Historical Origins of the Russia-Ukraine War
World History
On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine. Since the fighting began, tens of thousands of people have died on both sides of the conflict and millions of Ukrainians have fled the country. There has been strong international condemnation toward Russia over this invasion. The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine was part of a larger conflict known as the Russia-Ukraine War that started in 2014. To understand this war, it is important to go back into history.
Origins of Russia and Ukraine
Both Russia and Ukraine can trace their origins back to the Kievan Rus in the 800s A.D. The Kievan Rus started in Kiev (or Kyiv) and expanded south to the Black Sea and all the way north near to where Finland is today. The Kievan Rus lasted for more than 300 years.
Mongol Rule in Russia
The Kievan Rus would end with the arrival of the Mongols around 1240. The Mongols would rule parts of what are today Russia and Ukraine for around 300 years. Russian principalities (a principality was an area or town ruled by a Russian prince) had to pay tributes to the Mongol rulers in the area. One principality, the Grand Principality of Moscow, refused to pay tributes to the Mongols in 1480; this ended Mongol rule in Russia.
Basis for the Modern State of Russia and the Russian Empire
The Grand Principality of Moscow would expand its territory to the north and east (this was the basis for the modern state of Russia), but it didn’t include the area north of the Black Sea which was part of Kievan Rus and today is Ukraine.
By the time the Russian Empire started in 1721, Russia expanded all the way across Asia making it the largest country in the world. Two tsars during the Russian Empire further expanded the empire to the southwest of Russia on the Black Sea (where Ukraine is located today); those leaders were Peter the Great and Catherine the Great. Russian leaders have always wanted access to the Black Sea because it gives them an easy transportation throughway to the Mediterranean Sea. The land above the Black Sea was also valuable for its oil and grains.
When Peter the Great and Catherine the Great annexed parts of the geographical location that is Ukraine today, the idea of a nation called Ukraine was only starting to emerge. In fact, in old Russian, “ukraina” means borderland. The territory Peter the Great and Catherine the Great annexed became known as Little Russia.
Ukrainian Soviet Republic
For a short period, between 1917–1918, there was an independent country called Ukraine which covered most of modern-day Ukraine (except the western part). However, with the establishment of the U.S.S.R., Ukraine became part of the U.S.S.R. and was called the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic.
During the U.S.S.R., independence movements popped up in the Ukrainian SSR. To devastate the Ukrainians, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin executed many rebellious Ukrainians. It is also believed that he purposely devastated the Ukrainian SSR during the Great Famine of 1933–1934. More than six million Ukrainians died during Stalin’s forced famine.
Independent Nation of Ukraine
When the U.S.S.R. fell in1991, Ukraine became an independent nation. Ukraine is considered the breadbasket of Europe because it provides Europe with grains. It also has oil reserves on land and near its borders in the Black Sea. Russia’s economy is also dependent on exporting its oil through Ukraine to Europe.
NATO
Right before the U.S.S.R. fell, West Germany (influenced by the United States) and East Germany (influenced by the U.S.S.R.) was reunited. During the reunification process, the U.S. promised the U.S.S.R. that NATO (the Cold War military alliance to protect western Europe from the U.S.S.R.) would not expand east of Germany. However, in the late 1990s all the way to the early 2000s, more and more countries east of Germany have joined NATO. Russia has felt threatened by this expansion. Russia has warned against Ukraine joining NATO for many years.
Ukraine is right between Europe and Russia. Within Ukraine, many Ukrainians in the center and west want to join NATO and be closer to Europe; many ethnic Russians in the east want to have closer ties to Russia.
Beginning of Russia-Ukraine War
In 2010, Viktor Yanukovych became president of Ukraine. In 2014, Yanukovych rejected opportunities to bring Ukraine closer to Europe, instead he sought closer relations with Russia. Ukrainians protested and revolted and finally ousted Yanukovych. This brought great anger to the pro-Russian Ukrainians in the Donbas region (eastern region of Ukraine on the border with Russia).
Counterprotests against the ousting of Yanukovych occurred in the Donbas region where there are many ethnic Russians. This led to Russian involvement in the region which greatly angered many Ukrainians. Russia would send its military to the Donbas region and it would annex Crimea (the strategically located peninsula in the Black Sea). This was the beginning of the Donbas War that would last until the 2022 Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Between 2014 and 2022, Ukraine stopped the North Crimean Canal that flowed from Ukraine to Crimea providing it with much of its water, this further angered Russia.
After eight years of conflict in eastern Ukraine in the Donbas War, Vladimir Putin recognized the Donbas region as independent. He claimed he was de-nazifying the region and accused the Ukrainians of genocide. Then, on February 24, 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The war was supposed to be a quick victory for Russia, but under the leadership of Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine prevented Russia from taking the capital which prolonged the war.
Vladimir Putin claimed the reason Russia invaded Ukraine was because he didn’t want Ukraine to join NATO further expanding NATO’s influence east. He also said he wanted to “de-nazify” Ukraine claiming Ukraine was persecuting ethnic Russians in the Donbas region. Putin would later compare his leadership to that of Peter the Great saying it was his duty to expand the territory of Russia.
