In one of the biggest land invasions in Europe since WWII, Russia has invaded Ukraine, thousands are now displaced from their homes and lives have been, sadly, lost to the conflict. But why has Russia made this move? Here is the Russian-Ukraine crisis explained.
What’s the context of the Russia-Ukraine conflict?
The conflict between the two countries didn’t appear overnight and, in fact, goes back roughly eight years.
Back in 2014 Russia annexed Crimea, a peninsula in south Ukraine, after Ukraine’s ‘Russia-friendly’ president, Viktor Yanukovych, was ousted from power.
This led to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, backing a separatist insurgency that broke out in the east, which eventually saw the pro-Russian rebels declare the Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic independent states.
In 2015 a peace accord was brokered by France and Germany with an incredibly complicated 13-point agreement to help end the conflict which claimed roughly 14,000.
However, Russia constantly insisted it wasn’t actually a party in the conflict itself, so didn’t actually feel bound to the agreement – which made breaking it later easier for Putin.
Towards the end of 2021 Russia stationed huge numbers of troops near the borders of Ukraine. But Putin completely denied an attack was going to happen. This, obviously, wasn’t true.
Within all of this Russia has been very resistant to Ukraine moving into the European Union and he has said he feels threatened by a ‘modern Ukraine’.
What’s happening in Ukraine now?
Fast forward to February 24, 2022, Putin declared Russia could not feel ‘safe, develop and exist’ with the ‘threat’ of a ‘modern Ukraine’ and had his troops and tanks roll into the European democratic country, from Russia, the Russian-annexed Crimea and Russia’s ally Belarus.
Almost immediately, military headquarters and airports were attacked in the major cities. Putin called this a ‘special military operation’.
Putin says this move has been to stop the ‘bullying and genocide by the Kyiv regime’ and he intends to demilitarise and “de-nazify” Ukraine, but not occupy it. However, there has been no genocide committed in Ukraine.
Russian troops are now moving towards the major cities including Kyiv, the capital city.
But Ukrainans haven’t taken the invasion lying down. The country’s president, former actor and comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has stayed in the capital supporting his troops as they take on the Russians in street-to-street combat, while residents live under martial law.
Almost a week in and Russian troops haven’t taken the large cities but have continued their shelling and bombardment.
Zelenskiy has been calling for support from allies across the world. He even offered to provide arms for people wanting to come and fight with Ukraine, this is not something recommended by the British government.
Over in Russia, Putin doesn’t quite have the backing of all his people. Home-based Russians have been told there is no invasion in Ukraine and the media line is troops have been welcomed. But, ongoing anti-war demonstrations, leading to hundreds being arrested and detained, show not everyone is supporting the Russian cause.
What has Europe, the UK and US done so far to help Ukraine and stop Russia?
Countries across the world, including the UK, have put sanctions on Russia – it was announced the assets of Russia’s central bank will be frozen and Russian banks will also be excluded from the Swift payment system.
Germany has increased their spending, when Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced an additional $113bn (£84bn) for the German army, in preemptive defence, as well as putting the breaks on Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
Some countries have agreed to take in refugees from Ukraine – as over 500,000 people have had to flee their homes – however, the UK currently isn’t allowing general refugees. Sky News reported around 200,000 Ukrainians could be allowed to come stay with family in the UK.
The UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, did confirm the UK has increased its presence across the eastern NATO countries.
What’s next?
It’s unclear what the next steps will be and it’s too early to say how many fatalities there will be, but Ukrainians are fighting relentlessly to push back Putin’s forces. One certainty at this time is Boris Johnson has reiterated he will not put British troops on the ground in Ukraine, or fight Russia in the air.
What can you do?
It’s a complicated situation, but there are plenty of books you can read to understand the crisis better and more in depth.