Unless you’ve been living under a rock these past few weeks, you should be vaguely aware of the conflict taking place in Ukraine. While this might seem far away now, Russia’s invasion of this sovereign state is possibly the start of the biggest war in Europe since 1945. So, it’s definitely something you want to keep track of. To get you up to speed, here’s an overview of the conflict and how we got to this point.
1. What happened this week?
On 24 February, under some dodgy pretences and going against the entire Western world, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a peaceful nation with no interest in war.
2. This isn’t Russia’s first invasion of the region
Almost to the day some eight years ago, Russia launched an armed aggression against Ukraine, seizing part of its territory, the Crimean Peninsula.
3. The pretext for invasion
Russia distributed hundreds of thousands of passports in Ukraine’s Donbass region and, in recent months, Russian officials have warned that these new citizens are facing ‘genocide’. This is a pretext fabricated to validate Russia’s invasion, but it’s not based on fact. Russia’s aggressive policy has also seen the country violate the territorial integrity of Moldova and Georgia where they were trying to ‘protect’ Russian-speaking populations in the Baltic States.
4. Why is Russia doing this?
The Kremlin is convinced it cannot be a world leader without control of Ukraine, which it threatens with authoritarian rule. Putin views Ukraine as Russia’s sphere of influence – a territory rather than a sovereign state. Much like how Russia created a ‘frozen conflict’ in Moldova and Georgia, it’s doing the same with Ukraine, whereby a nation can’t join Nato if it doesn’t control all of its borders.
5. What was the build-up to this?
The past several months has seen Russia amassing some 100 000 troops along its border with Ukraine. The USA has responded by sending several thousand troops to Poland and Romania which border Ukraine. In mid-January, Russian troops moved into Belarus, a country that borders both Russia and Ukraine, in preparation for military exercises.
6. What are some of the tactics Russia has used?
The aforementioned military aggression is one of Russia’s tactics but, as with any warfare, there are many other fronts. Russia has also engaged in large-scale propaganda and misinformation, trade and economic pressure, blocking energy supplies, intimidation of citizens, and cyber-attacks.
7. Why is the West against the invasion?
The fabrication of this pretext for invasion against a peaceful country is not being bought by anyone in the West – apart from possibly Donald Trump. Additionally, Russia has violated a number of the fundamental norms and principles of international law, bilateral and multilateral agreements.
‘Putin wants the world to travel back in time to when empires ruled the world. But the rest of the world has moved forward. It is not 1919, it is 2022’
– Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US Ambassador to the United Nations
SOURCES:
https://mfa.gov.ua/en/10-facts-you-should-know-about-russian-military-aggression-against-ukraine
https://time.com/6150708/russia-ukraine-invasion-war/
https://theconversation.com/5-things-to-know-about-why-russia-might-invade-ukraine-and-why-the-us-is-involved-175371
https://warontherocks.com/2022/02/passports-as-pretext-how-russias-war-on-ukraine-could-start/
