In the early morning hours of the 24th of February 2022, Vladimir Putin has ordered an invasion of Ukraine. This short article is aimed at dissecting the astrology behind this major geopolitical event. The main focus is on the event chart of the Russian invasion, set for 5:00 AM, Kiev time.
It has been jokingly commented online, at the beginning of the war, that “the Kremlin has damn good astrologers”. The invasion chart seemed to act like a decent election which favors the Russian side. In the invasion chart, shown below, we can see that Russia is represented by the rising sign, as it has initiated the war. Additionally, the 10th house is the house of victory for Russia. The opposite is also true as the DSC represents Ukraine, and the 4th house is the house of Ukraine’s victory. Some astrologers also associate the Sun with the favorite (Russia) and the Moon with the underdog (Ukraine). Moreover, we’ll trace the aspects the main significators make in order to try and understand the flow of events.
In the chart below we can see how Saturn, which is the ascendant ruler, is essentially and accidentally dignified. Saturn is in domicile, triplicity, in an angular house and oriental. This shows that Russia is in a position of strength, both in terms of its forces and in terms of taking advantage of circumstances. A small point of consideration is that Saturn is making a partile contra-antiscia aspect to Uranus, this may show that the overtaking of Ukraine won’t go as smoothly, and surprises are in store for Putin. If we also consider the Sun as the co-significator of the Russians, its conjunction to Jupiter with reception is probably an auspicious sign. Jupiter rules the 2nd house of revenue but also the 12th house of hidden enemies.
Simultaneously, we see that the ruler of the 7th house is the Moon, which represents Ukraine. It is strong accidentally as it’s in a good house and in sect but weak essentially as it is peregrine. Additionally, the Moon is the most elevated planet which also rises first in the chart, which gives it initiative. It’s also conjunct the fixed star Antares, which symbolizes wars, honors, obstinance, ruin and endings (a mixed bag of sorts). Also, we can see that the Moon is in an antiscia aspect to Mars, which represents conflict and increases the viral power of Ukraine. Moreover, the Moon is decreasing in light, which may be a sign of slowly wearing out. It's interesting to note that if we would have used whole sign houses, then the Moon would have been cadent and weak, but we're using Regiomontanus. Concerning the nodes, we may point out the fact that the lucky north node is in the 4th house of Kiev’s victory. However, we must also allude to the fact that it’s tightly conjunct Algol, which is described by one source as “piles of corpses”, so in a way it’s a blessing with a course. A very costly victory maybe, lots of deaths and destruction.
Examining the turned chart, from Ukraine’s perspective, it’s interesting to note that Ukraine’s 2nd and 11th houses are ruled by the same planet. This of course, shows that Ukraine is being supplied by many countries which are sympathetic to its cause.
If we would calculate lots, which may be connected to times of war, a few extra details would be revealed. The part of victory is at 26 degrees of Leo, and despite it being located in the turned 1st house, its ruler is the Sun which may be tied to Russia. The part of Success is at 21 degrees of Aquarius, conjuncting the main significator of Russia, and this may hint at Russia's chance of victory (or partial victory). Lastly, the part of glory is at 13 Cancer near the DSC, which may show that the Ukrainians will valiantly defend their country, despite the overwhelming odds. In summary, the parts show a hodgepodge of testimonies. Seems rather equal.
The overall picture which emerges is probably a slight advantage in favor of the Russian side. There are some major indications which show that Putin's efforts will experience major stumbling blocks.
Overall though, the chart shows that the Russian side still holds some key advantages. Despite suffering major setbacks, it's probable that Putin will achieve at least some of his goals. Maybe the takeover of Donetsk and Luhansk provinces in the Eastern parts of Ukraine, but not before much blood will be shed and mass destruction will ensue.
In term of the unfolding events, the motion of the Moon is our guide here, since the Moon is the general indicator of timing. The Moon’s most recent aspect was a square to the Sun, and if we take Putin as the Sun figure in this course of events then his fiery and vindictive speech just before the invasion was a good fit.
The next Moon aspect is a sextile aspect to Mercury, in two or three time-units (probably months). This shows that the Ukrainian side was still trying, in the first months of the war, to reach a diplomatic solution through talks which were ongoing in Belarus, and through Turkey.
The next Moon aspect is a square aspect to Jupiter, which would be completed in five time-units (again, probably months). This leads us to July 2022. Since Jupiter is the ruler of the 12th house in the chart, this may show that casualties and destruction would increase in a logarithmic scale for both parties till this point in time, with the summer being especially unfortunate.
Lastly, the Moon would aspect the significator of the Russian side, Saturn, by a friendly aspect of a sextile. This would happen in about ten or eleven time-units, and this is important as it shows that Ukraine will probably sign a ceasefire agreement or some other treaty with Russia in about ten or eleven months. That would happen, sometime during the beginning of 2023, around January or February.
Let's hope this is indeed the case, for the only other possible way to judge the invasion chart is for the time units which separate the Moon and Saturn are years instead of months. Judging the chart in such a manner produces the unsavory result that a decade or 11 years would pass until this conflict would be resolved.
All of the above becomes more conspicuous when we examine the national charts of Ukraine and Russia at this moment. By transit both experience their Saturn return, and this makes perfect sense as the post Soviet world is redefining itself, albeit sadly through the aggressive actions of the Russian president. As it is widely recognized, Putin considers the fall of the Soviet Union as the biggest geopolitical disaster of the 20th century. Thus, his view and aim is 'integrating rogue post-soviet republics, such as Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine, into the Russian sphere of influence'. As in both Ukraine's and Russia's charts Saturn is positioned in Aquarius, we would probably have to wait till it would ingress into Pisces for the full scale of current events to become clearer. This will happen at the beginning of March 2023. This may also mean that a more complete ending of hostilities will only happen around the first to second quarters of 2023.
In the meantime, we have to note that in the Russian national chart, the 6th house of 'service to your country' is heavily emphasized with both malefics inhabiting it. Russia at the moment feels like a conscripted and militarized society with censorship, rallies, propaganda and a very real danger presented to its servicemen. This brings us to the second point, which is an additional emphasis on its 8th house. As it's reported daily, the Russian army suffers great losses, both in terms of men and in terms of equipment. Mars' recent conjunction to Russia's natal Saturn shows this in a clear manner. Please note that Mars rules the 9th house of foreign countries (their military equipment) while Saturn rules the 6th of Russia's armed forces.
Through Ukraine's national chart we can find some additional testimony to possible outcomes which are shown by the invasion chart. The strongest evidence shown by transits is that both Mars and Saturn are creating a conjunction to Ukraine's Moon, which of course symbolizes the home and the people of the country. Saturn's rays would cease to hurt Ukraine's Moon, at the 22nd degree of Aquarius, only at the beginning of 2023. This of course is a bad sign, which may show that the war would continue in one sense or another till January or February of 2023. Even after Mars will leave Aquarius, in the middle of April 2022, he would still need some time to separate from the opposition it would make to Ukraine's Sun and later to its Mars. Thus Mars would be in the clear only around the end of April to the middle of May, which is probably the time Ukraine would see some major victories of her own (Update: the Russians retreated from Kiev).
With mars out of the picture, Saturn stationing retrograde, and Jupiter leaving Pisces and Russia's 8th house, the most concerning part of the war would probably be over for Ukraine around May 2022. Another round of hard fighting may be at hand, a bit later though. From November 2022 to January 2023, as Jupiter would retrograde back to oppose Ukraine's Mars, Saturn would again conjunct Ukraine's Moon, and Mars would station retrograde to square Ukraine's natal Mars. This would probably be the last phase of the war, as the invasion charts hints at an end before its 1-year mark.
With mars out of the picture, Saturn stationing retrograde, and Jupiter leaving Pisces and Russia's 8th house, the most concerning part of the war would probably be over for Ukraine around May 2022. Another round of hard fighting may be at hand, a bit later though. From November 2022 to January 2023, as Jupiter would retrograde back to oppose Ukraine's Mars, Saturn would again conjunct Ukraine's Moon, and Mars would station retrograde to square Ukraine's natal Mars. This would probably be the last phase of the war, as the invasion charts hints at an end before its 1-year mark.
My hopes and wishes are with the people of Ukraine. Let us pray for a quick and less bloody solution to this awful geopolitical situation, if at all possible.
Disclaimer: mundane astrology is not my specialty, but despite this fact I’ve tried my best to employ the tools at my disposal and stay objective all the while. My methodology for the first part of this article was to borrow rules and concepts from sports and contest horary astrology, and apply them to mundane material.
* This article was updated, for the second time, on the 29th of October 2022