Ivana Budjarovska ’24
News Editor
On February 24, 2022, Russia declared war on Ukraine. However, it may be a technical mistake to say so.
Vladimir Putin, president of Russia for a total of 16 years, who has thrown countless Russians in prison for having stood up to his regime, has time and time again been in favor of such an attack. Signified by his disastrous occupation of the Ukrainian territory of Crimea in 2014, and his regular vocality that Ukraine is “not a real country” and “Lenin’s creation,” it is safe to say that in February of this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared war on Ukraine.
According to a report published on March 17, 2022, by Al Jazeera, at least 816 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since the conflict began. Moreover, BBC reports that more than 3 million people have fled Ukraine because of the Russian invasion of the country. So, why are these two countries, once united as part of the first communist country in the world, “suddenly” the opposing sides of a war?
As a matter of fact, this invasion did not begin in February of this year. Until now, it has been a conflict rarely reported by global media that began with the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, due to the belief that Crimea is Russian territory, and in order to protect Russians from “far-right extremists,” as reported by Putin. The year 2014 was the year when Putin officially and publicly took action against Ukraine, claiming that a majority of its people and politicians had been in favor of anti-Russian politics for too long.
With former comedian and actor, and Vladimir Putin’s polar opposite, Volodymr Zelenskyy becoming president of Ukraine in 2019, the Russian president was more “motivated” to continue the conflict, knowing that Zelenskyy presented himself as a man of the Ukrainian people. In this way, Zelenskyy has become an idol, not only to Ukrainians, but to people worldwide who support Ukraine, as he refused to leave the country as soon as the invasion in February began, and chose to fight on the frontlines.
However, it is not only Putin’s imagination that Ukraine=Russia, that is the cause of thousands of killed and wounded innocent Ukrainians and millions of Ukrainian citizens displaced around Europe. Ukraine’s willingness to join NATO and the European Union, two western organizations that Putin’s Russia has opposed for years, might have also “sparked” the conflict.
Ukraine expressed interest in joining NATO in the early 2000s, but these plans were shelved by Putin’s puppet Viktor Yanukovych, who served as president of Ukraine from 2010 to 2014, and who was removed from office during the 2014 Revolution of Dignity. This revolution was sparked by the ex-president’s decision to not sign a treaty between Ukraine and the European Union, and the consequent choice to become closer to Russia.
Today’s man of the Ukrainian people, Zelenskyy, is explicitly in favor of joining the two organizations and distancing Ukrainian politics from Russia, which has made Putin realize that he wouldn’t be able to act as Ukraine’s savior in such reality. The reason why Putin largely opposes Zelenskyy is because his goal is to establish a puppet government, and have the same relationship with the new president of Ukraine like he has with Lukaschenko, the president of Belarus, according to Assistant Professor of Politics Ajar Chekirova, who specializes in politics of post-Soviet states.
Nonetheless, it is safe to wonder: what does this conflict mean for the rest of the world? Is there any way in which we, as students of various backgrounds in the United States, can help Ukraine?
Until now, Biden’s sanctions against Russia have included individual sanctions on Russian millionaires and billionaires who work closely with Putin, barring the export of American technology to Russia, and the limitation of the 13 major Russian companies, per The New York Times. As “payback,” Putin has banned entrance in Russia to President Biden, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and many other officials who have stood up to his regime over the years.
Numerous media outlets have reported opposing opinions on whether this conflict could actually make World War III happen. However, many—including National Public Radio (NPR)—agree that energy prices could rise, as has already been reported across the United States and worldwide, causing the average gas price in Illinois to be $4.43, per NBC Chicago. Moreover, NPR reports that the conflict may spark a refugee crisis, as already seen by the millions of Ukrainians who have fled the country in less than a month. This is apparent for Europe, where most of the refugees are circulating due to the close proximity and relatives in neighboring countries.
It is unsure whether the United States, as the main opponent to Putin, is in danger. Putin has “reminded” the world of Russia’s nuclear weapons, in case anyone deploys soldiers in Ukraine, but has ceased to notice that many powerful countries in the world have united against him.
In the meantime, as students in the United States, we are responsible for educating ourselves on the matter. To do so, you may spend a couple minutes of your free time to learn about ways to financially assist Ukraine from Chicago at the following link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ndV04QKKdytsKcjHjrBZzPYCLugRiseAEgw0hlCQmaU/edit
