Tag Archives: Russia

ukraine
Volume '22, Issue 1, World News

Ukraine War UPDATES: September Roundup

BY JACOB RUSSELL

Although the ongoing Ukraine conflict is thousands of miles away, it is important for our CVU community to stay informed of real world events even when we are not directly affected.

Since the beginning of the conflict in late February, the Ukrainian forces have steadily begun to push back against the Russians, although it is still an uphill climb. Steady advances have been made against the Russians in the Ukrainian city of Kyiv, and other areas of Ukraine’s Eastern front.

According to NPR, on September 19th, a Russian missile has also reportedly detonated within just 900 feet of a Ukrainian nuclear reactor, which would be the second strike against a nuclear facility since the start of the war. This event has elevated previous concerns of safety, and potential nuclear disasters that could occur from these strikes.

As of September 10th, Ukraine has recaptured the Russian held territory of Izium, discovering mass graves of hundreds of people, soldiers and civilians, although the full extent of the potential massacre is unknown, sparking the call for more investigation into possible war crimes.

On September 20th, President Putin ordered the partial militarization of an additional 300,000 reserve troops, as a message that the Ukraine conflict is far from over. In the same address, Putin again hinted at a possible nuclear threat, further escalating tensions with the West.

Volume 4, Issue 2

The New War Has Already Started: Russia’s recent aggressions

Mr. Michael Regan, CVC Foreign Affairs Correspondent

From 1947 to 1991 America was fully engaged in a series of events known as the Cold War. During this period the only thing that kept the US and USSR from starting a nuclear apocalypse was a theory called MAD. MAD stands for mutually assured destruction and it essentially means that if one side launches a nuclear weapon, the other side will also launch a nuclear weapon of mass destruction. Even though proxy wars such as Vietnam were the result of the Cold War, perhaps the most memorable part of the conflict for Americans was the Cuban Missile Crisis. During the Missile Crisis the USSR had “long range” missiles stationed in Cuba, 90 miles away from the US. This terrified the American population and sent the nation into a state of preparing for war. Today, the people of Russia are preparing for a war against the US and other NATO alliance countries.

Mikhail Gorbachev, former Head of State of the Soviet Union, said, “The world, it appears, is on the brink of the (second) cold war.” Many Russians feel as though the war between Russia and NATO states has already begun.

Image courtesy of Alpha History
Image courtesy of Alpha History

After the cold war NATO stayed intact while the USSR fell apart. Since then NATO countries have surrounded Russia. In reaction to this, Russia used an old tactic from the cold war called containment. Containment is an approach to global security in which controlling the spread of boarders controls the spread of influence. When Russia annexed a peninsula that was previously part of Ukraine, they were containing the spread of NATO ideology. President Putin agreed that the Ukraine was a “buffer state”, and nothing but “a pawn in a containment strategy”.

Continue reading →