In late February, when Russian artillery was rolled into eastern Ukraine, people around the world reacted with shock at the invasion and heartache for the Ukrainian people. The question on many of the world’s mind: why Ukraine and why now?
As noted by National Geographic, the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv, was once a prominent city in Kyivan Rus. This was the first Slavic state in history and would then become, over 1,000 years later, Russia and Ukraine. This interconnected history is part of the reason why Vladimir Putin has insisted that Russians and Ukrainians are one in the same, despite inhabiting two separate states. The other part of the reason, as chair of the department of humanities and politics at NSU David Kilroy stated, is just a “cynical ploy.”
Ukraine spent most of the major historical events of the twentieth century under Soviet rule. Finally in 1991, after a previously failed attempt at independence, Ukraine declared its independence from Russia. Right afterward, the Soviet Union collapsed.
What came next was a tumultuous period of the Ukrainian government attempting to appeal to both the Russian loyalists in the country and trying to align itself with the rest of Europe.
“Ukraine has been sort of stop and start and kind of unstable but largely they have been transformative and seeking to engage more with the larger European community,” said Kilroy.
These efforts finally came to a head when in 2010, Viktor Yanukovych was elected president and established closer relations with Russia. After backing out of talks to establish Ukraine as a member of the EU, Yanukovich was overthrown in the Maidan revolution.
“Putin sees the Ukrainian government since 2014 as essentially being puppets of the west but in reality, what’s happened is the Ukrainian people pushed to be closer to the west,” said Kilroy.
In the time after the revolution, Russia has become increasingly antagonistic to Ukraine, illegally annexing Crimea and trying to cut off Ukraine’s allies at every turn. What is more troubling about Russia’s aggression towards Ukraine is how Russia has framed it.
“Putin claimed in advance that he does not recognize Ukraine as a sovereign state and that he doesn’t see Ukrainians as a separate people,” said Kilroy, adding that, “He said that what’s at stake in Ukraine is Russia’s historical future.”
It has become clear to the world that Putin is not just in this fight to gain land. It is about Russia’s reputation and how it has defined itself after the fall of the Soviet Union. It raises questions on how other nationalistic countries will act in the future.
Kilroy stated that the most worrying part of Putin’s performance is how “the limits on his willingness to act on his rhetoric are much less narrow than what was originally anticipated.”
Ultimately, Russia’s actions have been forecasted for years before the recent invasion, it gives diplomats around the world pause for what else can happen.
“We should all think twice about political rhetoric and the kind of extremism that has come to pass for politics,” said Kilroy.
