By Salil Karkhanis
On February 24, 2022, Ukrainian citizens’ worst nightmare became a reality. Russia invaded Ukraine in what would become the largest attack against a European country since World War II. During the first year of the war, Ukraine lost 30-50% of its GDP. There have been many devastating effects of this conflict and the battle continues as you read this article.
Many events prior to the invasion led up to this inevitable conflict. After the fall of the USSR, Ukraine became a new country. In the 1900s, Ukraine signed many treaties with the U.S. to dismantle its nuclear weapons. In 1999, Russia signed the Charter for European Security, acknowledging every country’s right to join its alliances.
In 2013, tensions started to rise. Ukraine was taking steps to join NATO, which Russia pressed Ukraine not to do. After Russia’s threats to not acknowledge their borders if Ukraine joined NATO, the Ukrainian president decided to not join. This was met with criticism from Ukrainian citizens, and he eventually fled to Russia. This also led to pro-Russian revolts in southern and eastern Ukraine. Russia had then annexed Crimea, which was a disputed territory up until that point. There was even a subsequent small-scale war in Donbas. This made it clear what Russia’s goal was. In fact, Putin gave a speech in 2014 following these events calling it a “manifesto of Greater-Russia Irredentism.”
There were also many signs that a large-scale war would break out. In 2021 and onwards, Russia had started building up soldiers near Ukraine and Belarus’s borders. In July of 2021, Putin went on record to say that Ukraine had never had true statehood and was an accident. He also brought up the fact that it was originally Russian land.
Then, Russia made a bold move of demanding NATO to stop all activity in Eastern European countries, including not letting them become members. They threatened military action, yet NATO refused as it had to uphold an open-door policy. They’re still careful when dealing with Eastern European countries. Many leaders had met with Putin and tried to convince him to not invade Ukraine, but they realized they couldn’t stop the inevitable.
The ticking time bomb eventually exploded on the dawn of February 24, 2022. Russia launched an air and ground attack. It sent out missiles and created 4 battlefronts. These fronts were located northern toward Kyiv, southern from Crimea, south-eastern from Donbas, and eastern towards Kharkiv. There were attempts to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that ultimately failed. Zelenskyy announced martial law in Ukraine and led a fierce resistance, especially in Kyiv.
Over time, Russia managed to exhaust Ukrainian resources from the West and push deeper into Ukraine. Countries have been debating whether or not Ukraine could trade territory for peace, but Ukraine seems adamant to keep on fighting. With massive help from NATO allies, such as the U.S. alone donating $40 billion, Ukraine has made some advancements.
Ukraine has taken back Kherson, controlling the west bank of the Dnieper River. It has also launched a counteroffensive in Kharkiv, pushing Russia back more and more. Currently, the two countries are at a stalemate. Winter is harsh in the warring regions and both sides can do little during this time. Russia has a lack of trained soldiers and is experiencing arsenal issues, while Ukraine struggles to make heavy blows against Russia’s influx of land mines. Ukraine has been blowing up thanks to these mines and soldiers are helpless. The U.S. is also backing Ukraine with slightly high-tech missiles, making it impossible for Russia to employ its own high-tech missiles. The Russia-Ukraine conflict is a long and arduous story that is highly unlikely to end soon.
