The Russian invasion of Ukraine has been a tragedy.

Millions of people now face death and oppression at the hands of a foreign invader who is motivated purely by insecurity and dreams of a bygone era. The current information age has allowed many to see scenes of modern conventional war for the first time, with images and videos flooding many platforms. While this does create a new level of transparency, it also brings forth a sense of helplessness as we can watch in real-time but can do relatively little to change anything.

In the days leading up to the invasion of Ukraine, I followed the developments quite closely. Having taken a handful of international relations classes and just finishing up a modern foreign policy course, I was fairly familiar with the general situation.

Leading up to the final hours before the invasion, I was able to listen in to the staged Russian security council gathering, the emergency United Nations meeting and subsequent Putin speech declaring the start of the war. All thanks to live streams from Russian state media and the google translate app on my phone, which could transcribe speeches in real-time.

It is a level of access that would not have been possible ten years ago. 

In addition to that, I have found Twitter lists, which essentially work as alternative feeds, made up of many journalists that are inside or from Ukraine and people who have some form of expertise in the area. The information is still imperfect due to the chaos of war but often provides information much faster than traditional networks and offers views and perspectives from inside contested areas such as Kyiv. 

However, this has led to horserace coverage of the war.

Each explosion is met with a report via tweet. Every morning, I check to see if Kyiv is still standing. Throughout the day, I check for any U.S. intelligence updates, and before I sleep, I look to see if the Kremlin releases any early morning signals.

I think it may be a subconscious effort to feel some form of control over the situation.

Because what can we do?

I am glad the United States has sent lethal and economic aid, but as individuals, there is almost nothing to be done. I can write to my representatives that I support aid, but if we are honest with ourselves, that email is getting a pre-made response. I could also donate to the Ukrainian army, but as a college student, there is not much to give.

It has led to a feeling of helplessness. I can see everything happening, all the injustice and suffering, but there is so little I can do to help.

But I can just hope. Hope that the Ukrainian people can hold strong, that the Russian military keeps failing their objectives, and the West alliance maintains its unity. I fully believe that Ukraine is fighting the good fight, and they should be expecting all logical forms of Western support.

Slava Ukraini!