Ukrainians and supporters march Wednesday against the Russian invasion, and to celebrate Ukrainian Independence Day; Russia began a full scale war in Ukraine six months ago

A group of Ukrainians and Ukraine supporters marched from Showalter Fountain to the Sample Gates at Indiana University, Wednesday, August 24, 2022, in Bloomington, Indiana. Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and Ukraine gained its independence from the USSR empire in 1991.

Russia is calling its war against Ukraine a “special military operation” and punishing Russians who call it a war. Some Russians are facing years in prison for doing so.

In 2014, Ukrainians rebelled against Russian installed president Viktor Yanukovych, who fled the sovereign nation for Russia after widespread protests often called the Maidan Revolution.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euromaidan

Members of the Ukrainian government, who worked in concert with Russia to weaken Ukraine, also fled, including the head of the SBU, which is Ukraine’s intelligence service. Yanukovych was advised by Paul Manafort who later helped elect Donald Trump as president of the United States.

Before 2014, corrupt members of the Ukrainian government sold Ukrainian tanks, weapons, military materiel, etc., and left Ukraine in a compromised position to defend itself. When the president fled, Ukrainians stormed his house, and found evidence of widespread corruption. Russian president Vladimir Putin demanded Yanukovych be reinstated as president of Ukraine.

At least 100 Ukrainians had died in the protests which began in late 2013, but culminated in a battle against police in the center of Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, in early 2014. The identities of some snipers who shot Ukrainians in Maidan Square still isn’t known.

By the spring of 2014, Russian backed Ukrainians, and undercover Russian special operations soldiers, invaded Crimea, and set up rebellions in parts of the Donbas region of Eastern Ukraine. Russian disinformation, and propaganda was a prominent part of the war, which was fought asymmetrically.

More about asymmetric war: https://www.rand.org/topics/asymmetric-warfare.html

Soon, Ukrainian military, and civilian volunteers, were fighting Russians and pro-Russian collaborators, in Eastern Ukraine through the spring, and summer of 2014.

Places most Americans have never heard of were battle grounds, Slavyansk, Luhansk, Donetsk, and Debaltseve.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Debaltseve

By the fall of 2014, there was a ceasefire brokered in Minsk, Belarus, however, more battles ensued in the fall of 2014, but mostly, Russia, and Ukraine waged a frozen conflict, punctuated by artillery warfare, sniper warfare, and other engagements along the war front in the east, until this year.

In February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine with the Russian army from pro-Russian Ukraine, Russia and Belarus.

Belarus territory, where Alexander Lukashenko has been president since 1994, was used in part for the invasion:

https://www.newsweek.com/lukashenko-doesnt-have-final-say-russian-troops-using-belarus-expert-1731589

The full scale war started by Russia, against Ukraine, has been raging for six months now.

The war has caused nearly 30,000 deaths, over 52,000 injuries, displaced 14 million Ukrainians, and caused 750-billion dollars damage. Russia has been accused of war crimes, violations of the Geneva convention, and ethnic cleansing, and now occupies about 22-percent of Ukrainian territory.

Yaroslav Chalyi, who is president of the Ukrainian Studies Association at Indiana University said the following in an invite for the event:

“It’s been 180 days since russia [sic] began the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian lionhearted soldiers along with charitable citizens and the powerful diaspora all around the globe were able to provide a significant response to the unlawful, cruel acts caused by the aggressor, preserving the independence of the country that proved to deserve it!”

This coming Wednesday, August 24th, Ukrainians are celebrating Independence Day. UkrSO is planning a protest walk to recognize a very relevant holiday and remind those who could have forgotten about the braveness of  Ukrainians fighting for their freedom.”