Russia's obsession with Ukraine 🍸
A narrative on the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine
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"I have decided on a military operation to protect the people of the Donbas separatist region," - Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin (the never-ending president of Russia) officially declared war against Ukraine this Thursday. Irrespective of all the threats and sanctions from European nations and the United States, Russia is not backing off. Let's see why Russia is so much obsessed with Ukraine.
The History
The Soviet Union, the crown jewel in Russia’s history was dissolved in 1991 dividing itself into 15 countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan). Some countries like Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, (also known as the East Slavs) were linguistically almost the same and almost everyone here followed Orthodox-Christianity but they were divided into different countries :(
Talking about Russia and Ukraine, 29.6% of the Ukrainian population speaks Russian as their primary language. People born in Ukraine before the 1980s have a strong connection with Russia. Culturally it is said that Russia was born from Ukraine, Kyiv the capital of Ukraine was established hundreds of years before Moscow or St. Petersburg, it is referred to as the birthplace of modern Russian and Ukrainian cultures, religion, and language (History goes back to the 9th century).
But But But. History could not be the only reason of Russia attacking Ukraine. Let's see the strategic importance that Ukraine brings to the table.
Putin's mouth-watering face
Russia is an Arctic country. The average temperature there is very very low (Siberia waving its hand 👋). Russia only has one true warm-water port (seaports that are active 24 hours*365 days), in Sevastopol. Not having a warm-water seaport hinders Russia's trade with other countries. Russia has too many natural resources but doesn't have many options to transport them, Here comes Ukraine in the picture. Ukraine has one of the highest coastlines in the Black Sea and having ports there is a solid green flag for Russia (the sole reason why Russia annexed Crimea, a part of Ukraine in 2014). This does not end here, Ukraine comes in the list of highest wheat-producing nations in the world. The land is very fertile and rich in minerals like Iron ore, Coal, Natural Gas, Manganese, Salt, Oil, Graphite, etc.
Coastline plus Minerals, fair deal huh!!
Are there any Geo-Political reasons as well?
The Buffer Zone
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), was founded in 1949 after the Second World War between a dozen European countries and North American Countries (the U.S.A and Canada) to promote peace in Europe and to stand together against the Soviet Union. Now there is No Soviet Union but only Russia. Things have become hard for Russia. Countries that were earlier the part of USSR have now joined NATO (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania). There is a constant threat of NATO allies on the Russian border which Putin can't unnoticed. That might be the reason why Russia wants to make a buffer zone between NATO and them in Ukraine (cause Ukraine isn't NATO). Another reason for this escalation could be the current Anti-Russian government in Ukraine. There was a high probability that Ukraine would have joined NATO with the current government in the coming years and that would be a dead-end for Russia.
World War 3- Not gonna happen!!
The United States of America and other European countries have mentioned that they won't be sending their military to Ukraine to fight against Russia. All the countries would impose sanctions (which Russia doesn't care about).
Kinda fair deal Ukraine vs Sanctions!!
India wants diplomacy
India recently abstain their say in UNSC on the Ukrainian resolution, asking both countries to handle the matter with peace (since 1947 lol). We do have some deals coming up with Russia like BrahMos-II (One of the fastest supersonic missiles in the world) and no one knows how this conflict is going to escalate. The Foreign Minister and President of Ukraine have sought some non-violent help from India as well.
For more dive into the conflict, Do listen to our podcast on All you need to know about Russia-Ukraine Conflict with Bharat Adhyaru. Bharat has immense knowledge in History, Geography, and Geo-Politics. In this podcast, we have discussed Russian self-defense, their history, strategies, NATO, Kazakhstan, United Nations, India, and a lot more. Tune in for more!!
Ciao
Team Rubric