Elise Smoll

Contemporary World Affairs

Mrs. Chrissy Petterborg

10/26/2022

Russia/Ukrainian Conflict

No matter where you look, there seems to be news about the war between the Russians

and Ukrainians. On February 24 of this year, Russia invaded a largely unprepared Ukraine. In his

pronouncement, Putin stated that the purpose of the procedure was to demilitarize and “denazify”

Ukraine and to end the alleged genocide of Russians on Ukrainian territory. In reality, the

invasion stems from the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, Putin's desire

to reform the Soviet Union, and Putin's denial of Ukrainian national identity. Since then, the

invasion has resulted in international condemnation of the invasion and a previously unseen form

of online information-based warfare.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine’s government declared independence via

an overwhelming 92.3% vote approving the declaration of independence. For the first time in

Ukrainian history, the country was fully independent. Negotiations between the United States,

Russia, and Ukraine resulted in an agreement in which Ukraine would give up its nuclear

weapons and become a significant recipient of U.S. foreign aid. The North Atlantic Treaty

Organization (NATO) welcomed Ukraine into its Partnership for Peace, an initiative opened to

all non-NATO European countries and post-Soviet states. Russia became a member as well and

executed various cooperative movements with NATO, including combined military training.

However, tensions rose in 2014 when Russian forces seized power in Crimea, a Ukrainian

peninsula where the mass of citizens are ethnically Russian. Russia then formally, but illegally,
annexed the peninsula after Crimeans voted to enter the Russian Federation in an election

marked with multiple concerns of fraud. The crisis worsened ethnic divisions, and two months

later, pro-Russian separatists in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk held their

own independence referendums. Russia and Ukraine have been at odds and Russia has wanted

Ukraine back ever since the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union.

(Greenspan) (Casert) (Global Conflict Tracker)

Since the Cold War, NATO has become more influential as an international organization

dedicated to cross-Atlantic security and unity. Since the invasion, NATO has renewed its interest

in military threats, with the highest priority being Russia.. Putin has threatened the use of nuclear

weapons in order to discourage and hinder his opponents and force them to rethink how far they

are willing to push. He has a domestic motive to reassure the Russian population that the country

remains capable of defending itself. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 activated

sanctions and other barriers that have inhibited trade route procedures, endangered the supply of

key food resources like wheat, and boosted the chance of global famine. The war is impacting

the store of wheat, barley, and sunflower oil, which are necessary items for keeping humans

provided for. According to Heli Tiirmaa-Klaar, we need to designate alternative suppliers,

develop public-private partnerships, and influence evolved analytics If we want to solve the

concern of food scarcity. (Tiirmaa-Klaar 3-4) (BBC) (Stackpole)

During the years of Putin’s presidency and premiership, his primary goal has been to

unite the Russian Federation into a strong, independent nation and restore Russia's supremacy on

the international scene as a great power. In Putin’s mind, the way to do this is to gain influence

over post-Soviet countries and deter the expansion of Western institutes, particularly the North

Atlantic Treaty Organization. Internally, Putin strived for stability and authority, while
internationally, he aimed for a strong foreign policy to help regain Russia's status as a great

power. Putin took control of the media outlets and press, powerful tools in the hands of an

authoritative regime, that were used primarily for crushing public discontent. In addition, to

recentralize power in 89 regions of the Russian Federation, Putin divided the country into seven

administrative districts and appointed presidential representatives to keep an eye on local

authorities to enforce Moscow's central politics. Collaborative relations with the United States

and other European countries, especially in terms of international security, allowed Putin to

strengthen Russia's position among the great powers and international institutions. Putin, with

the media, press, and oligarchs under his control, won the support of parliament and showed that

Russia had an important role in world affairs by stepping into the political game with the United

States. One of the reasons Putin is fighting to gain control over Ukraine is because of his desire

for Russia to become a new and improved Soviet Union. (BBC) (Ollivier)

Russia also has a major problem with Ukraine being seen as a separate nationality.

According to Heli Tiirmaa-Klaar, Putin's policies toward Ukraine and Belarus have been

predicated on the presumption that their national identities are artificial and therefore fragile.

Russia estimated that enough Ukrainians would accept reintegration into a Russian sphere of

power because of shared cultural, linguistic, religious, and other ties with Russia. However, this

computation has proven dramatically wrong. Putin has long asserted that Russians and

Ukrainians constitute "one people" and that they should share a shared political fate today. He

also claimed that the present Ukrainian state was a result of the Soviet Union. Putin's historical

expeditions tend to provoke confusion in the West, but his claim that Ukrainians and Russians

are "one people" has a long pedigree in select Russian circles. Putin has assumed that most

citizens of Ukraine remain resolute to the idea of the "all-Russian" nation and that only their
leaders and foreign powers are pushing Ukraine away from Russia. Putin's chance has reversed

spectacularly, as more than five million Ukrainians have escaped the country and thousands more

have been killed or wounded. (CSIS)

Since the summer of 2022, Russia has been attacking Ukrainian ports with cruise

missiles, bombs, cluster munitions, and thermobaric weapons. However, the Ukrainians are

building a different kind of counter-offensive in Kherson than the Russians were expecting. As

of today, they have liberated all of Kharkiv and most of Kherson, and are positioning themselves

for further victory in Southern Ukraine and potentially Crimea. The Ukrainians have prepared for

success over the previous months by patiently preparing the ground for war with Russia. They

have acquired superior weaponry from the United States and NATO, including Javelin anti-tank

rocket launchers, and several High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), which has

greatly limited the Russian army's ability to move forward. Ukraine has started using high-speed

anti-radiation missiles and drones to take out Russian anti-aircraft defenses and has not

attempted to push tanks through the Russian lines. Instead, they have probed up and down the

line, attacked weak spots, and continued the regular attrition of Russian forces. The renewed

Battle of Kherson might last for several weeks, but if the Ukrainians can cut off Russian traffic

across the Dnipro and use their superior systems to wear down Russian forces, they stand a good

chance of winning. (Masters) (O'Brien)

It has been over a decade since the Cold War ended, the Soviet Union collapsed, and

Ukraine declared independence, but Russia has wanted Ukraine back ever since. With its

increasing influence, NATO is an international organization securing European security and

ensuring unity among Euro-Atlantic countries. In order to be able to resolve the issue of food

scarcity, we need to identify alternative suppliers, develop public-private partnerships, and

influence the development of advanced analytics. It has been the aim of Putin during his years as

president of the Russian Federation and premier of the country to unite the Russian Federation

into a strong, independent nation. Because Putin wants Russia to become a “new and improved”

Soviet Union, he invaded Ukraine in order to be able to maintain control over the country. The

policies of Vladimir Putin toward Ukraine and Belarus have been based on the assumption that

their national identities are artificial and therefore tend to be fragile as a result. Since the

invasion, more than five million Ukrainians have fled their country, while thousands more have

been killed or wounded. It is possible that the renewed Battle of Kherson might last for several

weeks, but if the Ukrainians are able to cut off Russian traffic across the Dnipro and use their

superior systems in order to wear down the Russian forces, they stand a good chance of winning.

In Kherson, the Ukrainians are building a different kind of offensive from the one that the

Russians anticipated.

In summary, Several factors contributed to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including the

end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, Putin's desire to reform the Soviet

Union, and Putin's denial of the Ukrainian national identity. The invasion has been condemned

internationally and has resulted in a new form of information-based warfare.

 Works Cited

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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60564123. Accessed 26 October 2022.

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Casert, Raf. “A historical timeline of post-independence Ukraine.” PBS, 22 February 2022,

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/a-historical-timeline-of-post-independence-ukraine.

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Accessed 26 October 2022.

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Accessed 26 October 2022.

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https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/ripple-effects-russia-ukraine-war-test-global-econ

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