This Thursday (24), marks one month since Russia invaded Ukraine and started the war in Eastern Europe. Even after 30 days since the beginning of the conflict, searches for more information about the dispute between the two countries are still on the rise in Brazil.
According to data from the Google Trends platform analyzed by CNN, the search for the word “war” related to Russia and Ukraine is still on the rise. In just the last 30 days, it has increased by 250%. When the cut is from the last three months, the increase is even more significant: 1,350%.
Other related topics that are receiving more demand are “refugees”, “volunteer work” and “War in Donbas” in the last month. The most performed searches on Google were “war in ukraine live”, “how many dead in ukraine”, “images of the war in ukraine”, “news from the russia and ukraine war” and “name of the president of ukraine” – which , in this case, is Volodymyr Zelensky.
In the last three months, “soldier”, “world war” and “third world war” were the subjects that had the greatest growth of interest. Among the related searches that were most searched on Google are: “war in ukraine today”, “war ukraine and russia motive” and “why russia is attacking ukraine”.
Since the beginning of the conflict, Google has also recorded a record number of searches in one day about the war between Russia and Ukraine. As of February 23, the two countries had over 5 million searches each. On March 1st, the subject “War” was the fourth most searched in Brazil, with more than 100,000 searches.
One month into the war between Russia and Ukraine
According to Vinícius Rodrigues Vieira, professor of International Relations at Faap and FGV, the first month indicates that it is the beginning of what could be a long conflict: whether global or located in Eastern Europe. “We have a kind of tie, as Russia has not shown itself to be strong enough to defeat Ukraine right away and Ukraine is not weak enough to surrender,” he said in an interview with CNN. The main role of the resistance, he explains, is not only the leadership of Zelensky, but also the Ukrainians who, despite their Russian ancestry, decided to defend Ukraine’s sovereignty.
“From the external point of view, we have a clear escalation of what could become a third world war in fact”, explains Vieira. However, NATO still has no reason to get involved in a military way, as the member countries’ area has not yet been invaded and therefore does not need to be defended. In the case of Russia, a relationship was established with China and India because of economic relations, strengthened now that the Russian country has stopped selling gas to the European Union, according to the professor.
Marília Carolina de Souza, coordinator of the International Relations course at Fecap and researcher at Nupri-USP, evaluated the first month as a highlight of the Russian advance in the southern and southeastern regions of Ukraine. “We had very sensitive moments, such as the taking of Chernoby”, she explained, “There are indications that there is a tendency for it to become a protracted civil conflict, mainly because of the fragmentation in the Ukrainian space”.
Even with the military siege in Kiev, the professor pointed out that the resistance of the Ukrainians proved to be strong during the first 30 days of the conflict and that it must “continue to the end”. “This national cohesion, the will of Ukrainians to defend their land is immeasurable, it is not material,” she said.
Souza also pointed out that Zelensky, by dedicating himself to speeches to different nations, is creating international sympathy, mainly by “adapting the speech according to the interlocutor”, addressing issues that are compelling for the world leaders to whom he speaks.
The professor also stressed that another trend is Putin’s international isolation. “Sanctions and economic blockades were also unprecedented, as was Russia’s expulsion from the payments system,” she explains. “Corporations and companies have left Russia, creating a domino effect that generates unemployment, creates shortages, wears out over the long term but will be felt. Proof of this is that today it was announced that Russia will only accept payment in rubles, not in dollars or euros – this indicates a currency flight from the country because they are demanding such payment in the national currency.”
Conflict in Eastern Europe
From February 24 to March 22, fighting between Russia and Ukraine resulted in 977 civilian deaths, not including the military on both sides. According to the UN, among the dead were 81 children.
The conflict has also given rise to a refugee crisis in Europe. According to the UN Refugee Agency, more than 3.6 million people have left Ukraine since the Russian invasion.
Source: CNN Brasil
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