To understand Russia’s reason for their military operations currently ongoing in Ukraine,it is crucial to go back to the history of the Soviet Union and the cold war. Trying to attach meaning to it using current events only without the past will render it insignificant. When the Soviet Union fell completely on 25 December 1991,the once mighty bear disintegrated into twelve small states with minority Russian speaking community except Russia which is majorly inhabited by ethnic Russians. Agreements were made between Russia and North Atlantic Treaty organization (NATO) that the organization will not move “an inch”to the east. This was to ensure that Russia’s security is guaranteed. However promises were broken and NATO gobbled up most of the Slavic nations like Poland and ended up on Russia’s doorstep. Soviet leaders after the fall of Soviet Union have always considered this NATO expansion as an existential threat to the Russian population and the Russian nation. However, the west, European union and NATO didn’t not take in consideration these complaints. Many diplomats and political scholar have insisted that Ukraine was being led towards an armed conflict with Russia by the west. At last in 2014 hostilities flared in Ukraine as Russian tanks rolled in.
The 2014 war and the consequent annexation of Crimea was mainly influenced by the increased sway of Ukraine towards the west and the increased presence of America footprint in the country. Russia has blamed the US of building biolabs in Ukraine and training Ukrainian armed forces. After the coup,a more pro-western leader,Petro Poroshenko was elected to replace the ousted pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych. Russian was alarmed at the prevailing events at that time which they promptly accused the west of staging. Other countries bordering Russia moving towards NATO was to some extent allowed but Ukraine was strategic. Ukraine could not be allowed to go towards that direction. First,let it be known that USA and Russia have always been sworn enemies since the days of the cold war 1.0 since another one,2.0 has just began. Ukraine taking a hard stance on Russia and embracing the west could definitely deny Russia access to the only warm water port in the Black Sea which is Sevastopol. Most of Russia’s ports freeze most parts of the year and this is always a disadvantage to their naval ambitions. A little agitation of the majority ethnic Russians in Eastern Ukraine did the trick for the Kremlin. They had to intervene in the guise of protecting the Russian population in Donbass. Their main goal was to take control of Crimea and hence the crucial Sevastopol port. At the end of the operation, Crimea was annexed and access to Sevastopol was guaranteed. The Russian naval presence in Sevastopol has steadily increased since 2014. It now belongs to the Russian Black Sea fleet. Sevastopol port is very important for Russia for various reasons and they are not willing to let it be accessed by the west. To Putin who is a staunch nationalist, security of Russia must be guaranteed and the west especially USA must be kept at bay. It is worthy of attention when he promises to use any means possible to protect Russia from existential threat including nuclear weapons. He means it. Putin’s nationalist leanings is one of reasons why he blames Gorbachev for the fall of the Soviet Union. He didn’t even attend his funeral.
Nonetheless,the west didn’t get the message which was all the while transparent. Russia didn’t fancy their presence in Ukraine. The arrogant style of western countries continued unperturbed by the looming danger. The last mistake was trying to admit Ukraine to NATO and saying it in public. Russia had had enough. Their patience simply ran out and all the red lines had been crossed. They had to act and thus on February Putin announced a special military in Ukraine much to the consternation of European nations and the USA. Or maybe they feigned annoyance since they had it coming. Tanks rolled through the border and artillery fire rented the air for months on end. So if you ask me, the west knew this was coming a long time ago. Any major power on the world stage will act violently to anything it considers existential threat. The definition of existential threat will however vary from country to country. An example is the USA during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 when the world was at the brink of a nuclear war. To Russia, this was an existential threat. The collective West knew exactly what was happening and what they were doing. They provoked Russia for their selfish reasons which nobody knows. This war might be benefiting them while it is deleterious to rest of humanity. The world is now close to a nuclear war than any time else in history.
Many would say that my opinions are baseless and Russia is the aggressor. Yes, Russia is the aggressor but it is also important to know their way of thinking. The west has been rash and made emotional decisions which have had a blowback effect on their countries. The numerous sanctions placed without thorough and logical thinking have been harmful to the entire world. Prices of energy and grains mainly skyrocketed due to sanctions. The executive director of United Nations world food program,David Beasley,recently said during an interview that he doesn’t care what the world leaders think about Russia,all he wants is Russian fertilizer to move on the market. He further warned that if not the world will face chaos. Anyway,why does Russia want Ukraine so bad? The answer is simple -geographical location. Ukraine forms part of the great northern Europe plains. Russia is always exposed and vulnerable to attacks through this region. It’s a flat land with no barriers like mountains,hills or deserts. Throughout history, Russia has been attacked multiple times from this direction. It is indefensible. With the threat of NATO encroachment, Russia is exposed now more than ever. Actions had to be taken. The main aim of the special military operations is push Ukraine back to the buffer zone surrounded by mountains. This buffer zone may be able to help Moscow during external attacks. This is not the same with other NATO members like Poland and Lithuania or members about to join the organization like Sweden and Finland. It is pretty clear that Russia will in the long run annex the eastern part of Ukraine but what is not clear is whether Ukraine will exist after the war. The Kremlin will want to have the buffer zone in Ukraine to protect them against attacks from the west.
What is quite baffling is the United States reaction to all these. Sanctions after sanctions are being rolled in consistently. It is either they are playing a much larger game here or they are openly admitting that they know nothing about political history of both Russia and the US. Of course they know. They are just playing a bigger economic and political game here. Trying to kill two birds with one stone. Ukraine as a nation is just a pawn caught between two aggressive superpowers. All these events are part of the wrong choices their leaders made and they are paying for it. Not even the Russian population in Ukraine is important. They are part of the pawn game. All Russian populations in other former Soviet nations are pawns in a game to used when need arises. The main question however remains to be answered, what will happen after the war? Will Ukraine still exist?or will the world be turned into smithereens by nuclear weapons? No one knows the future.
Anonymous 