Over the past two months, the war in Ukraine has only intensified, and the people of Ukraine have only suffered more. Many people on both sides have died, and innocent civilians have been caught in the crossfire. With Russia resorting to more civilian targets to break the morale of the Ukrainian people, it has only given the Ukrainians stronger resolve. 

Foreign politics, however, are also playing a major role in the war, with pro-Russian factions in France and Germany,  Europe’s largest two economies, causing hindrances to the export of heavy weapons and vehicles to Ukraine. 

German chancellor Olaf Scholz has been under heavy fire recently for his delays of sending German armaments to Ukraine, citing escalations in the conflict and not being able to trust Ukraine with some of their equipment citing training times, all of which was proven false or overexaggerated by NATO. France has also seen a marked increase in Pro-Russian support with a recent election seeing a pro-russian candidate win 42 percent of the vote. With these threats from both sides, Ukraine is in a tough position. 

Aid from the U.S was limited for some time,with a few aid packages, however, recently passing the U.S senate Other countries are also lending aid with 300 Polish T-72 tanks “mysteriously disappearing,” and Slovakia sending an S-300 SAM launcher. 

With all this support, Ukraine may have a chance against a reorganizing Russian army. 

Some people may think Ukraine’s resilience is strictly the result of Ukrainian morale and training, however the largest benefactor to Ukraine is Russia itself. Russia has been illegally annexing the Crimean Peninsula, a southern extrusion of Ukraine, since 2014. 

With this sudden invasion, the Russian government has legitimized the government in Kiev. This also is leading to the influx of heavy weapons in Ukraine, which most likely will be used to retake lands lost in 2014 and 2022.