Russian invasion of Ukraine – After months of preparation, Russia announced a special military strike On one of its southwest neighbors, Ukraine. Russia Ukraine, what’s the hot topic of December 21 and January 22.
Ukraine and NATO countries were constantly accusing Russia and its president, Mr. Putin, for its increased military presence on the Ukrainian border for the last three months.
All that time, Russia and this president, Mr. Putin, denied every allegation. They kept saying it was just a military drill, and they were not increasing any troops permanently on its border.
Every allegation of Ukraine and NATO allies came through when Russia announced a special military attack on February 24, 2022. Soon after the announcement, Russian forces marched towards the capital Kyiv.
There’s no specific reason why Mr. Putin announced a special military operation AKA war on Ukraine, but How the world is anticipating that Ukraine wasn’t talking with NATO to join, which Russia didn’t like.
As we have already talked about, the Russian invasion move to Ukraine is not a new thing. In the Soviet era, Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, and Russians thought that Ukraine was an integral part of Russia.
History of Russia Ukraine relations
Let’s first understand the history of Ukraine and Russia for a better picture regarding their historical relations and current developments.
Geographically both countries share a common border, and that is why it was very easy for Russia to start the invasion of Ukraine.
We will not go far away in history to understand the relations of Russia and Ukraine. Let’s start from 1991 when Ukraine became independent from the Soviet Union. On December 1, 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev announced the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union, Ukraine voted for independence, and people overwhelmingly supported it. Most of the people wanted independence from the Russian empire.
Ukraine is the second-largest country in Europe by landmass and sizeable population. That is why the Russian invasion of Ukraine was a hot topic in Europe.
On December 5, 1994, nearly three years after the independence of Ukraine. Russia, Ukraine, and the United States signed a Budapest memorandum which was an agreement to transfer all nuclear weapons from the Cold War era to Russian Federation,
Did you know before 1994, Ukraine had the third-largest nuclear stockpile? In exchange for all the nuclear weapons, Russia and the United States committed to own Ukraine’s sovereignty and its right to its territory.
Fast forward ten years, in November December 2004, the orange revolution overturns the presidential election, which was previously worn by its candidate who was supported by Russia. People did not like the result, and most of them saw it as fraudulent. That is why there was a revote, resulting in the loss of a Russia-backed candidate.
Entry of NATO conflict
In 2022 you will hear a lot of words such as Soviet Union, NATO, allied nations, etc. kindly do not get confused. These are not new terms. NATO was formed in 1949 When France and the U.K. were in fear of German or Soviet attack in the aftermath of World War Two.
Originally the alliance had only 12 countries, but now it has expanded to 30 nations. Ukraine was the next country that was expected to join the NATO group. And that is why Russia attacked Ukraine.
In the early April of 2008, Ukraine first made the news when it expressed its desire to join NATO. Even then, Russian President Mr. Putin makes his opposition to Ukrainian membership.
Putin thinks that if Ukraine joins NATO, then the American group will be near the Moscow border, and in the next war, Russia will lose because they will fight on the gates of Moscow. That is one of the biggest reasons why Ukraine is under attack by Russia.
Even after 14 years of discussion, Ukraine has not become part of not a group. Previously the Russian president has told former U.S. President Bush that Ukraine is not even a real nation-state.
In the fall of 2013 and rise of 2014, Russia backed the president who won the presidential election in Ukraine back in 2010, pleases to Russia as wide protests started after the arrest of its political opponent.
Soon after the protests, Russia seizes Crimea, which is a Ukrainian peninsula. Russian troops occupy key sites on the Pensacola, and soon after the season, international outrage forms after the attack by the United Nations and European Union as well.
In early 2021 Putin presented a few demands to NATO and the United States, which included that Ukraine will never be part of NATO. All of these demands were somehow rejected, and during that time, Russia increased the number of troops near the Ukrainian border.
Apart from that, the Russian president also claimed that Russians and Ukrainians are one people. In February 2022, Russia announced 2 Ukrainian regions, which broke away from Ukraine in 2014 as sovereign countries.
Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022
Just like everyone expected, Russia announced its special military operation on Ukraine, which in reality, was a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian President on February 24 announced that they were going to launch a full-scale military operation on Ukraine, which is necessary to save the Ukrainian people from the evil government.
There are many reasons for Russian action, but one of the hot topics was the long talks of Ukraine joining NATO. Russia does not want one more of its neighboring countries to join NATO and have its army near Moscow.
It is never going to be in favor of Russia if Ukraine or any other nearby country becomes a member of NATO. Currently, there are three countries that share borders with Russia, our member of the NATO group.
Apart from that, Russian President Mr. Putin does not think Ukraine is a sovereign state. In her article, he even wrote that Ukrainians and Russians are one people.
What does Putin want now?
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the big question which comes to everyone’s mind is what does Putin want now? What is going to be his next action because it is not going to stop here?
Putin did not fight this battle because he did not like Ukraine joining not to, but there is a bigger motive behind his actions. Many experts believe that he wants to create another Soviet Group.
Experts believe that as he is getting older, Mr. Putin wants to create something new in the history books of the country. He wants to present himself as a neo czar. Apart from that, the reconstitution of as much Soviet Union as possible is also on his agenda.
Even though in today’s time, where the United States and NATO group is in domination, Mr. Putin still believes there is hope, and with hook or crook, he is going to create it.
Putin already has a history of invading countries and occupying them. For example, in 2008, Georgia was also in talks with NATO to become its member, but the Russian army invaded the country. Apart from that, in 2014, Crimea’s annexation is another big example.
Putin does not even recognize Ukraine as an independent country. He expects all his feelings in a long note on Ukraine where he basically said Ukrainian and Russian are one people in one country.
What can be the result of the Russian invasion?
Currently, we cannot say much about what is going to happen. Till now, Russia has not conquered Ukraine, and both of the countries haven’t had any peace talks.
But there is one thing which is surely going to happen, and that is sanctions on Russia. Recently most of the countries, including the European Union, the United States, and Canada, have announced multiple sanctions on Russia.
For example, now Russian swift has been blocked, and Russian residents can not trade in the European and American debt markets. The United States has also blocked the accounts of Russians.
Other countries, including Sweden and Finland, Who were in talks with NATO to become their member, are going to think more than twice. Russia recently announced that any other country near Russia even thinks of joining NATO as an enemy of Russia.
In recent months Mr. Putin has become very aggressive, and experts do not believe Sweden and Finland are going to consider joining NATO in the near future.
Takeaways
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has become one of the hot topics in the first quarter of the year 2022. Mr. Putin announced a special military operation in Ukraine.
The whole world was shocked, and we even saw a panicked money market. Most of the stock exchanges around the world dropped at least five to 10%, while the Russian Stock Exchange plunged more than 50% from recent highs.
There is no doubt that the Russian economy will be affected by this invasion because many developed countries, including the European Union and the United States, have announced several economic sanctions.
Experts believe that even after the successful invasion, Russia is not going to stop here. Mr. Putin has aspirations of capturing as much land as possible similar to the Soviet era.
Why doesn’t the U.S. stop the Russian invasion of Ukraine?
It is not as easy as everyone thinks in the United States. On the first day of the war, Russia clearly announced that anyone who helped Ukraine Was going to be the next where Russia attacked. Apart from that, Ukraine is not a partner country, so the United States is not going to help Ukraine.