An easy-to-understand explanation of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Throughout the vast majority of the 20th century, Ukraine used to be a semi-autonomous state within the Soviet Union (USSR) or present-day Russia. While under the rule of the Soviet Union, the native Ukrainian people were subject to forced labour, assimilation and other human rights violations; as a result, most of Ukraine wanted to emigrate from the Soviet Union or be separate from Russia. During the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Ukrainian people seized the opportunity and declared themselves separate as the Democratic Republic of Ukraine. This had devastating impacts on the new Russian economy since Ukraine was their biggest producer of agricultural products and was strategically placed along the black sea. In order to bring Russia back to its glory days, the Kremlin made several attempts to overthrow Ukrainian democracy but ultimately failed. One man who is determined to take back Ukraine is the honourable Vladimir Putin.
Recently under the command of the Honourable President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, Russia has amassed more than 100,000 troops near the Ukrainian border and has also sent more equipment to separatists in eastern Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian defence intelligence and the US Central Intelligence Agency. They said Russia had this month sent 7000 tons of fuel, several tanks and self-propelled artillery systems, other weapons and ammunition, including artillery systems and mortars to the separatist regions in an effort to get the Separatists to convert regions of Ukraine into Russian territory.
Six months ago, Vladimir Putin presented a 7,000-word manifesto on the historical ties between Ukraine and Russia with the claim that Russians and Ukrainians were one people, part of a single whole. But to the common misfortune and tragedy of both countries, Putin said, in recent years a wall has emerged between Russia and Ukraine. Some people see Putin's comments as part of the explanation for the massing of tens of thousands of troops on its borders with Ukraine, a move that has prompted Western officials to issue increasingly alarming warnings that Russia is gearing up for an invasion. Russian Minister of Defense the honourable Sergey Lavrov warned Wednesday that Russia would take necessary countermeasures if the West continues on its aggressive course, but Moscow has denied that it is planning to invade.
Russia sees Ukraine's integration with NATO as a threat to its national security and has insisted that NATO should not extend eastward to Ukraine and other former Soviet states. Representatives of the Russian Government and Russian Government Negotiators demanded that NATO's military deployments in Central and Eastern Europe should also be reduced. At this time war still seems unlikely; in fact, it is believed that Vladimir Putin is using this crisis as a hostage situation, where he is holding Ukraine hostage and is demanding requests from the Western Powers and NATO in return for Ukraine’s safety and sovereignty.
Many experts question why Vladimir Putin chose this specific time to create such a crisis. Well, the answer is very simple – right now the western countries are falling apart. The United States has become a dysfunctional democracy and highly polarized society that is unable to make effective decisions in a reasonable amount of time. Along with other western countries, the US is also combating the COVID-19 public health crisis. Moreover, they are facing problems regarding high inflation rates and different protests from political extremists, the most famous being the events of January 6th. Since the West is facing all of these domestic problems, they will be less likely and prepared to cope with foreign geopolitical conflict outside their own countries; hence this is an excellent opportunity for Putin to hold Ukraine hostage and face minimal intervention from foreign powers.
By Harnidh Galsinh
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