In early 2014, the people of Ukraine ousted their president in a series of protests that became known as the Euromaidan. Afterwards, Russian-backed separatists occupied large swathes of eastern Ukraine. Those same separatists helped Russia invade and annex the Crimean Peninsula in the south of the country. Since the Russian invasion, the war has claimed more than 14,000 lives. On February 23, 2022 Russia began a full-scale invasion of the rest of the country. Since then social media content of the fighting has been widely circulated with hundreds killed and one million refugees having fled the country within just a few days. The International Criminal Court has begun investigating war crimes in the country with Amnesty International calling the invasion “a manifest violation of the United Nations Charter and an act of aggression that is a crime under international law”.
Why does Russia want to invade Ukraine?
To understand Russia’s actions, you must first understand that Russia is governed by an authoritarian regime. Russian president Vladimir Putin holds most of the political and economic power in the country by controlling the security forces, judicial branch, media, and legislature. Russians are not a monolith and do not necessarily agree with the current war, but due to the political system they have little control over the decisions being made by Putin. So far over 6,000 Russian protestors have been arrested for opposing the war. Opponents of the regime in the past have faced harassment, arrest, and even assasination attempts.
Putin wants to destroy Ukraine to prevent the country from becoming a successful democracy and a member of the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). He wants Ukrainian democracy to fail in order to prevent a democratic government from establishing itself later on in Russia. A long term war will be devastating for the region, resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths and up to 5 million refugees. Nonetheless, in Putin’s mind the cost of inaction is outweighing the cost of war.
How to prevent more conflict in Ukraine?
- Military and economic assistance: Ukraine needs more assistance as this will be a deterrent to further Russian escalation. Military assistance in the form of fighter jets will help the country defend itself and protect the civilian population but so far only Poland has provided these to Ukraine.
- Sanctions: The European Union and the United States along with other countries have imposed sanctions on Russian officials and banks, resulting in the Russian economy beginning to crumble. These nations should seize Russian billionaire’s assets, which are believed to be derived from corruption and are under Putin’s control.
- EU and NATO: Ukraine along with neighboring nations have applied for membership into the European Union. These nations should become candidates and eventually members of the bloc. Membership in the EU would help bring economic stability to these countries by expanding opportunities for their population. Membership in NATO would prevent further Russian attacks against these countries. Ukraine can resist the current invasion but the long term solution for the region involves aligning these nations closer to the rest of democratic Europe.
The time for promises of aid to Ukraine has passed, the international community must now take actions to protect Ukraine’s democracy and sovereignty.