RUSSIA UKRAINE CONFLICT

Two former republics of the USSR Russia and Ukraine are once again in conflict. The Ukraine
crisis escalated in early 2014 with the takeover of Crimea and the occupation of key
government buildings in the country’s east by pro-Russian separatists. Russia will then overtake
the Crimean Peninsula. Secessionist eastern Ukraine, backed by Russia, later declared itself
independent as the Donestsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic. They
declare war on Ukraine.

HISTORY
The two countries' shared heritage goes back more than a thousand years to a time when Kiev,
now Ukraine's capital, was at the centre of the first Slavic state. Kyiv, Russia, is the birthplace of
both Russia and Ukraine. Throughout the last ten centuries, competing powers have sought out
Ukraine.
More than a century later, in 1793, the right bank (western Ukraine) was occupied by the
Russian Empire. Over the years, they followed a policy known as "russification," which banned
the use and study of the Ukrainian language and pressured people to convert to the Russian
Orthodox faith.
The Ukraine suffered some of its greatest traumas during the 20th century. After the
communist revolution in 1917, Ukraine was one of the many countries to fight a brutal civil war
before being fully absorbed into the Soviet Union in 1922.
These historical legacies left behind permanent fault lines. Eastern Ukrainians have deeper links
to Russia and a history of supporting the Russians. Learning leaders, since their region was
under Russian control for a longer period of time than western Ukraine Western Ukrainians in
particular have a preference for leaders who are more pro-Western because their region spent
centuries under the rule of European nations like Poland and the nuclear Hungarian Empire.
While in the west there are more Ukrainian speakers and Catholics, the eastern population is
typically more Russian-speaking and Orthodox. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991,
Ukraine became an independent nation. But bringing the nation together was a difficult task,
for example. According to Steven Pifer, Ukraine's foreign minister, the sense of Ukrainian
nationalism in the east is not as strong as it is in the west. In 1994, under the Budapest
Memorandum, Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons in exchange for a commitment from
Moscow to respect the independence, sovereignty, and the existing borders of Ukraine.
Early in the 1990s, Ukrainian foreign policy was primarily focused on securing its sovereignty
and independence, and it was balanced between collaboration with the EU, Russia, and other
strong policies.
But in 2013, Ukraine's president, Viktor Yanukovych, wanted Ukraine to be loyal to Russia. So
he decided not to sign a trade agreement to bring Ukraine closer to Europe. Ukranians
protested, kicked the president out of office, and elected a new government that focused on
Europe rather than Russia.
Russian President Putin claimed that with these protests, most Ukrainians would join a military
alliance with the US and Europe that would be a threat to Russia.
In March 2014, Russian troops took control of the Ukrainian region of Crimea. The Russian
president claimed that there was a need to protect the rights of Russian citizens and Russian
speakers in Crimea and southeast Ukraine. Russia formally occupied the peninsula after Crimea
voted in a disputed local referendum to join the Russian Federation. After two months, pro-
Russian separatists in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donestsk and Luhansk held their own
independence referendums.
Between Russian border forces and Ukrainian forces, an armoured conflict erupted quickly in
the region.
Beginning in February 2015, France, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine attempted a meeting of
negotiations to bring an end to the violence through talk. But it was successful.
In 2017, the United States also donated two US army tank brigades to Poland in order to
strengthen NATO's presence in the region.
A Russian force was formed in October 2021, and by the end of the year, more than a hundred
Russian troops were stationed near the Russian-Ukrainian border.
In December 2021, the Russian Foreign Minister called on the United States and NATO to stop
military activity in eastern Europe and central Asia, commit to no further NATO expansion
toward Russia, and stop Ukraine from joining NATO in the future. The United States and the
NATO allies rejected these demands and threatened to impose severe economic sanctions if
Russia took aggressive action against Ukraine.
In early February 2022, a satellite image showed the largest deployment of Russian troops to its
border with Belarus since the end of the Cold War. Negotiations between the United States,
Russia, and European powers, including France and Germany, feverishly sought to bring about a
resolution.
In February 2022, the United States warned Russia not to invade Ukraine.
On February 24, 2022, during a last-ditch Security Council effort to deter Russia from attacking
Ukraine, Putin announced the start of a full-scale land, sea, and air invasion of Ukraine,
targeting Ukrainian military installations and cities throughout the country.
Beginning on October 10, Russia launched its most extensive attacks on Ukraine in months,
striking military and energy facilities as well as several civilian areas during rush hour.
What is Russia's broad interest in Ukraine?
Russia has deep cultural, economic, and political bonds with Ukraine, which are given below.

Family ties
Russia and Ukraine have strong familial ties that go back centuries.

Russian Diaspora
Approximately eight million ethnic Russians were living in Ukraine as of 2001, according to

ECONOMY
Russia was Ukraine's largest trading partner for a long time, but this relationship has
deteriorated dramatically in recent trade with Ukraine.

ENERGY
For decades, Russia relied on Ukrainian pipelines to pump its gas to customers in central and
eastern Europe.

LABOUR
Russia has a strong interest in laobour. Millions of Ukrainians work in Russia, and the Russia-
Ukraine border is the world's second-largest migration border, according to the EU-funded
migration policy center. Russian companies are one of the largest investors in Ukraine;
according to a report, 7 percent of total foreign investment in 2013

SECURITY
Threats to Russia’s security will increase significantly if Ukraine joins NATO. If Russia faces such
a threat as Ukraine joining NATO, then the threat to our country will increase many times. Putin
stated and referred to NATO Article 5, which states that any country or alliance that attacks one
of its members must be fought against. Thus, it is clearly a threat to Russia.
WEST SUPPORT UKRAINE;
The west has provided a range of economic, political, and military support, all of which has
helped Ukraine on the battlefield and contributed to Russia's isolation from the west.

ROLE OF NATO
Nato's involvement in the Russia-Ukraine crisis began with Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea
in 2014. NATO has helped to reform Ukraine's armed forces and defence institutions, including
with equipment and financial support. Allies also provided training for tens of thousands of
Ukrainian troops.

FUTURE OF CONFLICT
According to my perspective, keeping in mind Putin's policy, Russia will never let peace prevail
in Ukraine. It will always create unrest in Ukraine to create a buffer zone there.

CONCLUSION
Whatever the causes of war, the outcome is always the same: thousands of wars have been
known to set nations back centuries. Such nations have to struggle for new development. The
leaders of the world need to access them if they keep these results in mind and rise above. If
there is personal interest, then it is possible that the horrors of war can be avoided.