Russia has recently launched an invasion of the Eastern European country of Ukraine, in which Russia had been supporting separatists inside of Ukraine who were all pro-Russian and wished to join Russia due to the regions the separatists occupied housing a majority-Russian speaking population. Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion hours after announcing a Special Military Operation to demilitarize Ukraine and denazify their central government after days of troop buildup across the Ukrainian border and the Black Sea. Russian Cruise Missiles flew and exploded across Ukraine in major cities such as the Capitol of Kyiv and the major cities of Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Odesa. Ukrainian border security reported that Russian troops stormed across the Ukrainian border at several key checkpoints with APCs and Tanks, with Russian paratroopers seizing the Antonov International Airport located 10 miles from the center of Kyiv. Ukrainian forces have reportedly been able to shoot down several Russian aircraft and push back a major offensive on Kharkiv by Russian forces.

Smoke rises over Kharkiv after Russian bombardment (Twitter, Unknown Poster)

Ukrainian air traffic was halted by Kyiv officials, and air traffic around their Belorussian and Russian borders was also rerouted to safer locations. The European Union (EU) classified the area in Ukraine and their surrounding borders as an active combat zone late Thursday night after the sun had set in Kyiv. (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) NATO Members have also imposed severe economic sanctions on Russia, and the United States government is also expected to deploy troops to Eastern Europe and to remove Russia from all western economic centers. Russian forces in their Second day of invasion have been able to seize the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (CNPP) and push further South to the outskirts of the Ukrainian Capitol of Kyiv (Kiev in English).