Pioneer Reacts to Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, students and teachers have mixed thoughts over the crisis.
By Dan Von Brzeski
Amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, students and teachers have mixed thoughts over the crisis.
By Dan Von Brzeski
When the Soviet Union collapsed, the Ukrainian government handed over hundreds of nuclear warheads to the Russians from old Soviet stockpiles. These missiles were given as a sign of friendship and a deal for peaceful relations in the future.
31 years later, on February 24, Russia launched a full scale invasion into Ukraine. Conflict between Russia and Ukraine has been going on ever since 2014, involving small and separate fighting in seperatist regions. This is the largest conventional military attack in Europe since World War II, and the invasion marks a major escalation in combat.
Since then the North Atlantic has implemented many harsh sanctions that have driven the worth of the Russian ruble down to less than a United States penny. Despite this, the Russian government under Vladimir Putin has persisted in their efforts to take over Ukraine. As of March 10, the UN estimated that at least 13,000 Ukrainians will be dead, and millions more forced to abandon their homes and flee to Poland as refugees. Ukraine’s capital Kyiv has been a battle ground for over two weeks, and Russian missiles have hit a maternity hospital in Mariupol. Civilian cities are being subjected to shelling and bombing, diplomatic talks have yet to yield anything, and Europe’s largest nuclear reactor, the Zaporizhzhia plant, has fallen to the Russians, along with Chernobyl.
U.S. history teacher Peter Glasser believes the Russians are mostly to blame for the war and is displeased with how much gas prices have risen since the invasion began.
“It seems to be a pretty blatant act of naked aggression on the part of the Russians. I teach my students one of the rules of the thumb is that a judgment is never 0 percent or 100 percent, but I don’t see how you attribute this action to anything but economic greed and Russian lust for land or resources,” said Glasser. “Of course there are economic costs to the Russian people as well as us too, I just spent 90 dollars yesterday filling up my gas tank.”
World history teacher Mark Hartung sees parallels between Putin’s actions and the actions of other dictators throughout history.
“Putin appears to be an autocrat, a dictator, someone who has an agenda and doesn’t seem to care about who he has to step on to advance that agenda,” said Hartung. “The most obvious parallel is Russia’s actions after World War II. After the war they were very sensitive to Western Europe and wanted to protect their homeland. So they created a security buffer called the Warsaw Pact and took control of many countries in Eastern Europe. So we see Putin moving in the same direction of having security against the west.”
Even though she is a Russian citizen, Kacey Petty, 11, has not been convinced by the biased Russian media. On the contrary, Petty despises Putin and blames him entirely for the war.
“Putin, it’s all because of him. It doesn’t matter who supports him and his war since he is still the one who inflicted it. Russia was unprovoked by Ukraine, the Ukrainians have done nothing wrong. It is 2022 for God’s sake. What is there in trying to invade and takeover another country for,” said Petty. “It is too difficult to imagine the aftermath if Russia wins, I can’t bear to think it.”
31 years later, on February 24, Russia launched a full scale invasion into Ukraine. Conflict between Russia and Ukraine has been going on ever since 2014, involving small and separate fighting in seperatist regions. This is the largest conventional military attack in Europe since World War II, and the invasion marks a major escalation in combat.
Since then the North Atlantic has implemented many harsh sanctions that have driven the worth of the Russian ruble down to less than a United States penny. Despite this, the Russian government under Vladimir Putin has persisted in their efforts to take over Ukraine. As of March 10, the UN estimated that at least 13,000 Ukrainians will be dead, and millions more forced to abandon their homes and flee to Poland as refugees. Ukraine’s capital Kyiv has been a battle ground for over two weeks, and Russian missiles have hit a maternity hospital in Mariupol. Civilian cities are being subjected to shelling and bombing, diplomatic talks have yet to yield anything, and Europe’s largest nuclear reactor, the Zaporizhzhia plant, has fallen to the Russians, along with Chernobyl.
U.S. history teacher Peter Glasser believes the Russians are mostly to blame for the war and is displeased with how much gas prices have risen since the invasion began.
“It seems to be a pretty blatant act of naked aggression on the part of the Russians. I teach my students one of the rules of the thumb is that a judgment is never 0 percent or 100 percent, but I don’t see how you attribute this action to anything but economic greed and Russian lust for land or resources,” said Glasser. “Of course there are economic costs to the Russian people as well as us too, I just spent 90 dollars yesterday filling up my gas tank.”
World history teacher Mark Hartung sees parallels between Putin’s actions and the actions of other dictators throughout history.
“Putin appears to be an autocrat, a dictator, someone who has an agenda and doesn’t seem to care about who he has to step on to advance that agenda,” said Hartung. “The most obvious parallel is Russia’s actions after World War II. After the war they were very sensitive to Western Europe and wanted to protect their homeland. So they created a security buffer called the Warsaw Pact and took control of many countries in Eastern Europe. So we see Putin moving in the same direction of having security against the west.”
Even though she is a Russian citizen, Kacey Petty, 11, has not been convinced by the biased Russian media. On the contrary, Petty despises Putin and blames him entirely for the war.
“Putin, it’s all because of him. It doesn’t matter who supports him and his war since he is still the one who inflicted it. Russia was unprovoked by Ukraine, the Ukrainians have done nothing wrong. It is 2022 for God’s sake. What is there in trying to invade and takeover another country for,” said Petty. “It is too difficult to imagine the aftermath if Russia wins, I can’t bear to think it.”