History of Ukraine
When considering the war with Russia, it is important to consider the history of Ukraine. This will help us to understand why Russia considers their territory as rightfully theirs.
The name ‘Ukraine’ comes from the old Slavic term for ‘Borderland’ which was Ukraina. And the land has been home to the Slavic people since the middle ages, and it was contested for around 600 years. The Ukrainian people were ruled by many external powers such as the Polish-Lithuania Common-Wealth, the Austrian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Tsardom of Russia. After briefly becoming the Cossack Empire of Central Ukraine in the 17th century, Ukraine was partitioned by Russia and Poland, before being completely absorbed by the latter as part of the 1654 Pereiaslav Agreement.
Ukrainian nationalism began in the 19th century in Galicia, a western area of modern-day Ukraine, then owned by Austro-Hungary. This in turn lead to the formation of the Ukrainian People’s Republic in 1919 following the Russian Revolution. However, this new state was forcibly reconstituted into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic as a founding member of the Soviet Union. During the early period of the USSR, Ukrainians as well as other Soviet citizens, suffered from horrific famine including the Holodomor (terror famine) in which 3.9 million Ukrainians died.
Ukraine was finally united under its modern day borders in 1939 when it’s western regions were annexed from Poland by the USSR as part of the Warsaw Pact with Nazi Germany. It became the most populous Soviet Nation outside of Russia.
Modern Ukraine
Ukraine regained independence in 1991 following the dissolution of the USSR. 300,000 Ukrainians organized a human chain for Ukrainian independence between Kyiv and Lviv, in memory of the 1919 unification of the Ukrainian People’s Republic and the West Ukrainian National Republic.
Since independence in 1991, Ukraine has been governed as a unitary republic, and declared itself a neutral state. It did however form a limited military partnership with Russia and other members of the Commonwealth of Independent States, as well as establish a partnership with NATO in 1994. Additionally, Ukraine became a member of the United Nation, the Council of Europe, and the Organization for Security and Co-Operation.
Despite these western alliances and partnerships, Ukraine is one of the poorest countries in Europe, and suffers from widespread corruption, having lost 60% of GDP between 1991 and 1999.
2014 Conflict
In 2013 the Euromaidan protests began in Kyiv and spread across the nation. They were protesting the government’s decision not to sign the EU-Ukraine Association agreement, instead choosing closer relations with Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union. This was due to Russian pressure, despite Ukrainian parliament overwhelmingly approving the agreement. These protests lead to the Revolution of Dignity (the Maidan Revolution) in February 2014, which saw the ousting of President Viktor Yanukovych.
This lead to the invasion and annexation of Crimea. On February 23rd, there were pro-Russian demonstrations in the Crimean city of Sevastopol, and on the 27th, masked Russian troops without insignia took over the Supreme Council of Crimea as well as other strategic points on the peninsula. This was swiftly followed by the installation of a pro-Russian Sergey Aksyonov government.
A Crimean Status referendum was held, which saw 96.77% vote to join the Russian Federation. This vote was hugely disputed internationally, with a UN General Assembly voting 100 to 11 to declare the referendum invalid, and confirmed Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
The annexation of Crimea was however a precursor for the war in Donbas in March 2014. This occurred in the area encompassing the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. Separatists took control of large areas in the region, using a hybrid approach of both regular and irregular troops, the spread of disinformation, as well as conventional military support.
A joint EU, Russia, Ukraine and US Diplomatic Statement known as the 2014 Geneva Act requested all unlawful militias lay down their weapons, to vacated seized buildings. This was successful in achieving more autonomy for Ukraine’s eastern regions.
Inter-war period
In May 2014, the pro-western Petro Poroshenko won the presidential election, and later in the year he ratified the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, setting 2020 as the target for EU Membership application. Additionally, in February 2015 Poroshenko negotiated the Minsk Protocol, which was an official ceasefire that gave Ukraine control of their Russian border and ensured the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory.
This was the start of what was supposed to be the gradual integration of Ukraine with the EU and NATO. In 2016 Ukraine joined the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area with EU, and 2017 the EU approved visa—free travel in the Schengen area for Ukrainian citizens.
2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine
In late 2021 Russia began to amass 190,000 troops by the Ukrainian’s northern and eastern borders.
Shortly before invasion, Putin televised irredentist views, questioned Ukrainian statehood and falsely-accused the government of being neo-Nazis who persecuted ethnic-Russian minorities. On February 21st, Putin officially recognises the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic as sovereign states. He accused NATO of expanding eastward since 2000, which NATO denied, in turn accusing Russia of intending to invade Ukraine. Russia denied this until February 23rd.
On February 24th, Russia invades Ukraine via ground assault and aerial bombardment. This leads to Ukraine applying for EU membership 4 days later, who agree to supply $540m worth of military supplies.
As of 5th of May, there have been 5.7m refugees have fled Ukraine, at least 3,200 civilians have been killed, and there is no end in sight.
Why?
Putin claims that his motivation is to “de-nazify and demilitarise Ukraine” and to ensure Ukraine’s neutral status, and claims he was protecting people subjected to 8 years of bullying and genocide. However, in reality he believes Ukraine’s territory to be Russian, he’s intimidated by NATO expansion, and he wants Ukraine’s resources and strategic positioning.