On February 24th, President Vladimir Putin of Russia announced war against Ukraine and invaded. It left thousands of people all over the world shocked. Russia early that morning bombed various locations of Ukraine which included the their capital, Kyiv. Residents of Kyiv and other cities across Ukraine evacuated that day to avoid any serious danger. There were reports that Russian Troops had taken over the Antonov Airport which was 15 miles away from the capital. Most fled westward away from the Ukraine and Russian border.

Ukrainian troops were sent out to protect their country early on in the invasion due to Russia’s hostility. The Russian military and naval infantry made the decision to move towards the city. They established attack lines into three cities. The three cities were Kyiv which was in the north, Kharkiv in the northeast, and Kherson in the south. Ukrainians were sent to fight and hold all three attack lines. Kyiv received missile strikes in the northern district of the city and rockets cracked into some of the residential buildings. On Tuesday, March 1st, Russian Military airstrikes hit the Kyiv TV Tower which lead to at least 5 killed and 5 injured.

Tensions between Russia and Ukraine have been building up since World War 2. Many events from before the collapse of the Soviet Union eventually lead up to the recent invasion and war. The main reason of the conflict is Ukraine’s alliance, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, also known as NATO. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created by USA and Western European forces. NATO was an intergovernmental military alliance that was created to blockade the Soviet Union’s growing sphere of communist influence. All members apart of NATO are under protection because of a treaty they agreed to. It states that any attack on any of the members is considered an attack on all members.

Since the beginning of 1999, NATO has expanded and in 2020 they added 14 additional members which means there are currently 30 members. These members include Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, The United Kingdom, and The United States. Ukraine has voiced their thought of joining the alliance. During a 2021 NATO conference, the members have also talked about having Ukraine. President Putin felt angry about this thought. A peninsula close to both Ukraine and Russia hold Russia’s Naval base. If Ukraine joined NATO, Ukraine would have enough resources to take their Naval base.

Following on these events, Russia’s President has threatened to turn the Ukraine war into broader nuclear conflict. He put nuclear forces on alert and directed the Russian defense minister and the chief of the military’s general staff to put nuclear forces in a “special regime of combat duty.” Nuclear weapons are ready to launch when directed to. Putin put nuclear forces on alert because of some leading NATO powers making “aggressive statements” towards their country. “Western Countries aren’t only taking unfriendly actions against our country in the economic sphere, but top officials from leading NATO members made aggressive statements regarding our country,” Putin stated in televised comments, according to PBS NewsHour. United States’ President Joe Biden struggles to decide whether it is right to put the countries nuclear forces on alert. There may be the consideration of supplying critical air defense to NATO allies in Eastern Europe.

On Wednesday March 2nd 2022, satellite images were taken of places that were damaged in Ukraine. Homes in the village of Rivnopillya in the Chernhiv region were on fire from military strikes that hit them. A bridge across the Stryzhen River were also destroyed. In Sukachi, a small town which is 70 kilometers (about 43.5 miles) northwest of Kyiv, a large impact crater was seen in the middle of a roadway. The houses nearby appeared to be significantly damaged.

March 2nd 2022 marked 1 million refugees that fled Ukraine in a week since the invasion. “In just seven days we have witnessed the exodus of one million refugees from Ukraine to neighboring countries,” the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said in a tweet.

On Sunday March 6th 2022, Russian forces attacked evacuation routes. A suburb that lies northwest of Kyiv was hit by a Russian military trike. A family with two kids and several other civilians trying to flee the Russian Invasion.

On Monday March 7th 2022, the U.K. Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, announces $230 million (175 million pounds) in the aid for Ukraine. “This is the moment for ‘Ukraine’s friends to create a coalition of humanitarian, economic, and defensive military support to ensure that Putin fails in this catastrophic invasion,'” Johnson said while speaking during a joint news conference with his Dutch and Canadian counterparts in London according to CNN.

On Tuesday March 8th 2022, Russia declared a ceasefire to Civilian Evacuations. They intensified their attacks across Ukraine. Their attacks moved to Ukraine’s capital Kyiv while killing dozens are civilians and disrupting evacuation efforts.