the two countries had been building for many years since this annexation. Russia had a stalemate on the Ukraine border in 2014, and in 2015, France, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine attempted, unsuccessfully, to negotiate the end of the violence between the two nations. In October 2021, an intelligence gathering discovered Russia preparing troops which caused the White House to call a debriefing with diplomatic leaders on a potential invasion of Ukraine from Russia. On February 24, 2022, Russian forces invaded an unprepared Ukraine.

This large victory for Ukraine has made big news, catching the attention of people who haven’t heard anything about it since the beginning of the invasion earlier this year.

Matian Banusi, a sophomore at Wayne Hills, stated, “I don’t know much about the war at the moment, I haven’t heard much about it since history class last year. I think Ukraine might be capable of winning because NATO is standing with them and they did regain more land recently.”

Many people believed at the beginning of this war that Russia would have an advantage over Ukraine because of its extensive military power. However, Ukraine has persevered and reminded the world of how strong a united community can make a nation.