By Sophia Mercado
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine. This military attack took place shortly after buzz surrounding Ukraine joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a military alliance. Putin has not yet taken control of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, but has gained hold of multiple Ukrainian nuclear power plants.
With mass media coverage and growing concern, here is what Barons have to say on the topic…
Photos by Charisse Nguyen
“Ukraine hasn’t done anything to Russia, and even the people of Russia are opposed to [Russia’s invasion of Ukraine]. It’s causing a lot of economic problems over here as well. It is bad because America can’t really do anything in this situation. We don’t want to get involved and start a war. I think it’s a lose-lose situation for everyone if we get involved. And there is a whole thing with gas. There is a debate on whether we should start producing our own gas and energy to stop supporting Russia, but you know, it’s gonna be tough,“ junior Quinn Lopez said.
“It’s a terrible thing and I’m very worried for [the people of Ukraine], but at the same time, I think that they’re putting up a pretty good fight. I don’t think he’s gonna get very far with it [the invasion]. His entire goal is based on a story he’s trying to tell Russia about Ukraine initially being a part of Russia, and how he’s saving them from other countries and the westward expansion of NATO. Ukraine doesn’t want to be a part of Russia at all, he’s not saving them. It’s just a dictatorship,” junior Michelle Nguyen said.
“I think it is idiotic because the way he has made his own economy go down so bad billionaires in Russia are out for his head. Like they said, if you kill Putin, you get a million dollars. That’s kind of what they’re doing right now. I feel like what he’s doing is so inhumane, very dumb for his economics and the people of Russia and Ukraine. That is going to be the cause of his downfall if it keeps going. It’s so sad for the people of Ukraine, most of them can’t leave their own country and men are getting stuck at the border because they have to keep fighting in the war. Also, this is really bad for people of color. They can’t leave because of racism, many countries are not letting them in. So I think that’s very sad too,” senior Maite Aguiar said.
“I think [Putin invading Ukraine] is a bad thing. It was unprovoked. Putin is a corrupt, ex-KGB leader that has been in power since 2012, and he’s been doing very horrible things from what I saw. Half the people in Russia don’t even agree with the ‘military drill’ in Ukraine. What he did was atrocious and no one should root for him. He should be removed from power immediately. Glory to the Ukrainian people. Ukraine is actually kicking their butts, it’s really cool,” senior Ethan Nguyen said.
“It was bound to happen. But, I think the fact that Ukraine decided to try and join NATO, accelerated their invasion very quickly. But aside from that, I feel for all the people there. They actually bombed the Holocaust Memorial there which is, you know, really disheartening. I feel like that’s a horrible act. Russia needs to cut it out because things are gonna happen to them if they don’t stop. As much as I want the US to intervene, I don’t think we should. It’s not a good idea because, you know, nuclear warfare and whatnot is still a possibility. But aside from that, I think we just need to get the U.N. in on this and try and stay out of it militarily,” junior Teague Kawai said.
“I don’t think it’s right because [Putin] is doing this for no reason at all, innocent lives are being lost and at the cost of what? It’s just more violence. There’s no reason for violence,” freshman Jovanna Yacoub said.
“It’s not good. I don’t really think he was that provoked on doing it. I can’t really find a good reason. I think he did it for more power. It’s pretty messed up. I don’t really think that we should intervene. As bad of a situation it is, it could cause another world war. So, we should send support without troops.,” sophomore Nathan Naves said.
“Obviously it is not the best idea. I don’t think it’ll go well. Even if Putin manages to annex Ukraine, NATO has already responded. However, NATO’s response agency is not that good. Both sides aren’t dealing with this very well, and it shouldn’t have happened in the first place. Putin’s reasoning is just terrible,” sophomore Timothy Ta said.
“I think [Putin invading Ukraine] is a modern example of imperialism, and it’s something that shouldn’t really exist… I think countries should sanction [Russia] even more than we already are right now. Because trying to expand your borders in the modern-day and era is not good because we really don’t need to do this. Free Ukraine,” junior Daniel Arellano said.
