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Most of the trending social feeds note the unrest on the frontlines of Russia and Ukraine. Amid the establishment of Russian troops on the Ukrainian borders, President Joe Biden of the United States of America cited, “This would be the biggest invasion since the Second World War.” What is exactly happening? What are its origins?
To understand the relations between the two countries, it is necessary to go to the roots of this conflict. The Russia-Ukraine relationship has been bleak and hostile since the 20th century; when Ukraine gained independence from the Soviet Union on 23rd August 1991, it was rising from 70 long years of totalitarianism. They had gone through civil war under the Bolsheviks, the callous occupation of Nazis, and a famine that killed 4 million Ukrainians. Before its liberation, the Ukrainian state was no more than a puppet of the USSR.
Later, in early 2014, the Russian nation grabbed the advantage of the political restlessness in Ukraine caused by the Revolution of Dignity. Under leader Vladimir Putin, Russia invaded Crimea on 23 February 2014. Several pro-Russian demonstrations were enforced, followed by the seizure of the Crimean Supreme Council. Ukraine and many other countries condemned the annexation and considered it to be a violation of international law.
Ukraine’s post-revolutionary government wished to commit the country to a future within the European Union and NATO, rather than continuing to play the delicate diplomatic game of balancing its own economic and security interests with those of Russia, the EU, and NATO members. Fearing a ring-fence by the potentially hostile powers of Europe, after Ukraine joined the EU, the Russian Federation backed the separatist militia, the Donetsk’s People’s Republic, and the Luhansk’s People’s Republic, in a war with Donbas, Ukraine’s economically prominent region. By early 2020, the battle in Donbas killed 13,000 civilians. In 2021, the Russian military buildup escalated tensions between the two parties. Lately, there have been around 2,000 explosions, followed by airstrikes, and the Ukrainian government is seeking international support.
Several sanctions are about to be imposed on the Russian state for the acts of Vladimir Putin. Netizens have been questioning if there exists any diplomatic solution to this issue. Intense diplomacy is still going on, but a deal would have to cover both the war in eastern Ukraine and the wider security issues Russia insists on. When will this autocracy come to an end?
