February 24, 2022 marked a historic day for many in Eastern Europe, the day Russia invaded Ukraine. Since then war has prevailed, with wins and losses on both sides.

With over 18,000 civilian deaths, eight million displaced citizens, and tens of billions of dollars worth of damage, this conflict doesn’t seem to be ending any time soon. Russian President Vladimir Putin shows no sign of slowing down his efforts, and is believed to be planning a new assault within the coming months. Recently, he has doubled down on his efforts against western powers, such as blaming them for the war and even suspending their participation in the START agreement between Moscow and the United States of America.

February 2022 Russian forces attacked Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, as well as second largest city, Kharkiv, with the purpose to overthrow Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government.

Although many experts said Ukraine only had a few weeks before falling to Russia, a full year has passed. This may be because of the spirit of the people, but most likely because of the ample money and resources western countries have sent Ukraine.

Many in western countries, especially in the European Union and the United States, have banded together in the name of freedom of Ukraine. At Cathedral Catholic High School specifically, the Human Rights Club has put in the work to provide support for ending the war, such as selling shirts to raise money, speaking out to local news agencies, and creating the Ukrainian flag on our football field with most of the school participating.

“There are members of the Cathedral Catholic community that have family in Ukraine that have been directly affected by this issue,” said club president Blake Behmer. “Just world-wide it is important as active members of the international community to be aware and to be actively fighting for peace. The mission of our club is to fight for peace everywhere.”

Although Russia pulled back during the first month of the invasion, they came in full force in March of 2022. Russia attacked from the south in the Kherson region, trying to secure Ukraines coast, and also to form a land bridge between the region of Crimea and Moscow. This month had the highest death toll out of any other month of the war, according to the United Nations.

By April, Zelenskyy urged for foreign help, specifically to Britain to provide fighter jets to fight against the Russian offense. In this same month, doctors faced a surge of injuries and failed to keep up, both civilian and military hospitalizations.

In May, the Ukrainian military conceded Mariupol to Russian soldiers after weeks of bombardment by Moscow’s forces, resulting in the deaths of thousands of civilians. A siege of the Azovstal steel plant in this port town has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance.

Although the Ukrainian city of Odesa was taken by Russian troops in February, Ukrainian forces raised a flag over an area of this city known as Snake Island. Because of this, Ukraine eased the Russian threat of Odesa as well as dented Moscow’s morale.

The eastern city of Lysychans’k, Luhansk, fell to Russia in July, after weeks of battle. Since this victory, Russia has made little steps toward seizing the rest of Donbas, another Ukrainian region.

In August, Ukraine launched another effort to take back the Kherson region and Kyiv. Forces used weapons supplied by Western countries in order to target Russian military infrastructure, including a Russian air base in Crimea.

Ukraine took most of the northeastern Kharkiv region in an offensive in September. Later in the month, Ukraine recaptured Lyman in the Donetsk Province.

To counter Moscow’s efforts, an explosion damaged the bridge linking Crimea with Russia in October. Soon after this, Russia attacked towns and cities in Ukraine through means of land, sea and air attacks, in order to destroy Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

November resulted in a great victory for Ukraine, with the influence of military pressure, Russian troops withdrew from the city of Kherson, on the eastern side of the Dnipro River.

With a siege of a building in Donetsk harboring Russian forces, hundreds of soldiers have been killed or wounded in January.

Recently, in a speech made by President Joe Biden in Poland, the president backed Ukraine and declared “Kyiv stands strong.” In this speech, Biden promised $500 million to aid in support of the war, reaffirming Russia’s argument that the war has been perpetrated by Western powers.

Even with the pressure that Russia has shown Ukraine and the rest of the world, Cathedral students will remain persistent in their aid to Ukraine.

“With the hostility that Russia is showing to Ukraine, we need to be aware of the threats that are out there to human rights,” Behmer said.