Some Background About the Russian-Ukraine Conflict

For nearly a month now, the media has been flooded with coverage of the war in Ukraine. Ukraine is being attacked by Russian forces under the command of Vladimir Putin. There are some notable people in this war, two of them include Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Abdovov AKA “The Ghost of Kyiv” who are fighting for Ukraine. What a lot of people do not look at is the background of the conflict…

The Soviet Union/USSR was led by Vladimir Lenin. It all started when Russia was this wealthy but poor small place ruled by an autocratic government. The economy was run by surfs and tax collectors. 

The Soviet Union collapsed after it was taken over by its army and CPSU Secretaries multiple times along with their economy. It split into fifteen different countries. Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Belorussia, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Russia and Ukraine were never on good terms after this. 

Russia eyed Ukraine with suspicion when they talked about joining the E.U or NATO. Although Ukraine would most likely not be able to join NATO because of their unsettled politics, Russia still voiced concerns. Additionally, once a portion of Ukrainian territory was occupied by Russia, they were not eligible to join. Even so, with Sweden and Finland bringing up NATO’S “Open Door Policy (NATO is open to any qualifying country that wants to join), Putin grew angrier and angrier. 

The world sat on the “edge of its seat”, waiting and guessing what Putin would do. Thanks to America’s intelligence service, we knew what was about to unfold. The White House was able to announce this information, which completely undermined Putin’s usual plan of “disinformation.” 

Vladimir Putin is gambling with his luck right now. Many groups including the World Court are investigating Russia’s actions and looking for proof regarding war crimes Putin may face after this invasion. He has illegally invaded a country (which is already a MAJOR offense), he is targeting citizens; having his pilots go out of their way to bomb schools, hospitals, launch mortar shells at families, and more. 

Do we know why he is targeting the citizens and not the Ukrainian army? Well, so far there is no solid answer.  He is constantly being called “mentally unstable” and “insane” as he is paranoid over everything possible and almost blew up a nuclear plant near his own border without hesitation. He is also being looked at as impulsive because of these actions. Putin has not succeeded in doing what he intended to do. He has managed to get most of the world to isolate Russia by using sanctions, and this war has helped build a stronger NATO, something that Putin has been most concerned about. 

Many of us wish we as Americans can do more, and not simply wait on the side to see the outcome of this terrible conflict. Unfortunately, most of our leaders believe that if we got directly involved it would drag us into WWIII. We wish we could turn to the last page of this terrible story to see how it ends, but for now we have to be content sitting on that “seat.”