Why did Russia invade Ukraine?

Why did Russia invade Ukraine in 2022? It is a multifactorial thing. Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, following an escalation in tensions that had erupted a few months earlier. Some of the motivations that led to this scenario in the eastern europe, as Ukraine's closer relationship with organizations such as NATO and the European Union, are understood through the analysis of the historical relations between both countries, referring mainly to the incorporation of Ukraine into the Soviet Union, the context of the Cold War and the domination over the peninsula of Crimea.

See too: Conflicts between Israel and Palestine — one of the longest-running issues in human history

Topics in this article

1 - Summary on why Russia invaded Ukraine

2 - Historical context of tension between Russia and Ukraine
3 - Why did Russia invade Ukraine?
4 - Possible consequences of the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine
5 - Video lesson on War in Ukraine

Summary on why Russia invaded Ukraine

While tensions between Russia and Ukraine quickly escalated in late 2021, their roots go back to the historical past and to the territorial, cultural and political relations between these two countries.
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The possibility of Ukraine joining NATO is one of the causes of the conflict. This would mean greater rapprochement with the West and Russia's loss of influence over the country.
Furthermore, taking into account the objectives of this alliance, the other NATO member countries would protect directly and indirectly to Ukraine, which could increase the country's military capacity and pose a threat to the Russia.
A deep political crisis that took hold in Ukraine after the suspension of negotiations with the European Union and the Crimea issue are also causes of the conflict.
Shortly before the de facto invasion, which took place on February 24, 2022, Russia recognized the independence of Ukraine's breakaway regions.
Some of the consequences of the conflict are the huge wave of Ukrainian refugees, hundreds of deaths and wounded, as well as economic sanctions against Russia and members of its government in a personal way.

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Historical context of tension between Russia and Ukraine

At Tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalated rapidly from December 2021, culminating in the neighboring country's invasion of Ukrainian territory just two months later. The reasons why this situation was installed in the Eastern European region go back to the historical past ofs twos countries andThe sociocultural, economic and political issues.

The areas that today correspond to the countries of the eastern part of the European continent, especially Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, were occupied for the first time by people belonging to the same ethnic matrix, commonly called the first Slavs or Rus, a name given long after the beginning of the settlement. Thus, despite the cultural particularity of each of them, there are a number of cultural elements that connect them.

Thinking about the geopolitical and territorial issue, the history of Ukraine's formation and the expansion of Russian territory over the centuries also help us to understand the current context in the region. During the second half of the 18th century, part of the Ukrainian territory began to be annexed by the Russian Empire, which expanded to several areas to the west and south, including the peninsula that corresponds à Crimea. After gaining its independence, the country was incorporated into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), in the year 1922.

Ukraine was part of the Soviet bloc throughout Cold War, becoming independent again only in 1991 with the dismantling of the USSR. In the meantime, in 1954, the Crimean peninsula, which until then belonged to Russian territory, was ceded to Ukraine in a maneuver interpreted as symbolic and strategic. Almost six decades later, this area would return to Russian rule, causing a deep diplomatic and geopolitical crisis with Ukraine, known as Crimea issue, which would unfold in the current conflict.

Another important fact that happened in the interval between the formation of the Soviet Union and its separation was the creation, in 1949, of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (nato), a political and military alliance whose objective is the resolution and prevention of conflicts and the protection of its member countries. After the end of the Cold War, NATO expanded into Eastern Europe, closer to Ukraine. This country also started the dialogue with the European Union, showing interest in officially joining the bloc.

Know more: Warsaw Pact — an agreement signed between the countries of the Soviet Union in reaction to the creation of NATO

Why did Russia invade Ukraine?

The reasons why Russia invaded Ukraine still cause intense debate among political analysts and researchers. The invasion took place on February 24, 2022, but as we saw above, many of its motivations can be identified through a historical analysis of the invasion. conflicting relationshipto the between the two countries of Eastern Europe.

One of the main reasons given for the invasion is the closer rapprochement between Ukraine and NATO, an organization that represents, in the Russian view, the countries of the West and some of their main political opponents on the international stage, among them the U.S. Other Eastern European nations that border Russia are even part of this alliance, such as the Baltic countries (latvia, Estonia and Lithuania) and the Poland, leaving only Ukraine and Belarus.

In addition to a probable NATO entry indicating the West's greater strength in the region and, consequently, the reduction of Russian influence over Ukraine, the territory Ukraine would adopt the alliance's security and military protection policy, which would lead to direct support from other member countries in the event of instabilities. in the region.

Such actions would pose a threat to Russia. However, after a month of the start of the conflict, the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky criticized NATO's actions in relation to the lack of aid to his country.

Another cause of the invasion is directly associated with past events, which were triggered in 2013. At the time, negotiations for Ukraine's entry into the European Union were suspended by the country's then president, whose political ideals were aligned with Russia. He was ousted from office the following year, 2014, after an intense wave of protests in the country.

In the same year, the annexation of Crimea to the territory from Russia, and the Russians have declared support for the breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine. Both have a large population of Russian origin, and the country's government claims that the actions were aimed at protecting Russian citizens or those with Russian roots.

A few days before the invasion took place, the recognition ofthe independence of the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk by Russia, in eastern Ukraine. This caused the Russians to move their troops to that area, effectively inserting themselves within the borders of Ukraine and approaching strategic areas of the country.

The above causes are the best known and associated with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. There are also analyzes that point to the political motives of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, for the invasion, as the demonstration of Russian influence power over the region and the resolution of “unfinished business” with the neighboring nation.|1|

Possible consequences of the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine

The conflicts between Russia and Ukraine have attracted the attention of the entire international community, which is impacted directly and indirectly by the events in the Eastern European region in this context of war. The biggest consequences, however, are suffered by the areas directly attacked, essentially located in Ukraine.

Ukrainian refugees leaving the country on foot across the border with Hungary. [1]

Here are some of the consequences of the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine:

large number of Ukrainian citizens who leave the country as refugees, moving mainly to bordering nations such as Poland and Hungary;
hundreds of people killed, injured and missing as a result of air strikes and direct ground clashes between the military;
destruction of infrastructure physics of the attacked locations;
economic and humanitarian crisis;
loss of strategic areas by Ukraine, now under Russian rule, such as Ukrainian port cities on the Black Sea;
imposition of economic sanctions on Russia and also on important members of the Russian government, even on the country's president and his family members;
interruption in the supply of natural gas from Russia to the Europe;
diplomatic isolation from Russia.