Why Is Russia Invading Ukraine? A Clear Explanation
There are two key facts about “the Ukraine” that need to be established upon the onset of this discussion. First is this territory being extremely large, constituting the second-largest European country. Second, it is in fact in Europe, the continent which, perhaps more so than any other, has a harrowing history of modern, internal warfare.
Of course, we at Explore With Kojo know that “the Ukraine” is not the politically correct terminology but used it thus far to prove a point. That’s how people referred to the country back in days, i.e. into the late 20th century. And the reason, at that point, was it not being an independent country but rather part of the USSR, i.e. the Russian empire.
IMPERIAL DAYS OF THE UKRAINE
Ukraine is also, according to many reliable sources, “extremely mineral rich”. Moreover, it holds a unique geographical position, bordering a whopping seven countries, besides the southern border being outlined by the Black Sea. Ukraine serves as arguably the primary crossroad between Russia and the rest of Europe. So the area has been hotly contested throughout the years, with a number of empires having once established footholds there.
As such, Ukraine has a complex history of empirical influences and political fragmentation which persist to tis day. Parts of the country having been ruled by neighboring Poland and Hungary (as a single entity), Lithuania and even for a time the Mongols. During the 17th century, upon freeing itself from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Ukrainians formed a notable alliance with Russia.
By the looks of things, Russia’s military, even back then before becoming a superpower, was more formidable than that of Ukraine. So as time progressed, the Russians increasingly exerted their own empirical influence upon the land.
EVEN MORE CHAOS
Eventually, Russia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth went at it, with Ukraine being the prize, in what is known as the Polish-Russian War of 1654-1667. Long story short, the Russians came out victorious. That victory is considered to have begun Russia’s rise to a European superpower, while the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth gradually eroded, largely due to internal factors. So the former was able to secure even more Ukrainian land from the latter as the years went by.
Later down the line, nearby Austria (alongside Hungary) also got in on the game and went about extending its Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria into Ukraine. And now, you understand why it can be difficult to understand Eastern European history. Besides actual states, there are a number of empires, kingdoms, alliances, ethnic groups, cultures, etc., all of whom have encroached on other territories from time to time. But as far as the Ukraine is concerned, the dominate empirical entity of the past few centuries has undoubtedly been Russia.
THE THIRST FOR INDEPENDENCE
Let’s not forget that amidst all of this, there also stood the actual Ukrainians themselves. And people tend to favor sovereignty over being ruled by outside sources. This proved to be especially true during the 20th century, with World War I and War World II serving as the backdrops for various independence movements. For instance, it was amidst the turmoil that defined World War I that the Ukrainian War of Independence was fought.
As honest students of history, we know that some people actually prefer empirical or colonial rule, if the government of the conqueror is superior to the domestic one. But such definitely was not the case in Ukraine. During World War I, the country sat directly in the crosshairs of the beef between Russia and Austria-Hungary. Again, it was a complex situation, where Ukrainians were compelled to choose between one side or the other and face the consequences accordingly. The result was scores of people killed, villages razed and millions losing their homes.
Shortly thereafter the Russian Revolution broke out, with it also being settled largely on Ukrainian soil. By this time the people were firmly fed up with the b*llsh*t – death, famine, pestilence and all, so this was when Ukrainian independence movements also became more pronounced. But by the time World War I was over, they were far from achieving that goal. Instead, the country was carved up between Romania, Poland and of course Russia.
A DISASTROUS PERIOD
The early 20th century was a disastrous time in Russian history, under the rule of Joseph Stalin, and Ukrainans were amongst those who directly paid the price. Most notably during this era, they suffered what became known as the Holodomor or “death inflicted by starvation”.
Stalin proceeded to crush, as in execute, thousands of notable Ukrainians who supported independence. He then forced “collectivization” upon the people or more specifically taking complete control over their agriculture. And that’s basically what led to the mass starvation, in which millions of Ukrainians died, i.e. having to turn their land and food over to Russia.
By the time World War II came to a conclusion, Russia or the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) had established control over virtually all of Ukraine. In fact up until 1991, the country was officially designated the Ukrainian SSR or Ukrainian Soviet Social Republic.
As you may already know, 1991 was the year that the USSR dissolved. That dissolution was preempted by Ukrainians, a couple of weeks earlier, declaring themselves independent. A vast majority of the country’s people supported this move. And with Ukraine being the second-most powerful state (behind Russia) in the USSR, its withdrawal, ended all chances of the Soviet Union being united.
BUT RUSSIA CAN’T LET GO
We’ve come across these types of stories enough to know that they rarely end happily ever after. When conquerors have no choice but to concede, they tend to let go. But a superpower like Russia can keep the battle going even decades after the fact.
Or another way of looking at it is that the dissolution of the USSR has not prevented Moscow from exerting political influence over Kyiv. For instance in 2014, Viktor Yanukovych, who was the President of Ukraine, had the opportunity to sign a major deal with the European Union. His predecessors of the previous couple of decades had sought such an agreement.
But that deal would have adversely affected the Russian economy, which is notably dependent on Ukraine. So President Yanukovych, against the will of his people, didn’t sign it. That decision led to deadly, months-long protests in Kyiv, which resulted in nearly 100 deaths, besides scores of people being injured.
Russia was largely behind the crackdown of protestors. Meanwhile, the protests metastasized into the full-blown “Revolution of Dignity”. Yanukovych was ousted, and what followed, unsurprisingly, was a widespread, government-backed movement against Russian domination and influence. But the story was far from over, as Moscow maintained control over key parts of Ukraine, including most notably the Crimean Peninsula.
Meanwhile, Ukraine is not only of economic but also military importance to the Russians. As fate would have it, Russia is at perennial odds with a number of other European countries, i.e. NATO. So if Ukraine became a part of NATO for instance, Moscow would be ticked off big time. In fact, what we’re currently witnessing with the Russo-Ukrainian War is sort of a de facto NATO versus Russia (or Eastern bloc) scenario.
CONCLUSION
We can glean that, as far as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the primary goal on the part of Moscow is to get its old territory back. And if that aim is not achieved, they want to prevent as much of the vast country as possible from falling into pro-Western hands.
We can see this dynamic plainly playing out in the Russo-Ukrainian War, but this aggression isn’t all about machismo on the part of Putin. Russia has practical economic and political reasons why it does not want to lose too much control over Ukraine – so much so that the Russians have been militarily fighting against that ambition for over a decade. But the problem is that aspiration going against the will of the Ukrainian people, who for the most part appear to favor minimizing Russian influences.
