The astrology of Russia's invasion of Ukraine 2023 and beyond

It is interesting to see that progressed Ascendant for the whole period is conjoining the Ukraine Moon- there is no doubt the focus has been and continues to be on the suffering of its population. It will start to move away over the next year though and to aspects progressed Venus and then the Ukrainian Jupiter that is likely to involved partner nations.

But things are a bit locked in at the moment because Neptune is opposing the Ukraine Mars and progressed Mercury- there is a lot of talk from both sides and no real achievements. As I have said before hard aspects between Mars and Neptune are not good for resolving military situations, (unless one is playing the role of external saviour).

In the more immediate term Saturn will oppose the Ukraine Sun and progressed Jupiter in late March which suggests new challenges.

Furthermore, we see that Pluto will shortly change signs and conjoin the Ukraine Saturn, and quincunx its natal Sun – this is tough and will last a couple of years. But, of course continued difficulties does not necessarily imply continued war- even if the war ended there will still need to be massive reconstruction and issues with border relationships for some time, all characteristics of Pluto. Ukraine will not easily forget.  It is positive to see that Pluto will continue to trine the Ukraine progressed Sun over the same period suggesting increasingly strong leadership regardless.

There is some good news in that Uranus has finished its transit of the IC of the country. The initial stage is most definitely done. However it will now go on to oppose the country’s Pluto and quincunx its progressed Mars in the next couple of months, which does not suggest any quick resolution at all, (it has already made this aspect once in mid 2022 so there is nothing particularly new about it). After this (July-August) it will square the country’s progressed Ascendant and Moon suggesting big changes.  The fact that it pulls in the natal Venus on the progressed Descendant suggests partners are involved. This echoes the theme I already mentioned. And I expect more big shifts in April 2024 when Jupiter conjoins Uranus at the same degree. Trines to Mars, progressed Mercury and the sextile with transiting Neptune may moderate matters. We will be in a very different place by then I think.



 Moving on to Russia

Pluto continues to transit the Russian Moon- since this is how the people are feeling it suggests that whatever they may say on camera they feel and are oppressed at present. The fact that Pluto has been square the progressed Sun as well suggests that even the leadership is very unhappy. This square to the Sun continues for another year at least so no quick happy resolution for Putin. Not surprising, at this stage he has lost whatever the on-the-ground outcome is.

Perhaps the biggest and longest term theme in both charts  is that Pluto is moving inexorably towards a square with the Russian natal Pluto. It won’t reach that point exactly till early 2026 but its effects will be felt from now on. The fact that the progressed Sun will then conjoin the same point by the end of the decade suggests the country is in for some very big changes indeed.  Note that the progressed Sun changes signs at the end of 2025- a new leader or new leadership style is inevitable then.  

Turning to Uranus – we see that it is completing its square to the Russia progressed Ascendant and natal Mercury- hopefully ending the crazy speeches about nuclear matters etc.  However Uranus will now move on to sextile the Russian Saturn and progressed Mars suggesting they may try new strategy in the coming months. It remains a concern, though, that the Russian progressed Mars is square its natal Uranus and opposite its natal Jupiter, an aspect that will perfect in 2025. It suggests a capacity for irrational self- destruction in that period. Hopefully the presence of Saturn at the same degree at the same time will keep a lid on matters- or turn it into the internal economic restrictions I discuss below.

As mentioned in April 2022 transiting Jupiter will conjoin Uranus at about 22 Taurus which is sextile the progressed Mars and trine the country’s Jupiter. We can hope that this results in a big positive change but it certainly suggests a dramatic shift, mirroring that in Ukraine.

Neptune has now moved on from the conjunction with progressed Mars and square to Uranus, it will however oppose the Russian Neptune for the next two years – implying the country will have difficulty finding any concrete direction in that time.  It is possible that the country could get bogged down in currency matters or at least economic inertia in this period. The presence of Saturn in Pisces from now on until they both enter Aries in early 2025 adds to this risk. Russia has traditionally   resonated to Saturn Neptune ( it had Saturn in Pisces in its foundation and by progression until the 1970s and in opposition to Neptune by progression for most of the 20^th century) so we can safely assume that this configuration will play out in a very obvious way in the next couple of years.



Saturn conjoins the Russian MC and Sun in March 2024 just before the Uranus Jupiter conjunction. This is the time to watch – we will certainly see where the country and its leadership is heading by then. It is certainly going to look a lot different.