February 20, 2022. Russia started their invasion of Ukraine.

Now a whole year later, we ask ourselves…

How did it ever come to this?

Well, in 1991 the Soviet Union fell and Ukraine became an independent country. This created undeniable tensions between the countries in the area. Think of it as a break up, and much like a bad breakup, the conflict was never resolved. Ukraine always held a sentiment of being independent and wanting to leave its past behind. In 2014, Ukraine’s president Viktor Yanukovcyhs’ decision not to pursue greater economic integration with Europe caused protests in Ukraine. 

A month later, Russia annexed Crimea. Crimea, a region in Ukraine, being taken signified Russia’s desire to take Ukraine back. Ultimately, this created a terrifying fear of Russia. NATO would later supply Ukraine with support, further angering Russia. This all climaxed in 2022, when Russia built up 190,000 troops and decided to sit them on Ukraine’s border. You know what happened next…

Why do they want Ukraine? 

As Ukraine becomes more westernized, it worries Putin that they will become more inclined to take him out of power (because of previous tensions between NATO and Russia). Taking Ukraine might also be in an effort to strengthen Russia’s power. It would add not only to their population, but also to their land and resources. 

Ukraine, the second largest country in Europe besides Russia, is also very agriculturally rich. They are called the breadbasket of Europe, meaning most of the wheat supply in the world departs from Ukraine and Russia wants control of that supply. All these things factor into play and are pushed forward with the basic idea of stopping revolution from Ukraine.

Will this be resolved?

At the rate it’s going, it doesn’t seem like it. Since the war started, most people thought that there would be a clear winner very soon. Although Russia built up most of its troops, Ukraine showed that they will put up a fight back. They have been able to keep Russia at bay very well. That doesn’t stop the fact that Russia has been shelling them throughout the war. 

They also have been successful in annexation with Luhansk, Donetsk, Mariupol, Melitopol, and Kherson. Russia has had many casualties since the war began, which ironically shows that their efforts to annex are not sustainable. Ukraine has also had over 100,000 people killed, including 30,000 civilians. Although those numbers might not be fully accurate seeing how it’s hard to get coverage, the inclusion of civilian deaths is very worrying. Although the fact that civilians have died is not a war crime in and of itself, there has been evidence of Russian troops purposely torturing and targeting civilians.

These tensions seem to affect surrounding countries. NATO wants to support Ukraine, but they are hesitant because this amount of tension has not been seen since the last world war. Countries are hoping Ukraine and Russia can resolve their conflict peacefully. In the end, everybody hopes there will eventually be peace but we can only wait to know…