The Ukraine-Russia Crisis, Template
On February 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin proclaimed a "special military operation" to "demilitarize and denazify" Ukraine, marking the most prominent military mobilization in Europe since WWII. It launched multifaceted offensives from Russia, Belarus, and the two other Russian-backed separatist regions, Crimea and Donbas. In late March 2022, Russian forces withdrew from Kyiv in response to Ukraine's increasing predominance, leaving behind little but traumatized settlements and instances of civilian atrocities.
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the beneficiary state's relations have undergone periods of ties, tensions, and hostilities. The Ukrainian revolutions of 2014, including the "Revolution of Dignity," and changes in the Crimean Peninsula have effectively exacerbated these tensions, prompting Russia to launch a full-scale invasion of the mainland across multiple fronts and prompting an international response from more than a dozen countries.
Immediately before the engagement, Russian president Vladimir Putin espoused irredentist views, arraigning NATO for "[threatening] Russia’s security" and demanding that NATO bar Ukraine from joining the treaty of alliance.
The invasion was extensively condemned and censured internationally on an unprecedented scale: eighty-seven countries voted for or co-sponsored a draft UN Security Council resolution deploring Russia’s actions. Many countries have imposed new, strict sanctions on the Russian Federation, virtually shattering the economy and facilitating mass humanitarian and military aid efforts.
An increasing number of cities worldwide have rallied to protest the invasion of Ukraine, most notably in Russia, albeit not without mass arrests and media censorship.
Irene Gampel, a philanthropist and executive director of the Embrace Foundation, and her husband, are currently near the Ukraine border coordinating humanitarian relief efforts. Embrace has arranged many emergency fundraisers to gain medicine and other supplies for Ukrainian citizens. See the link (in bio) for interviews and to make charitable contributions.
