Outside of our little world, there have been larger happenings in the world. The biggest happening that I've been tracking is this: Russia invaded Ukraine.
The invasion happened late February. The US kept releasing intelligence reports that Russia was ready and planning to make a move, but it was still something of a surprise for me that Putin went ahead with it. Yes, the possibility was there, but would Russia really make the move with how interconnected everyone's economies were? I remembered them making the move on the Crimean peninsula years ago, but they'd used separatists and politicking to annex it rather than a full-blown invasion.
I wasn't too surprised, though, because I know I'm far from an expert on the matter. I browse news headlines to be aware.
I've been paying more attention to the headlines since. The conflict in Ukraine and Polish churches supporting refugees came up in a Sunday sermon. Online, Ukraine's President Zelensky has been getting a lot of love from the news and the internet in general. NATO and the US are providing weapons to Ukraine, but no one's backed Zelensky's request for establishing a no-fly zone. It feels to me like much of the world is rooting against Russia and hitting them with sanctions while supporting Ukraine with weapons and taking care of their refugees.
But nobody else wants to jump into the conflict and risk escalating the conflict beyond Ukraine.
Ukraine's put up a far more effective resistance than many expected. Some of that seems to be from Russia being far less effective than they'd been estimated to be.
I've talked in general about the war to Shane. He doesn't need to know gritty details, but I do want him aware of the wider world we're connected to. I pray that this conflict ends soon and doesn't become a flashpoint for a larger theater of violence, but no one will know what the future brings until it's already been brought.
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