Did you know that there was a time when Kyiv was more powerful than Moscow?
Did you know that there was a time when Ukraine and the USA were adversaries?
This write up explains the tension and stand-off between the two countries and Russian President Vladimir Putin's 'obsession' with Ukraine and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's 'stubbornness'
Background History:
This story dates back to the 9th Century with a state called the KIEVAN RUS which sat in the present day locations of Russia,Ukraine and Belarus. It was home to the Slavic people and Kiev being thier capital. It is believed that between 980-1018 AD, it was ruled by Grand Prince Volodimer, coincidentally,this is the names of the two Presidents the two countries have now. Vladimir in Russian and Volodimer in Ukrainian. Both Russians and Ukrainians draw their lineage from this ancient Slavic State. In the centuries that followed, a lot changed for major part as Ukraine was under Russian rule. In the 1900s,the two were Soviet Republics; Russia the most powerful and Ukraine the second most powerful.
It had defense industries and large agricultural lands and housed most of the Soviet nuclear arsenal.
During the Cold War, Ukraine was the arch rival of the United States.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine became independent same as Russia with Ukraine inheriting much of the Soviet nuclear arsenal which included 176 Intercontinental Ballistic Missles (IBS) and 1249 nuclear warheads but gave them up to Russia in 1994,in exchange for this Moscow guaranteed Ukraine's security and promised to respect Ukraine's sovereignty which made them sign the Budapest Memoradum along with the United States, United Kingdom, Belarus and Kazakhstan.
Current Day Politics:
In November 2013, Viktor Yanukovych President of Ukraine had a reputation of heavy handedness and corruption and being a pro-Moscow. In December 2013, he rejected an EU trade deal; this deal could have meant greater integration with the European Union. At instance of this deal, Yanukovych decided to take a $15b bailout from Russia. Many Ukrainians felt they were being sold to Moscow,so protests broke out.
 |
| The statistics as of February 27th, 2022. |
 |
| Displaced inhabitants of Ukraine ๐บ๐ฆ praying for peace and survival. |
The protesters wanted Yanukovych to sign the EU deal and step down as well. Russia supported the president; the West supported the protesters. In February 2014, Yanukovych' government was toppled,the president was driven out of Ukraine, and he fled to Russia, but not every Ukrainian was happy with this.
Many in the Russian speaking east wanted Yanukovych to stay, and Moscow got outraged because it lost its puppet.
To salvage the situation, Moscow annexed Crimea. Crimea is a peninsula; it is located in the black sea.
In 1954, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev transferred Crimea. It was given to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic from the Russian Soviet Socialist Republic because Khrushchev believed that the transfer would enrich brotherly ties between the two nations. Both Russia and Crimea were part of the Soviet Union, and so the transfer didn't mean very much, but when Ukrane became independent in 1991, Crimea joined it. The peninsula gained special autonomy and remained home home to Russian military bases, and Moscow promised to respect Crimean autonomy.
 |
| Russian soldiers releasing powerful destructive weapons on the Ukrainians. |
After Yanukovych's ousting in 2014, the peninsula came under Russian military occupation, and a referendum followed, and on the 16th of March,2014, Crimea voted to become a part of Russia.
Was the vote legitimate? For Putin, it was Crimea's liberation for the West; it was Crimea's annexation.
The focus then later shifted to Eastern Ukraine,Donbas, where Russia backed separatists had seized territories. Ukrainian forces didn't launch an all-out offensive attack until 17th July 2014. When a flight carrying 298 people were shot down by the rebels, it was then that Ukrainian forces decided to flush out the rebels. The separatists started losing grounds, and the Russain army stepped in and invaded Eastern Ukraine and fought alongside the rebels. What followed was a series of talks between Russia,Ukraine, and the West known as the Minsk Accord, whose blueprint was ceasefire,military withdrawals between Ukraine and Russia, and Ukraine promised to hold election in rebel held areas.
Eight years on the Minsk Accords remain unimplemeted.
Ukraine stands as the largest European country, excluding Russia , has a population of 44 million, and a GDP of $150b
Today,Ukraine is more divided than one, the East and West.
The West sees itself as more European, and the East closer to Russia sees themselves as more Russian. Ukraine is currently at war with rebels in the east backed by Russian forces.
Russia has currently sent its troops just outside the Eastern border of Ukraine, where the rebels are.
What does Valdimir Putin want? He wants NATO to stop advancing
NATO( North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) a military alliance consists of countries of the West, including the United States,the United Kingdom,France,Germany,Italy,Belgium,Norway, and Portugal, among others.
Current Crises:
 |
| Ukrainian President joins the army to battle the Russians. |
Ukraine wants to join NATO, but Putin wants NATO to exclude Ukriane and all former Soviet States
This is just half of the story because much is embedded in history
Annexing Crimea,Putin's rating has gone up, and annexing part of Ukraine will help restore Russia's superpower image.
The current Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy came to power with a landslide victory in 2019 with 73% votes.
He's a vocal critic of Russia and openly opposes the Russain occupancy Eastern Ukraine. Zelenskiy is seen as the pulse of a new Ukraine.
A Ukraine that wants its total independence from Russia
What will the war between these two countries pose to the rest of the world, and what will be its impact?
 |
| Miss Ukraine ๐บ๐ฆ now a soldier to defend her country. True patriotism. |
CREDIT: OTU-MANDRAKES WILBERFORCE, Executive Secretary Center for International Relations and Diplomatic Affairs (CIRDA Gh) 0243296337, wmandrakes@gmail.com.
THE NEWS JUG ๐ฐ-Bringing News To Your Doorstep ๐ช.
Comments
Post a Comment
PLEASE TYPE YOUR MESSAGE HERE.....