Here's what I would to my own children if they were still littles and only if they were aware of the news:
Early Elementary talking points - not addressed in one sitting, sprinkled when asked:
"You know there are over 201 countries on this planet. Some are really big and powerful, some are growing, and some are really small. We live in one of the biggest countries. Right now, the leader of one the other really big countries has decided to try and take over a smaller country named Ukraine. Ukraine does not want to be taken over. Ukraine is fighting the bigger country to stay separate.
A fight like this is called a "war". A war means different people fighting about who they think is right. Most of the whole world thinks that attacking Ukraine is not okay.
Our country - the United States of America - does not think this is right and wants to help the people living in Ukraine. There are a lot of people in the government arguing about what to do and that's what we see on the news.
Our family is safe. We live far away from this. Here's how we know we are safe: We lock our doors, we have neighbors, we have police, we have military, we have the President and military leaders etc working for our country to keep us safe...
Here's what we can do if we have feelings about what is happening in Ukraine: Talk, hug, cuddle, walk, pray, go to... (offer positive activities)"
Older Elementary talking points - on top of the younger points ... as needed:
"The leader of Russia thinks that their country should take over another country called Ukraine. Ukraine does not want to be part of Russia and most of the people living there agree, so that whole country is fighting really hard to keep things the way they were. They are very brave! Many people living there are getting hurt or killed - all of this is really hard for us to imagine. (Ask for thoughts, validate responses)
In the past, people couldn't watch a war by going online because there wasn't an internet! We waited days for pictures from photographers. Now are living in an amazing time of technology. We can choose how often we pay attention to this and we can choose to remember to think of all the ways we are safe.
A number of countries in Europe and around the world have invited people escaping from Ukraine to shelter there safely. Even though we live far away from Ukraine, we can do helpful things for others right where we live, too. (Talk about age-appropriate ways your family can do things for others and validate each suggestion.)"