Millions of Ukrainians saw their lives plunged into uncertainty as troops rolled into eastern Ukraine in the early hours of Tuesday morning, following orders from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Following the news, headlines dominated. Moscow’s recognition of two breakaway republics run by pro-Russian militias.

For markets, fears of a Russian invasion — that have been voiced by Western leaders for weeks but mocked by Moscow as “propaganda” — triggered a sell-off. However, for Ukrainians in 44 million countries, these consequences can be much more severe.

Olga Pereverzeva (an accountant from eastern Ukraine) told CNBC that she was “really scared” after Putin ordered troops to be sent in.

Mariupol, her home, is located just 30 miles from the Russian border at the frontier of conflict in Donetsk/Luhansk separatist zones. A half-million people lived in the city when it was captured briefly by Russia-backed separatists. Since then, there has been a lot of violence.

She said, “Mariupol lies so close to our border.” “We need a miracle in order to save ourselves.”

The United Nations estimatedThe conflict claimed the lives of 13,000 victims in 2019, and that number could rise to even more in 2019.

Roiz said she’s working to calm herself and her kids and that money will be sent to the armed forces of her country. Ukraine has long since stopped trying to avoid reality. She said, “I am determined to act.” “Who’s next in our nation?”

Russia annexed Crimea in Ukraine in 2014. It has supported proRussian separatists since.

While NATO member states like the U.S. have sent weapons and advisors to Ukraine and provided its military forces with training, because Ukraine isn’t a NATO member, it does not benefit from the organization’s mutual defense treaty — meaning it is essentially on its own against Russia, whose military is far larger. 

Moscow, meanwhile, has laid out its security demands for de-escalation, including a guarantee that Ukraine will never be allowed to join NATO — something Kyiv has sought for years — and that the 30-member organization will shrink its presence in Europe back to its 1997 borders. These demands were flatly rejected by the U.S. leaders and NATO members. 

Russian state media has reported that fighting in Luhansk and Donetsk escalated in recent days. They also accuse Ukrainian forces instigating these attacks.

Ukraine strongly denied this action and Western leaders repeatedly warned about “false flag operations” by Russia in order to justify its invasion.

On Monday, Russia used the reports of renewed violence — which the West and Kyiv said was manufactured by Moscow — to justify sending in “peacekeeping forces” to protect their citizens. 

It is now up to Putin whether he will cease his actions in the east regions of Luhansk & Donetsk or continue taking more of Ukraine and its capital Kyiv.