The Beginning Of Russo-Ukrainian War

Since February 24th 2022, the whole world is talking about Russian invasion in Ukraine. In this case, we have the right to ask how this war began? What were the current war’s premises?

The first signal

In 2021, Russia began a military campaign near the eastern Ukrainian border. At the same time, these events have sparked concern in Europe and around the world.

Russia also has sparked fears of an invasion in Ukraine at the beginning of 2022. The threat of an invasion has been highlighted by the US. They predicted it would happen on Presidents Day (February 21st 2022), but it happened a few days latter.

Behind the scene

Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, made a strategic move on February 15th, requesting the withdrawal of military troops deployed near Ukraine’s eastern border and declaring that Russian troops would not attack it.

This is merely a strategic move, as the Olympic Games Beijing 2022 were in progress at the time and Russia was one of the main competitors. He used that time to finalize plans for the invasion, as evidenced by Putin’s recognition of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent regions the day after the Olympic Games in Beijing 2022, ended on February 20th. These regions are located in eastern Ukraine, near the Russian border and there were large communities of pro-Russian sympathizers.

In addition, on February 15th 2022 the State Duma (Russia’s equivalent of the US House of Representatives and the Chamber of Deputies in most European countries) votes in favor of the two regions’ independence and the deployment of military forces in these regions.

It was too late

Putin demanded an invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, not only in the newly independent regions, but also in major cities such as Kyiv, Mariupol, Kharkiv and Odessa. Ukraine’s military bases and supply airports were targeted by the troops.

Putin stated that Russian troops are participating in a special military operation focused on “demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine.”

Much has been said about a country where more than 8 million people died fighting Nazism during WWII. Ukraine’s current government is democratic and communist and Nazi propaganda were outlawed in 2015.

When the bombing began, many people decided to flee to neighboring countries leaving everything behind. They are fleeing to neighboring countries such as Hungary, Moldova, Poland, and Romania. In particular, some citizens are heading to Russia and Belarus.

Everyone, regardless of gender or age, was able to cross the border in the early morning. But, after a few hours Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, declared martial law prohibiting healthy men between the ages of 18 and 60 from leaving the country and the situation has remained unchanged since then.

Many families were separated at the customs borders, causing tears and pain. Only women, children and the elderly are allowed to travel to neighboring countries.

However, as Ukrainians have stated, corruption at customs borders is still alive and quite well anyone can cross the border for a specific amount of money (sometimes exceeding 1000€), including those categories defined by martial law.

The most awful situation is that many Russian citizens believe Russian propaganda that claims there is no war in Ukraine, only a special military operation designed solely to protect Ukrainian citizens, that the army does not attack civilians, that Russians and Ukrainians are brothers and that they must unite as one country.

War's possible causes

Analyzing the situation, the main causes of the war could be:

1. Economic considerations

Black Sea is rich in oil and natural gas. Russia controls a large portion of the gas pipelines that run from its territory to European countries and because some of them also pass through Ukraine, Ukraine has demanded taxes from Russia.

Because of Ukraine's poor oil extraction infrastructure and technology, the EU assisted the country with gas supplies, allowing it to reduce its reliance on Russian gas deliveries.

The most plausible explanation is that Russia seeks a complete monopoly on Black Sea natural resources, which it can only obtain by conquering Ukraine.

2. Demographic considerations

Despite the fact that Russia is the world's largest country by area, its population density is extremely low.

According to data from Worldometers for 2022, Russia has a population density of 9 inhabitants per square kilometer or 23 inhabitants per square mile, meanwhile Ukraine has a population density of 75 inhabitants per square kilometer or 196 inhabitants per square mile.

Considering that COVID-19 pandemic worsened Russia's situation, we can suppose that this invasion is designed to increase the country's population.

Last remarks

Both, Russia and Ukraine are signatories to the Minsk Agreements, in which Russia affirmed Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

However, Russia disregarded his obligations by annexing the Crimean Peninsula illegally in 2014 and stationing military troops at the Ukrainian border.

According to the European Commission, Russia has violated at least 12 international and bilateral treaties, including the UN Charter, as a result of the current conflict.

We don't know when this situation will end, but we do know that it has completely changed the lives of everyone involved, particularly of Ukrainian refugees.

The story was firstly published on Medium: https://medium.com/@andreia.damian1997/the-beggining-of-russia-ukraine-conflict-884392111c32