Children ‘s news Russia invaded Ukraine – that is what it is about

Children’s news|Children’s news

Russia launched an attack on Ukraine early Thursday morning. President of Russia Vladimir Putin announced in a TV speech the launch of “special military operations” in the region of eastern Ukraine, where the situation has been tense for some time.

Immediately after the president’s announcement, news and social media reported explosions all over Ukraine. A state of emergency and war has been declared throughout the country.

Finland, together with other European countries, condemns the Russian attack and takes the situation seriously.

The President of The Republic of Finland Sauli Niinistö and the Prime Minister Sanna Marin (sd) held a press conference on Thursday in which they stated that there was no immediate threat to Finland. Finland will continue to co-operate with the EU to support Ukraine.

Why did Russia invade Ukraine?

The situation intensified as early as December, when Russia issued a demand against the United States and the military alliance NATO. Russia insisted that Ukraine should not plan to join NATO. Russia has wanted NATO to reject Ukraine’s aspirations for membership.

NATO is a political and military defense alliance that includes the United States and Canada, as well as a number of European countries such as France, Germany, Britain and Spain. NATO also includes many countries that were part of the pre-Russian Soviet Union. Finland does not belong to NATO.

The Soviet Union disintegrated 30 years ago in 1991. After that, Estonia, Latvia and Ukraine, among others, became independent, ie they became their own states again. Russia does not like the United States and the rest of Europe defending its former territories – in this case, Ukraine as well.

United States however, did not agree to Russia’s demands. United States NATO Representative Julianne Smith commented in January that no country should be restricted from joining NATO. This violates the right of states to choose their own partners independently. It is called sovereignty, or sovereignty.

Russia was not happy with the decision, but began to mobilize its armed forces, ie its army, near the Ukrainian border. This was a message from Russia to the United States and NATO that it is serious about its demands.

The United States and other NATO members have responded by strengthening their own forces in member states across Europe, such as Poland, a neighbor of Ukraine. This has been to show Russia that the attack on Ukraine has consequences.

Russia said it launched its attack on Thursday after separatists in eastern Ukraine asked Russia for help against the Ukrainian army.

Separatists are a group of people who want Eastern Ukraine to become independent from the rest of Ukraine. The states founded by the separatists and their actions are considered a reason invented by Russia to attack Ukraine.

This is not the first time Russia has attacked Ukraine. In 2014, Russia took over the Crimean peninsula of Ukraine. Still, most countries in the world believe that Crimea belongs to Ukraine and not to Russia.

Watch the video to see what we said about the situation in January:

Ukraine is now demanding sanctions on Russia

In recent months, policymakers in various countries have been discussing closely how they should act to prevent Russia from invading Ukraine.

For this reason, various sanctions have been introduced. They are restrictions on Russia by different countries, such as refusal to trade and other cooperation. Sanctions are meant to be detrimental to Russia.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi on Thursday called on world leaders to impose any sanctions on Russia.

The European Union, the United States and Britain, among others, decided on new sanctions on Thursday night.

“The European Union is alongside Ukraine and its people,” said the President of the European Commission, the leader of the Union Ursula von der Leyen wrote on Twitter.

What to do if the subject is scary?

Such news can cause frightening and distressing feelings. If the situation in Ukraine scares you, it is a good idea to talk about it with a parent, teacher or other familiar adult.

There is also a lot of scary material on social media like Tiktok that is better not to watch.

Chat help is also available here:

• The Mannerheim League for Child Welfare (MLL) can be called free of charge from children and young people. The telephone is open on weekdays from 2 pm to 8 pm and on weekends from 5 pm to 8 pm at 116 111.

• MLL’s youth net offers chat assistance in the chat, which is open every day from 5 pm to 8 pm. You can book an appointment from this link.

• You can call MIELI ry’s crisis phone at any time. The emergency number can be reached on 09 2525 0111. Making a call costs the same as a regular call.