On December 7, 2021 some frightening news hit the world as Russian troops arrived at the border of Ukraine.

Fears of war sprang out among many countries, despite Russia’s claim that there would be no fighting. At this point Russian troops have made no advancements, but fears have grown. Nearing two months of having Russian troops ready to strike at moment’s notice has given many a reason to worry.

Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has said that he is keeping troops along the border as a threat to NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization). He has demanded that NATO never accepts Ukraine, or six other ex-Soviet nations. While Putin hasn’t said it directly, it is believed that if Ukraine is accepted into NATO, he will pull the trigger on an attack upon Ukraine.

World leaders have begun to strategize, as fears of another war have been rampant among civilians. United States president, Joe Biden recently met with German chancellor, Olaf Scholz. One priority that came out of this meeting was the pipeline extending from Germany to Russia, known as Nord Stream 2. When President Biden was asked about the possibility of Russia further invading Ukraine, he stated, “There will no longer be a Nord Stream 2.” Scholz declined to comment on this, but said that the United States, and Germany are unified on this issue.

Anthony Blinken, United States secretary of state has estimated that nearly 100,000 Russian troops have gathered near the Ukraine border. Fears have mounted that an attack is only days away. With Putin feeling as if Biden has disregarded his demands, U.S. troops have been deployed to regions around Ukraine.

8,500 U.S. troops have been deployed along Romania, and Poland, which both border Ukraine. The U.S. will not send troops to Ukraine, as they are not a member of NATO. However, President Biden has threatened various sanctions if Russia invades Ukraine. It seems unclear as to whether this means the U.S. will come to Ukraine’s defense, or if only the economic sanctions will be set into place.

The most imminent threat came when Putin claimed that Ukraine’s acceptance into NATO could cause a war between the two countries. Putin stated, “If Ukraine becomes a NATO member and moves to reclaim Crimea, European countries will automatically be drawn into a military conflict with Russia. You will be drawn into that conflict beyond your will. There will be no winners.”

French President, Emmanuel Macron has attempted to create some peace in this situation. Macron and Putin had a private discussion. While details of this meeting haven’t been released, they both agreed on the need for further talks.

France and Germany have been crucial in setting up peace agreements for Ukraine in the past, and look to save them one more time.

While Germany has been criticized for their response time to this situation, they recently joined the U.S. and Britain in sending troops to bordering countries. Clearly Putin is scared of the alliance NATO countries have, shown by their solidarity in sending troops to the border.

One of President Biden’s biggest issues is the pipeline extending from Germany to Russia. Over 40% of Europe’s gas comes from Russia. Biden says that Russia has used energy for political purposes in the past, and believes this pipeline will become Russia’s political weapon.

Blinken has said that the U.S. will stand with the European countries, saying, “The United States will do everything we can to help ease any disruptions to Europe’s energy supply, and indeed, we already are.”

On the morning of February 8, 2022, the world got an insight to Ukraine’s defense plan. Ukraine has a very unique trench system, which runs along the border and includes very deep trenches, which prevent Russian troops from seeing Ukrainian advancements.

Ukraine has received help from the United States to aid in defense against possible Russian airstrikes. This was the weak link of the Ukrainian army, and they now look to fend off any Russian advancements.

However, Russia has another attack tactic. Russia has been known for their cyber attacks, and fears of these attacks have also grown over the past couple months.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) perceived a threat that if the U.S. or any other NATO countries were to intervene, a cyberattack within the U.S. would be imminent. A DHS representative said, “We assess that Russia’s threshold for conducting disruptive or destructive cyber attacks in the Homeland probably remains very high and we have not observed Moscow directly employ these types of cyber attacks against US critical infrastructure—notwithstanding cyber espionage and potential prepositioning operations in the past.”

In 2021, a Russian cyber attack was the cause for a nationwide shutdown of meat supplier JBS. The Russian hackers got into their database and caused the company to shut down for awhile.

Russia has continuously targeted United States infrastructure, and even has a history of cyber attacks within Ukraine. Russia was caught hacking into Ukrainian power grids in 2015, as well as 2016. A similar attack happened recently when all of Ukraine’s government websites were shut down. Ukraine blamed Russia, but the DHS has yet to confirm this claim.

Given the ongoing controversy between Biden and Putin, it is believed that the U.S. is at a heightened risk for cyber attacks. Since America has always been at the forefront of Russian cyber attacks, the risk is even greater now.

The situation at the Ukrainian border not only has the possibility of war, but it also presents the possibility of cyber warfare.

Obviously, war is the last thing the world wants to see. National powers are coming together in an attempt to deescalate the situation, and bring these countries back to peace. When other countries interfere it brings a peace to civilians as well. It lets them know that war is preventable and their safety is the top priority. Peace among all countries is the ultimate goal.