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Angee Escobar
English 3 Honors
1 May 2015
Post-Soviet Ukrainian Power Struggle
Throughout history, the UN has recognized multiple terrorist groups, dangers to security,
and disruptions of peace, but in recent months it has struggled to accept the dangers of a modern
day war between Ukraine and Russia, liberal versus strategic conservatism- a fight that the
Kremlin is risking to fight to the death. Putins interference with Ukraine has shown repression in
both political and civil events, considering the murder of his opposition, Boris Nemtsov, the
killings of over 6,000 eastern Ukrainian citizens in under a year, and the annexation of Ukrainian
owned Crimea, which have led to a mass uncertainty about European Union and NATO
interventions. Several human rights violations have occurred in recent months including the
support of pro- Russian groups killing their liberal opposition, and both sides continuing to
murder at cost of innocent citizens. These violations have led to the question of a NATO
intervention, and although treaties dont force them to help, countries like Canada and England
have considered supplying Ukraine with the weapons and supplies. Ukraine has not only been
upset about Russias annexation of Crimea but also the fact that Putin has made allies with
Chechen gangsters in order to create uprisings, by paying people to show up, within Ukraine to
force anyone opposed to a Soviet ideology out. What does the future hold for Crimea, Ukraine,
Russia, and the Western allies? Not one source can determine this because of this sudden
conflict, news sources have come out with unrealistic hypothetical theories and at the other
extreme, Russia has been refusing to any responsibility for their actions in the past year.

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The only certainty in the middle of this refuted warfare has been the fact that Putin has resorted
to using Russias old, historically notorious methods of seemingly perceived nationalism and
rigged elections in order to abuse power.
Human rights have been toppling downward since early 2014 even with sequential
ceasefires. Sources from the United Nations have confirmed the severity of these occurrences,
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein says, Many have been
trapped in conflict zones, forced to shelter in basements, with hardly any drinking water, food,
heating, electricity or basic medical supplies," and that many people stay because they fear for
their lives if they try to move. Many others stay to protect children, other family members, or
their property. And some are forced to stay against their will, or are simply physically unable to
leave (Brumfield). On October 21, USA Today reported the story of a woman who lost
everything to anti- Maidan supporters and of many cases where Christian priests have been
attacked, killed, and have had their churches stolen for Russian military use- all for Ras-Putin's
perverted Greater Russia (Timms), showing not only on a physical level but also emotionally
the toll that Putins actions have taken on Ukrainian citizens. Conditions like these have been
deemed unacceptable and terrorist attacks have been exponentially occurring as Ukrainian
unsteadiness continues. Areas such as Kharkiv and Odesa have continually started to enforce less
humans rights laws and unrest has become common, even with plenty of military presence
(Brumfield). Not only has this assault on Ukraine created a change in human rights but also
quality of life for those living through this reality, including one of its most important
necessities- energy.

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In the past several centuries, Russia has become one of the worlds largest natural gas
and coal producers, which in comparison to Ukraine, makes it a bigger opponent than the Baltics
can handle, but what is the most unsettling is the alarm its causing within Eastern Europe.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has sent many of these Baltic states looking for renewable (not
coal) energy sources and has scared Ukraine in its need to continue to support itself (Matthews).
The Economist reports, a deal on gas supplies from Russia have been thwarted because, for the
third time in eight years, the Russian gas giant, Gazprom, has turned off the taps. That may affect
the European Union because Russia accounts for a third of the EU's gas imports, and half of
them flow through Ukraine. Not only does the reduction of gas to Ukraine mean that their
people will be unable to do simple household tasks, but it also means that their dependency on
their government will be even more than originally thought.
Putin has shown that his interest isnt with the people but with his own egotistical plans
for a greater Russia. Newsweek reports that, Russias behavior over the past year seems to show
that geopolitics matter more to the Kremlin than economic self-interest. U.S. and European
economic sanctions in the wake of Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014--including an asset
freeze on Chemezov and dozens of other Putin cronies--have put Russia's economy into a
tailspin, but that hasn't made a difference to Putin's support for rebels in Eastern
Ukraine(Matthews). Proving that Putin is only more interested in creating an easier
international relation situations for himself to control Ukraine by changing economic markets
and forcing Ukraine to turn to Russia when none of its Western allies will help. Other new
sources such as New Statesmen state that there is a clear presence of weapons and militias, and
since the start of hostility, has caused the massacre of over 5,700 people and has created 1.5
million internally/ internationally displaced people (Pond). Even with all this evidence, no

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interventions have been made and Russia denies all accusations of war, but continues to go
against Khrushchev's decision in the 1960s to give Ukraine its sovereignty by signing the BrestLitovsk treaty after the fall of the USSR (Timms). Russias geographic greediness has brought
itself on its knees and Putins economic fights have not turned out well for its economy eitherbut still other Eastern European countries are afraid. Russias mass land only scares those
countries who are unable to afford self-sufficiency but mostly it makes Ukrainians afraid of a
socialist regime. Government reactions to these recent events have shown contradictory and
complex opinions, and have even proven evident corruption within Russias supposed federal
republic.
Putins relentlessness and hypocrisy has been shown in his multiple scandals and the
mysterious deaths of his opposition discloses Russias stance on freedom of speech, change, and
revolution within their country. The story of Boris Nemtsov is well known by major media
outlets such as CNN, BBC, and his colleagues- members of the Peoples Freedom Party, a man
whose life was cut short by the unchanging rule that So die all enemies of the
regime(Matthews). A writer from Newsweek claims that Putin killed liberals like Nemtsov and
Nemtsov himself in order force anti- Maidan opposers into silence, but these claims are not
unfounded (Matthews) . Through comprehensive research, Nemtsovs death has been connected
to Putin and the anti- Maidan movement, and although the data is dispersed, it is completely
undeniable, contrary to Russias stance of silence.
News sources such as The Economist have reported that once Crimeas parliament had
been taken over in late February of 2014, Russias war against Ukraine had already started and
Nemtsovs outcries would be heard. According to its sources, less than two weeks before
Nemtsov's murder there were several organized protests in Moscow censuring liberalism in

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Europe ("Uncontrolled violence; Russia after Nemtsov."), indicating that Putin had planned his
steps carefully but not discreetly. It is believed that Moscows large outcome was attributed to
Russias propaganda machine has been a key component of the "hybrid warfare" that Russia has
waged in Ukraine, and has helped shore up Vladimir Putin's support at home. but the shocking
information confirms that this propaganda spills into east European countries via television
services that offer viewers tasty blends of entertainment garnished with sprigs of fake news
("Aux armes, journalistes! Charlemagne").
Not only has Putins careless campaign put Ukraines freedom at stake but it has forced
their citizens to ignore the fact that Russians are stealing their land and has distressed Ukraine's
weak economy and government. All his political plays have lead back to the same culprits and
rationale- speech is should only be free if its censored, or else consequences follow. Nemtsovs
murder itself proved to be eye opening, Five suspects have been apprehended, all of them from
Chechnya. The mastermind of the operation, according to Russia's Federal Security Service, or
FSB, was Zaur Dadayev--a man with close ties to a Chechen rebel-turned Putin loyalist, Ramzan
Kadyrov. ("Who Really Killed Boris Nemtsov? It's scary to think Vladimir Putin was behind
Nemtsov's death. The more frightening prospect: He wasn't"). According to Newsweeks Owen
Matthews, Kadyrov was unhappy at the simple idea of a majority opposition, such as Nemtsov,
who was well known for protesting against Putins rise to a more significant influence. Kadyrov
even tried to have him arrested but his threats were met by pity and concern from Nemtsov.
Nemtsov became Kadyrov's antithesis, he was a protestor of the annexation of Crimea and
fought with the EU and US against Putins government but Kadyrov continued to be a strong
supporter of the anti- Maidan movement and had strong monetary means to continue being
Russias protector and ally.

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Even with this information, it is unfortunate to know that Nemtsov was only one of the
many to be killed for their free beliefs, several reporters have gone missing since the early 2000s,
including Anna Politkovskaya and Natalia Estemirova, for divergent opinions on government
corruption not only within Russia but also Chechnya ("Who Really Killed Boris Nemtsov? It's
scary to think Vladimir Putin was behind Nemtsov's death. The more frightening prospect: He
wasn't"). The National Reviews Tom Frum supports this by saying, In Putin's Russia you take
your life in your hands by discussing either the endemic corruption of officialdom or the
Kremlin's foreign policy and includes that At least a dozen of Putin's critics had already been
assassinated, and not a single culprit has been brought to justice. Regardless of opinion, Putin
has not learned from his mistakes and in the past 6 months his pact with Chechnya has been
strained, The Economists Charlemagne reports, The stakes are high; Mr. Putin is trying to
preserve at least the appearance of stability, and this week went ahead with a planned award to
Mr. Kadyrov. Should the Chechen leader lose Kremlin support, he and his male progeny may be
at risk because he has many "blood enemies". Mr. Putin also needs Mr. Kadyrov to keep order in
Chechnya. But the bond is unstable. The following months will shows the importance of
Ukraine in Putins soviet-motivated strategy, and even in the 1970s Zbigniew Brzezinski
understood how 'Ukraine ... is a geopolitical pivot because its very existence as an independent
country helps to transform Russia. Without Ukraine, Russia ceases to be a Eurasian empire.'
(Hitchens). It must be understood that Putin is starting become tired of his contract with
Kadyrov- money has not become enough, and this may be the opportunity that the EU and
NATO have been looking for ("The Caucasian connection; Russia and Chechnya").
Lastly is the uncertainty on whether or not NATO will act on its sanctions under Article 5,
which forces NATO to send military help to any member in trouble, but for the past several

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months Ukraine's western allies have dodged any serious warfare and recent commentary from
NATO's secretary general has revealed that NATO understands the severity of Russia violating
international law and realizes the WWII history behind it (Wells). Regardless of any NATO
knowledge, Russia still denies that they are trying to revive Stalinism by trying to create a single
state, having a cult personality, and ignoring the interests of other foreign parties. Through the
conversation NATO maintained that they are continue to support Ukraine, condemn Russias
annexation of Crimea, and do not recognize it as a legal diplomatic action (Wells). Although
there has been a lot of speculation about an intervention, NATO remains that they are trying to
devote more of their budget to ISR, or intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance" in order to
be prepared for any altercations in the future (Wells). Fortunately for NATO, Stephen Blank says
that Western powers such as France, Spain, the US, and the UK have taken charge of scaring
Russias rise to power with democracy ("Putin's army"). Other global leaders have also
considered intervening including, Jean-Claude Juncker, the President of the European
Commission who called for the creation of a European Union army to face up to Russia. and
Samantha Power, the US ambassador to the United Nations who flew to Brussels to
encourage the leaders of Nato countries to meet their defense spending commitments of 2 per
cent of GDP ("Five ethnic Chechens) while other nations such as the US have said they
would not intervene militarily to defend Ukraine, a non-member of Nato, but would gamble
instead of countering Russia with slow-impact financial sanctions on his entourage(Pond).
Regardless, the Russian violations on Ukraine have not gone unheard and some could even say
this incident is shockingly similar to negotiations during the Cold War, regressing a modern
world to an age old war.

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These recent events have reminded people of Soviet Russia and its hold on satellite states
(now former) because somehow Putins mentality is still stuck in 1930s Europe when the Red
Army/ Bolsheviks took control of Ukraine and Russification began (Riasanovsky 537). As the
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic formed, repercussions and consequences also followed, in
1923, millions died from politically induced starvation in both the USSR and Ukraine (UkraineThe Famine of 1923-33). The Bolsheviks then realized that fascist regimes had taken over
Western Europe and Stalin maintained that Soviet Russia should focus on maintaining its
borders and instead began to slowly take over countries bordering the USSR- his plan worked
and the USSR quickly industrialized (www.worldpolicy.org). Putin is similarly slowly taking
over Russias surrounding countries, in 2008 he invaded Georgia and in 2014 he invaded
Ukrainian borders. Currently Russias economy is on the rocks and during the Cold War, the
USSR dissolved due market crashes and an unstable economy. Even after several years of
becoming Russia again, the quick change from a socialist economy to a market economy created
an 8 year recession (Macroeconomic Indicators). Putins actions have also made others, fear
that the killing of Mr. Nemtsov will be used to unleash a new bout of political repression, as
happened in 1934 after the murder of Sergei Kirov, a charismatic Bolshevik leader. Stalin, who is
generally believed to have ordered that killing, blamed it on "enemies of the people".
("Uncontrolled violence; Russia after Nemtsov"). Although it has become apparent that Putin
isnt trying to express nationalistic pride for the USSR, the outcome is much worse than
previously thought- he seems to be trying to recreate a Soviet empire.
The future of Russia is uncertain, whether Western Europe will sit and watch as Russia
continues to annex surrounding countries or not. NATO and the EU determine whether they will
make last minute reactions similar to decisions made in the 1900s or if they will take action

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against one of the world's largest military nations. The understanding that Putin has taken over
the livelihoods of millions of Ukrainians, their homes, their heat, their family, their rights- but
mostly their peace of mind, is vital to understanding the repression they are living in. Uncertainty
has become the greatest threat in Ukraine's fight against socialist ideas and the Kremlin.

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Works Cited
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Hitchens, Peter. "The empire-builders: For Nato and the EU as much as for Putin, Ukraine is a
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PowerSearch.

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Matthews, Owen. "Who Really Killed Boris Nemtsov? It's scary to think Vladimir Putin was
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