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This week’s R&D from Prepd covers Ukrainian refugees. CBS News reported yesterday that 3.6 million Ukrainians have fled the country due to Russia’s invasion, while the BBC recently noted that another 6.5 million are believed to be displaced inside of the country. The Biden administration announced that the U.S. would be accepting 100,000 refugees and pledged additional monies for assistance. Neighboring countries like Poland have accepted the bulk of Ukraine’s refugees thus far.
The United States will welcome up to 100,000 Ukrainians, as Russia’s monthlong assault has forced more than three million to flee their country, and with millions more likely to seek safe haven outside Ukraine. https://t.co/L0ZnRhWUyk
— NYT National News (@NYTNational) March 24, 2022
Europe is currently experiencing the largest movement of refugees since World War II. The willingness to help is vast and armies of volunteers are helping out as governments begin mobilizing resources. But will it be enough? https://t.co/HEd7VWzc4X
— SPIEGEL English (@SPIEGEL_English) March 23, 2022
The figure, outlined Sunday by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, amounts to about a quarter of the prewar population, which the World Bank estimated at 44 million in 2020. https://t.co/TIkidDI4JB
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 21, 2022
Today’s R&D covers the Ukrainian crisis. Last week, the Ukrainian government released videos of captured Russian troops in Eastern Ukraine, which contradicts the Russian government’s official stance that it does not have a present in the eastern half of the country. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alleges that Russia has more than 1,000 troops in Ukraine, and Russian actions in the area have resulted in Western sanctions.
For the last two months demonstrations have been waged against the Ukrainian government of Victor Yanukovych. Yanukovych, who was elected to the presidency in 2010, triggered the protests by turning down an association agreement with the European Union (EU). The protests have only grown larger since Yanukovych’s governing party pushed through a controversial anti-protest law that stifled nearly all forms of free speech and to date, at least six people have died in clashes between protesters and security officials. Geopolitical analysts see Ukraine as a diplomatic battleground between the West and Russia and Ukraine’s political problems often pit the EU and the United States against Russia and its president Vladimir Putin. This means that questions about Ukraine often appear in rounds about Europe and American foreign policy over the course of a season and the current unrest in Ukraine makes it very likely that you could see a question about it at your state tournament.
Here is today’s premium R&D to accompany 
Russia’s decision on January 5, 2009 to cut gas supplies to European consumers via pipelines in Ukraine has sent shockwaves throughout the European energy community. The dispute between the two countries, centering upon geopolitical issues on Russia’s western border, has plunged some European nations into a new discussion about the safety and security of Europe’s energy policy of relying on Russia for natural gas. Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin are still trying to test the West’s resolve against a somewhat resurgent Russia and are acting more aggressively now that some spots of protest has risen against their rule at home in light of the current economic problems facing the world.