An Update on Russian-Ukrainian Relations

By CODY ALLEN February 11, 2022

As of 2022, 100,000+ Russian soldiers have been stationed near Ukraine. (Photo by TUBS/Wikipedia)

A lot has happened between Ukraine and Russia. Tensions are high, foreign forces may get involved, but what exactly got us to this point? There are a few flashpoints that can be looked at in the past.

Ukraine is a former Soviet Union member directly bordering Russia. Their current population is close to 44 million people, and the most spoken language is Ukrainian at 67.5% spoken, though Russian is second most spoken with almost 30% of citizens speaking it. Finally, the GDP is around $115 Billion USD, with a growth rate of about 3% annually.

The official start can be traced back to an incident described as “Euromaidan”, taking place in November of 2013. These protests started after the then president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, struck down a deal to have free trade with the EU, instead opting for closer relations to Russia. After protests grew and grew, he eventually fled the nation in February of the next year.

Starting in March of 2014, Russia sent troops and took over regional parliament buildings in Crimea, Ukraine. After two weeks of occupation, a referendum was held to whether Crimea should be a part of Ukraine or not, and 95% of citizens voted to be a part of Russia. However, this vote was considered illegitimate by some, and many western nations have denounced the results as fake. In response to the invasion itself, members of G8 removed Russia from the organization, officially renaming itself to G7.

In April of 2014, pro-Russian insurgents declared independence in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, provinces that directly border Russia. Since 2014, fighting between the insurgents and Ukrainian armed forces has been brutal, with over 10,000 being killed and 20,000 wounded.

Since 2014, there has primarily been a stalemate in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, but Ukraine has been targeted by various cyber attacks. In December of 2015, over 225,000 people lost power throughout Ukraine and in December 2016 parts of Kiev lost power. In June of 2017, Ukraine was hit by the NotPetya cyber attack, mainly attributed to Russia, costing billions of dollars.

Since the Trump administration, support for Ukraine has increased. At the start of 2018 new sanctions were imposed on certain Russian individuals and companies. In March the US sold anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, and in October, Ukraine joined NATO in various air exercises over western Ukraine.

However, since late 2021, and dragging onto 2022, tension between the two countries has increased. Starting in November of 2021, 100,000 Russian troops were built up near the Ukrainian border, starting the fears of an invasion. Since then, US and Russian talks have been a stalemate.

Key Russian demands were made in December of 2021 where, among other things, they wanted Ukraine to never be allowed to join NATO, as well as a guarantee that security in Eastern Europe would be kept to mid 1990s levels. However, NATO members quickly declined to accept these, though the US has offered to re-evaluate some areas of demands, but not accept them.

During this time, and even now, the US has believed that a chance of attack was likely. Military aid has been sent over the months, and some talks have been made, though currently things are a stalemate politicaly.

Just as recently February 5th this year, the US sent 2,000 soldiers to Poland and Germany, as well as an additional 1,000 to Romania, which sparked condemnation from Russia. On February 7th as well, French President Emmanual Macron attempted to negotiate with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, though this went nowhere.

What happens in Ukraine depends on the actions of the world leaders. Though peace is still an option and one most leaders aim to achieve, if things aren’t negotiated soon, conflict may rise. Even if conflict isn’t going to directly happen between Russia and Ukraine, it could still occur in the Donbass region.

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