What’s going on between Russia and Ukraine?

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Daniel Sharp

Russia and Ukraine have some serious drama going on. Here are a few quick facts to get you up to speed. In the last month, over 100,000 Russian soldiers amassed near the border with Ukraine. Ukraine raised concern, pointing to the 2014 events in the Crimea peninsula. Russia claims they are only responding to NATO exercises in the region. Western leaders accuse Russian, and Belarus, of manufacturing border crisis with Poland. Putin denies transporting migrants to Poland-Belarus border. Poland has since sent 15,000 soldiers to secure the border. The US sent 80 tons of ammunition to Ukraine’s military. Bulgarian president called on the EU to remove sanctions placed on Russia. Polling has claimed many Crimea residents support rejoining Russia. Many G7, EU, and NATO leaders still call for return of Crimea to Ukraine.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/StateDeptSpox?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@StateDeptSpox</a> on Crimea: “We welcome President Radev’s statement today in which he reiterated Bulgaria’s support for Ukraine. The U.S., G7, European Union, and NATO have all been clear and united in our position that despite Russia’s attempted annexation–Crimea is Ukraine.” <a href="https://t.co/q9oUj1wFrA">pic.twitter.com/q9oUj1wFrA</a></p>&mdash; Department of State (@StateDept) <a href="https://twitter.com/StateDept/status/1462888619031552020?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 22, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Those are a few of the wave tops. However, it is nearly impossible to know what it all actually means for the region. Some fear this may possibly lead to another large scale European conflict. Others are predicting a “Cold War-esque” tension for the foreseeable future.

What we do know is that the fate of tens of millions of people in the region depend on a handful of leaders being able to work out their differences like adults. Joy.

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