What’s Going On In Ukraine? Biden Announces Sanctions On Russia After Attacks On Ukraine

Russian troops launched an attack on Ukraine as the pro-democracy and Westward-thinking country pushes to separate itself from Moscow’s influence. Russian troops have seized Chernobyl nuclear site in Ukraine.

The history behind Russia and Ukraine is deep and lengthy. On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin started his invasion of Ukraine in the form of missile attacks and armed forces moving in toward the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv. Putin claims his attacks are to “demilitarize” Ukraine and protect Russian-speakers in the country, particularly people in the self-declared republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, which left Ukrainian control in 2014. His attack seems to have been in the works for some time.

On Ukraine’s end, the country denies Moscow’s claims that it wants the countries back. However, Ukraine has shown interest in joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), an intergovernmental military alliance between 28 European countries and two North American countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Canada, and Italy, among others.

But, Putin isn’t in favor of Ukraine joining NATO, claiming it to be a “hostile act” that could threaten Russian security. He’s against Ukraine joining the alliance so much that he even put it in a list of security demands, wanting members of NATO to agree never to allow Ukraine in the organization. The U.S. and allies rejected Putin’s proposal. Going back to the deep history between the two countries, Putin is against Ukraine existing outside of Russia, saying Ukraine and Russia have shared culture and history that dates back to the 10th century.

As Ukraine has continued to fight for democracy, Putin has threatened the movement’s activists. “We know their names and we will find them and bring them to justice,” Putin has reportedly said. Now, U.S. President Biden has announced new sanctions on Russia, after previously speaking out against Putin’s actions against Ukraine. Some of the sanctions will include export controls, which will “impose severe cost on the Russian economy, both immediately and over time.”

“Putin is the aggressor. Putin chose this war. And now he and his country will bear the consequences,” says Biden. He also announced that ground and air forces would be deployed to NATO’s eastern side, noting U.S. troops will not get involved directly with the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

“Our forces are not and will not be engaged in the conflict. Our forces are not going to Europe to fight in Ukraine but defend our NATO allies and reassure those allies in the east,” said Biden.