On the morning of Feb. 24 2022, thousands of Ukrainians began fleeing major cities after multiple airstrikes were heard throughout the night. Yesterday evening, Putin officially declared the start of his “special military operation” at the same time as the emergency United Nations meeting. During this meeting, happening thousands of miles away in New York, nations pleaded with Russia to stop the violence. At the same time as this meeting, Russia’s first airstrike commenced after Putin’s declaration.

A detrimental and deadly war is becoming a very real possibility for citizens all over the world. Russian tanks have been verified to be seen going into Ukraine and Russian soldiers have been unleashed from multiple directions from the border. “This is a time of uncertainty”, Jennifer Nguyen, a Orono High School student states, “I know that more than likely America will become involved but there is nervousness in the air.”

Currently, in the United States, President Biden in the next coming days will be addressing the nation on the current situation and our next move as a country. The U.N. will also be holding a meeting to decide the punishment for Russian violence without causing any more unnecessary casualties. Nations throughout the world are making no sudden decisions and are taking the utmost caution to prevent their fight from becoming an all-out World War. The hesitance coming from Putin’s statement and warning, “Whoever would try to stop us and further create threats to our country, to our people, should know that Russia’s response will be immediate and lead to such consequences that you have never faced in your history”

The U.S. and other nations in support of or a part of NATO have yet to make any official statements of sending troops in to join the fighting. However, many nations have begun cutting off economic ties and those bordering Ukraine are doing what they can for the Ukrainian refugees seeking safety. As of now, Putin is pushing the battle to forcefully overthrow the government through capturing that capital Kharkiv. More than a hundred Ukrainian lives have been lost within 48 hours of this Russian Invasion.