A Saga of Two Countries

In February of 2022 , Russia declared war on Ukraine , invading the latter and creating the largest European refugee crisis since the Second World War . But what led to this series of events ?

The story starts in 1991 , with the collapse of the old USSR. As the old superpower fell apart , Ukraine gained its independence , separating from Russia . Soon after 1994 , Ukraine signed the Nuclear Non Profileteration Treaty in return for getting promises of territorial integrity ( guarantee of sovereignty ) by the UK , Russia , and the USA .

In 2014 , due to violent protests after a controversial election , Russia invaded the Crimean region of Ukraine , claiming to station military to “ ensure safety” of the citizens of Ukraine . Russia refused to budge despite outcries from the international bodies.

Jumping to 2022, Russia slowly built up military outposts near the Russo-Ukraine border , denying any possible invasion of Ukraine and assuring the movements were merely training operations . But on the night of 23rd Februray, Putin changed tracks and declared that the Russian military is invading Ukraine in order to save the Rusian-speaking parts of Ukraine , the regions colloquially known as Donbas from the “corrupt and genocidal regime in Kyiv”. After days of military occupation and mass bombings , Putin changed his tracks to “de-Nazify” the country , and conquered a large swathe of land in Eastern Ukraine.

While Ukraine’s resistance has managed to reclaim a decent percentage, it is unlikely the Russian military will give away any land more , given Putin’s claim that they are here to free Eastern Ukraine. What lays dis credibility to this matter is that Putin and the Russian media keep changing their speeches for why this unfortunate event was started. What began as fighting for the Russian speaking public slowly changed to saving the people from a “corrupt Nazi government” and now a defensive stance , stating that they are afraid of Ukraine’s military and are afraid that their proximity would have caused UKRAINE to attack them instead, thus forcing the Russian hand.

This war has right now reached a deadly impasse. While nothing of note is happening as we speak, it does not mean people are at peace. People still wake up every day , not knowing if today would be their , or their homeland’s , last. While I can not do much , I do pray for this meaningless slaughter to come to an end, at least so the innocent can live again.

Here’s to another week of moving forward.

PS: I apologise for not posting for a long time, I promise to upload on a more consistent basis now.