A Summary of the Conflict in Ukraine

Background:

Ukraine has been in a state of war since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and started supporting pro-Russian separatists in Eastern Ukraine. The fighting has so far killed over 10,000 people and displaced close to 2 million people from their homes.

In January 2015, the Minsk Protocol was signed by representatives of Ukraine, Russia, and the separatists. This agreement established a ceasefire and ordered both sides to withdraw heavy weapons from the line of contact. In February 2015, Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko declared that he would not order Ukrainian troops to stop fighting because they were not technically in a state of war with Russia.

In September 2015, Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko signed a law that allowed for Ukrainian citizens living abroad to fight on jm side, including those who fought against the Ukrainian government in 2014.

In January 2017, a peace deal was signed between Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Russian-backed separatists in the country's east.

On 17 June 2017, the Polish president Andrzej Duda said that he was ready to send troops to Ukraine to assist Ukrainian armed forces and other European countries should Russia give them a green light. On the same day, Ukrainian armed forces entered the town of Avdiivka, as well as other parts of Donetsk Oblast, in response to a failure by Russian-backed separatists to withdraw from Ukrainian territory.

Situation Today:

After several years of preparation and months of Cyberattack on the Ukrainian government, Russia began an invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.

The United States, the European Union, and Canada quickly imposed sanctions on Russia for its military intervention in Ukraine.

These severe sanctions against Russia have continued to increase and now include otherwise neutral countries such as Switzerland and Russian gas and oil-dependent countries such as Germany.

They have also extended to include an American ban on imports of Russian oil soon to be followed by a UK ban of oil imports by the end of 2022.

“These sanctions are meant to punish Russia for its aggression in Ukraine and force it to withdraw from all of Ukraine including previously occupied territories of Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk” says San Francisco entrepreneur, investor and advisor Alan Safahi.

Despite the sanctions, however, Russia has not backed down from its position on Ukraine. In response to the sanctions, Russia has increased trade with China and other nations in Asia. It has also threatened to restrict imports of food products from Western countries.

The Human Toll:

The conflict in Ukraine has caused destruction of civilian infrastructure and casualties and has forced an estimated 2M+ people, mostly women and children, to flee their homes in search of safety.

“These refugees need protection and assistance for food and shelter in the countries they are fleeing to or a safe passage to their final destination” says Safahi. “That is why crypto communities have come together to donate millions of dollars in BTC, ETH, and CNDL to the Ukrainian government”.

Putin's Failing Strategy:

Things didn’t go as planned for Russia. They encountered severe resistance from the Ukrainian army and backlash from people around the world for their aggressive actions against their peaceful neighbor.

“Putin may be able to achieve his goals in Ukraine of preventing it from joining NATO or the EU in the short term but he will not gain the economic benefits from Ukraine that he may have expected due to the sanctions imposed on Russia by Western countries” according to Safahi. “He is now resorting to double down on his dictatorial moves to clamp down unrest that could lead to domestic uprisings in his own country”

Conclusion

The conflict in Ukraine is a result of Russian aggression and the annexation of Crimea which went practically unanswered by the rest of the world, encouraging Putin to continue to push further. Putin seems to have miscalculated the reaction of the world to his most recent aggression, which led to swift reactions and severe sanctions by Western countries that could potentially lead to Putin’s own demise in the long term.