Because many students today get most of their news through social media, where a news cycle lasts, at most, two weeks, many students say “more important” news has overshadowed the war in Ukraine, reports Ben Kingsbury at Lakes Community High School in Lake Villa, Illinois, in the school’s student newspaper.
Yet the war, which started when forces from Russia invaded the sovereign state of Ukraine in February, rages on in the southeastern portion of the country, with the “Territorial Defense Force having driven back the Russians from the northern capital city of Kyiv,” Ben wrote.
“With Russian forces unable to effectively fight on the move,” he continued, “they have resorted to Red Army tactics from 75 years ago. The frontlines have been littered with rockets and bombs, mostly unguided, hoping to bombard the opposing force into submission.”
Schools in Ukraine returned for the 2022-23 school year earlier this month, NPR reports. But for schools without bomb shelters, virtual learning is the only option, as Russian forces are targeting schools and other critical infrastructure, the Associated Press reported in May.
Many news agencies and some noted historians are now reporting unrest in Russia, where President Vladimir Putin has made it clear he will institute a draft. The Kremlin is scrambling now “to keep public discontent in check over Mr Putin’s effort to escalate the war in Ukraine,” the New York Times reported Thursday.
Mr Putin said he intends to carry out his threat on Friday to annex four provinces in southeastern Ukraine following a sham annexation vote. It isn’t clear whether Russia’s allies will support the move, but the West is definitely against it. Even still, Mr Putin said that any military action by Ukraine to regain control of the seized provinces would be considered an act against the Russian state.
“If the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will certainly use all the means at our disposal to protect Russia and our people,” he was quoted as saying, possibly referring to Russia’s nuclear arsenal. “This is not a bluff.”
