https://sharylattkisson.com/2022/02/watch-ukraine-invasion/
Ukraine Invasion
Dated: February 28, 2022 by Sharyl Attkisson
When Russian troops attacked neighboring Ukraine this past week, it set off a full-scale war, and worries by some that it’s the start of World War III — the likes of which most people alive today have never experienced.
Ukraine is the gateway between Eastern Europe and Russia. It’s about the size of Texas, formerly part of the Soviet Union, which dissolved in 1991. Half a world away, the conflict likely means more pressure on already rising gas prices and heightened risk of cyber attacks on our power grid and financial systems.
Ironically, Ukraine gave up its large nuclear arsenal to Russia after the Soviet Union fell, in exchange for assurances from us and other countries that we’d help protect them. Scott Thuman reports on the Ukrainian fight and Russia's intentions.
Scott Thuman: Full Measure acquiring these dramatic images summing up the fight – Ukrainian soldiers scrambling to defend their country. Across Europe, the worst fears of a new war have become a reality. President Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine sparking a mad dash to get out of the country, jamming roads out of the capital, Kyiv. And our cameras capturing this steady stream crossing into Poland.
President Biden issued severe economic sanctions against Putin’s inner circle and banks - but threatening them in the run up to war did not deter the Russian president, whose goal is to install a pro-Russian government in Ukraine.
In this fight, the Ukrainians are alone, outnumbered but still determined, according to diplomat Kurt Volker, a former special envoy to Ukraine.
Volker: The will of the Ukrainians is there. The problem is that the Russians have a huge military that is arrayed against them, and they have brought the tanks up close to Kyiv, and they are gradually testing the defenses of Kyiv, and seeing what kind of urban warfare might develop. So this still favors Russia militarily, but the Ukrainians are determined to fight.
Russian aggression didn’t start this week, or this year. As we previously reported from trench lines, Moscow has been taking Ukrainian territory since 2014, and backing a low level conflict ever since. In 2017 a soldier gave us this fearful prediction: "We are front line, it is true. If we lose here, you lose Europe." A threat NATO has tried to counter with a buildup of forces throughout eastern Europe that accelerated this week.
Scott: What do you think is really at risk here?
Volker: Well, what's at risk is the future of European security. This is a country that is being attacked – sovereign country, independent, not a threat to anybody. And Putin is just preying on this because he sees weakness in the West. ..