Russia Ukraine Crises 2022

Ukraine is a small country situated between Russia and Europe, around the size of Texas. It was a member of the Soviet Union until 1991, and it has been a less-than-perfect democracy with a slow economy and a foreign policy that oscillates between pro-Russian and pro-European attitudes since then. This Russia Ukraine crisis began in November 2013, when Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych rejected a plan for tighter integration with the European Union (here's why this was such a big deal), sparking large protests that Yanukovych sought to put down with violence. Russia backed Yanukovych during the crisis, while the United States and Europe backed the protesters.

Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine crisis, a number of noteworthy events have transpired. In February, anti-government rallies overthrew the government, causing Yanukovych to depart the country. The following month, Russia attacked and occupied Crimea in order to recover its lost influence in Ukraine. In April, pro-Russian separatists began seizing territory in eastern Ukraine. The rebels accidentally shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 on July 17, killing 298 people. Fighting between the insurgents and the Ukrainian military intensified, the rebels began to lose ground, and the Russian army invaded eastern Ukraine openly in support of the rebels in August. All of this has pushed the relationship between Russia and the West to its lowest point since the Cold War. As a result of the sanctions, the Russian economy is on the edge of collapse, and more than 2,500 Ukrainians have been slain.

Ukraine's crises may be traced back to Russia's centuries-long rule. Ukrainians who consider Ukraine to be a part of Europe and those who believe it is intrinsically linked to Russia have divided the country rather evenly. It's possible that a political crisis inside the administration as a result of this disagreement was inescapable. Meanwhile, Putin is propagating a nationalist, imperial-revival mindset in Russia, in which Ukraine is regarded as a part of a larger Russia — and as a victim of growing Western aggression.