Vladimir Putin unleashed the biggest war in Europe since World War Two with the justification that modern, Western-leaning Ukraine was a constant threat and Russia could not feel "safe, develop and exist". Launching the invasion on February 24, 2022 he told the Russian people his goal was to "demilitarise and de-Nazify Ukraine", to protect people subjected to what he called eight years of bullying and genocide by Ukraine's government.

Politics and War

As should be obvious at this point, after reading a bit about the history of this region, the reasons Russia invaded Ukraine are complex. It is also clear that Russia has kept its eye on Ukraine looking for the right opportunity or the right reason. In February 2014, Ukranian protests in Kyiv resulted in deadly clashes between protesters and security forces in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and culminated in the ousting of elected pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych and the overthrow of the Ukrainian government. This "Revolution of Integrity" began in November 2013, when a wave of large-scale protests erupted in response to President Yanukovych's sudden decision not to sign a political association and free trade agreement with the European Union (EU), instead choosing closer ties to Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union. In February of that year, the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) had overwhelmingly approved of finalizing the agreement with the EU which Russia had put pressure on Ukraine to reject. These protests continued for months and their scope widened, with calls for the resignation of Yanukovych. The deadliest clashes were on February 18-20, which saw the most severe violence in Ukraine since it regained independence. Thousands of protesters advanced towards parliament, led by activists with shields and helmets, and were fired on by police snipers. On February 21st, an agreement between President Yanukovych and the leaders of the parliamentary opposition was signed that called for the formation of an interim unity government, constitutional reforms and early elections. The following day, police withdrew from central Kyiv, which came under effective control of the protesters. Yanukovych fled the city and then the country. That day, the Ukrainian parliament voted to remove Yanukovych from office by 328 to 0.

Yanukovych said that this vote was illegal and possibly coerced, and asked Russia for help. Russia considered the overthrow of Yanukovych to be an illegal coup, and did not recognize the interim government. Widespread protests, both for and against the revolution, occurred in eastern and southern Ukraine, where Yanukovych previously received strong support in the 2010 presidential election. These protests escalated, resulting in Russian military intervention, the annexation of Crimea by Russia, and the creation of the self-proclaimed breakaway states of Donetsk and Luhansk.

It is clear that Russia wants Ukraine within its sphere of influence and not that of the west. Putin has said that he views the prospect of Ukraine joining NATO as a "hostile act." In December 2021, Putin gave the U.S. and NATO a list of security demands, one of them was a guarantee that Ukraine will never enter NATO and that the alliance rolls back its military footprint in Eastern and Central Europe. These proposals were quickly rejected by the U.S. and allies.

Economics and War

Ukraine is a country rich in natural resources:

number 1 in Europe for Uranium deposits
Second place in Europe and tenth place in the world titanium ore reserves
Second place in the world explored reserves of manganese ore
Second-largest iron ore reserves in the world
Second place in Europe mercury ore reserves
Third place in Europe (13th place in the world) in shale gas reserves
Eighth place in the world coal reserves
Most arable land of any country in Europe
number 1 in the world in exports of sunflowers and sunflower oil
number 3 in the world area of black soil
number 3 in the world producer of potatoes
number 4 in the world producer of rye and barley
number 5 in the world producer of corn and number 4 exporter of corn in the world
number 5 in the world producer of honey
number 5 in the world wheat exports
Second-largest in Europe and seventh-largest in the world installed capacity of nuclear power plants
Third-largest gas production and the fourth-largest gas market in Europe
Third-largest iron exporter in the world
Fifth place in the world in titanium exports
12th-largest steel producer in the world

There is no question, that having control of these resources is a huge asset for Russia.

Map of Russian Natural gas pipelines Russia is one of the World's major oil producers. Russia holds 80,000,000,000 barrels of proven oil reserves as of 2016, ranking 8th in the world and accounting for about 4.8% of the world's total oil reserves. Russia has equivalent to 60.4 times its annual consumption. In 2021, Russia was the largest natural gas exporting country in the World, the second-largest crude oil and condensates-exporting country after Saudi Arabia, and the third-largest coal-exporting country behind Indonesia and Australia. 70% of its oil exports go to Europe, 74% of its natural gas exports go to Europe and 32% of its coal. Russia provides approximately 25% of the natural gas consumed in the European Union. And, importantly, 80% of that natural gas flows through pipelines that cross Ukraine. Russia reportedly pays Ukraine $2 billion for transit costs, an amount it would rather not pay. Oil and natural gas are incredibly important to Russia's economy - between 10 and 20% of its GDP comes from petroleum product exports. Despite the ongoing war, gas continues to flow through the pipelines and Russia continues to pay Ukraine for transit.

Lastly, Ukraine has desirable port cities on the Black Sea. Russia had long retained a foothold on the Crimean Peninsula with its bases in Sevastapol. The largest port on the Black Sea is the Romanian port of Constanta. The second largest port is the Ukrainian port of Odessa. Number 5 is the Ukrainian port of Theodosia a major tanker port. Both of these ports would be very useful to Russia.

Culture and War

Read Article (well, at least skim it)

Instructor Video: Traditional Ukrainian Music

The Article above was written by Vladimir Putin. It is his argument for why "Russians and Ukrainians (are) one people – a single whole". It seems clear that Putin believes that Ukraine is part of Russia and that culturally they are one people. He has said that Ukraine has no right to exist as a separate political entity. Russia and Ukraine have strong familial bonds that go back centuries. Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, is sometimes referred to as “the mother of Russian cities,” on par in terms of cultural influence with Moscow and St. Petersburg. It was in Kyiv in the eighth and ninth centuries that Christianity was brought from Byzantium to the Slavic peoples. And it was Christianity that served as the anchor for Kievan Rus, the early Slavic state from which modern Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarussians draw their lineage.

Putin has said he regards Ukraine and Russia as inseparable, “one people, a single whole." Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union before its collapse at the end of the Cold War in 1991. According to a census in 2001, approximately eight million ethnic Russians were living in Ukraine mostly in the south and east. Moscow claimed a duty to protect these people as a pretext for its actions in Crimea and the Donbas in 2014. But Ukraine has a rich cultural heritage distinctly its own. Historians and political scientists disagree with Putin and point to Ukraine's long history and cultural distinctions. While similar to Russian, Ukrainian is a distinct language. Modern research shows that the Ukrainian language is closer to other Slavic languages: Belarusian (29 common characteristics), Czech and Slovak (23), Polish (22), Croatian and Bulgarian (21), and only 11 common characteristics with Russian. Some linguists, on the basis of these facts, doubt that Russian and Ukrainian should be placed in a single language group.

There is music, food and art which distinguishes Ukraine from its neighbors. Artisan textile arts play an important role in Ukrainian culture. The country's strong tradition of folk art and embroidery continues to this day, with Ukrainian embroidery often considered an art form in itself. Traditional dances are popular within Ukraine, many of which derive from rural Cossack villages. Different regions in Ukraine have their own distinctive style of local architecture, based on local traditions and knowledge handed down through generations. Ukraine found itself at the crossroads of Asia and Europe and this is reflected within the music in a perplexing mix of exotic melismatic singing with harmonies which do not always easily fit the rules of traditional Western European harmony. The most striking general characteristic of authentic ethnic Ukrainian folk music is the wide use of minor keys. (See if you can pick this distinctive sound out in the music in the video above.)

Most importantly, Ukrainians see themselves as culturally distinct from Russia as evidenced by the brutal fighting. Clearly, Ukrainians are willing to fight and die for their independence.