4. According to the article, what does it seem Mr. Putin wants? How could his plan and current demands backfire?

5. What actions has the United States taken? How might the Biden administration continue to act going forward?

6. How does the current conflict affect Europe? Why is Europe at greater risk than the United States of losing more if sanctions are imposed against Russia?

7. What is your reaction to the situation between Ukraine and Russia? How worried are you about what happens next? Why?

Going Further

Using the information you learned in the warm-up activity and the featured article, create something to help educate others on the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. Here are some options:

• Write a 280-character tweet about what is happening. Use catchy and clear language to communicate the essential issues and players.

• Teach a fifth grader about the conflict. In five minutes or less, help someone younger than you understand the conflict. You might want to use maps, photographs or colorful paper and pens to help communicate the information.

• Design a one-pager to share what you learned with another student or an adult in your life. Using illustrations, quotes from the articles, key words and names of important political figures, design a visually compelling summary of the crisis.

• Create a concept map to illustrate the situation. Generate a list of key words, places, organizations and people related to this conflict. Then create a map to show how they are related to one another.

If you would like to go further, read one or more of the following articles, or find recent updates on the Russia-Ukraine tensions here. Consider adding the new information you learn to your explainer.

• For Ukrainian Soldiers, a Nervous Guessing Game on the Front (Jan. 25)

• War May Loom, but Are There Offramps? (Jan. 24)

• Pentagon Puts 8,500 Troops on ‘High Alert’ Amid Ukraine Tensions (Jan. 24)

• NATO Steps Up Readiness in Eastern Europe to Reassure Allies (Jan. 24)

• Biden Weighs Deploying Thousands of Troops to Eastern Europe and Baltics (Jan. 23)

See also these New York Times lessons:

• ‘The Invasion of Ukraine: How Russia Attacked and What Happens Next’ (March 3, 2022)

In this lesson, students will learn about how and why the “most significant European war in almost 80 years” has begun, and explore its implications.

• How Educators Around the World Are Teaching the Russia-Ukraine War (May 20, 2022)

Via both Times articles and ideas from readers, here is a look at how classrooms of all kinds are grappling with the war and its effects.