Russian President Vladimir Putin has taken a considerable step towards what would be a conflict in Ukraine by recognizing the autonomous areas resulting from the civil war in the east of the neighbor. After signing the act, he ordered the deployment of Kremlin troops to support ethnic Russian separatists.
The Americans have been warning for weeks about the risk of a Russian invasion, which the Kremlin has been denying, because of the deployment of some 150,000 troops on the borders with Ukraine.
Among the main reasons for the whole conflict are Kiev’s historic attempt to distance itself from Moscow and the West’s desire to enlist Ukrainians to its area of ​​influence. To understand the recent events in this confrontation, it is necessary to know the main events in Ukraine’s politics since the end of the Soviet Union, when the country finally became independent.
1991
Leonid Kravchuk, leader of the Soviet Republic of Ukraine, declares independence from Moscow. In referendum and presidential election, Ukrainians approve independence and elect Kravchuk as the country’s president.
1994
Leonid Kuchma defeats Kravchuk in the presidential election considered free and fair by observers.
1999
Kuchma is re-elected in 1999 in a vote with accusations of several irregularities.
2004
Pro-Russian candidate Viktor Yanukovych is elected president, but allegations of election fraud spark protests in what has become known as the Orange Revolution. A new vote is held and former Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko is elected president, with a pro-Western narrative.
2005
Yushchenko takes power with promises to move Ukraine out of the Kremlin’s orbit towards NATO and the European Union. The former head of one of the country’s biggest energy companies, Yulia Timoshenko, is chosen as prime minister, but after infighting in the pro-Western camp, she leaves the post.
2008
NATO promises Ukraine that one day the country will join the alliance.
2010
Viktor Yanukovych defeats Timoshenko in the presidential election. Subsequently, Russia and Ukraine strike a gas price agreement in exchange for the extension of the lease of a Ukrainian port on the Black Sea to the Russian Navy.
2013
In November, Yanukovich’s government suspended negotiations that would place Ukraine in the European Union and chose to resume economic ties with Moscow, sparking months of demonstrations in Kiev.
2014
The protests, largely concentrated in Kiev’s Maidan Square, turn violent and dozens of protesters are killed. In February, the parliament removes Yanukovych from power and the then president flees to Russia.
In a few days, armed men seize parliament in the Crimea region of southern Ukraine and raise the Russian flag – the region was handed over to Kiev’s administration in the 1950s, when the city was the capital of the Soviet Republic of Ukraine. , which answered to Moscow. Years later, with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Crimea remained under the administration of the now independent Ukrainians.
In March, residents of the Crimea region vote, through a referendum, to be annexed to Russia and Vladimir Putin accepts the decision, contrary to the West. A month later, pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk and Lugansk regions declare independence – this is where most of those who identify as Russian but live on Ukrainian territory are located. At this point, the fighting began that continued sporadically, despite frequent ceasefires, until 2022.
In May, businessman Petro Porochenko is elected president with a pro-Western agenda, and in July, amid the war in eastern Ukraine, a missile shoots down a commercial plane and kills 298 people who were traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. . The weapon used is traced by investigators to Russia, which denies involvement.
2017
Ukraine and the European Union reach an agreement that provides for free trade between both parties and removes the need for Ukrainians to have visas to enter countries of the bloc.
2019
Earlier this year, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church gained formal recognition, angering the Kremlin. Four months later, comedian Volodymyr Zelensky defeats Poroshenko and becomes the country’s new president, with promises to fight corruption and end the war in eastern Ukraine. Completing the victory, in July, Zelensky’s “Servant of the People” party wins the parliamentary elections.
2021
In January, Zelensky appeals to US President Joe Biden to accept Ukraine into NATO, and a month later, his government imposes sanctions on Viktor Medvedchuk, opposition leader and the Kremlin’s most prominent ally in Ukraine.
Between March and June, Russia gathers troops near Ukraine’s borders, claiming training exercises. In October, on the other hand, Ukraine uses the Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drone for the first time in eastern Ukraine,
As of September, Russia is again starting to gather troops near Ukraine and Biden says three months later that Moscow will face severe economic sanctions if it invades the neighboring country. Russia, in turn, presents security demands and asks for a guarantee that NATO does not include Ukraine in the alliance, in addition to giving up any military activity in Eastern Europe.
2022
NATO refuses in January to accept Russian demands and US and Russian diplomats fail to reach an agreement. While negotiations are ongoing, hackers attack Ukrainian government websites and warn the public to “be fearful and expect the worst”. Russia places troops in Belarus, a few kilometers from Kiev, and NATO reinforces its apparatus in Eastern Europe, with more ships and fighter jets.
In February, the United States says it will send 3,000 extra troops to Poland and Romania to help protect NATO allies. Days later, Putin visits Beijing and wins the support of the Chinese government to prevent Ukraine from joining the Western alliance. Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron tries to forge a deal between the parties, but is warned, often by the US government, that a Russian invasion could come at any time.
Russia even announces the withdrawal of troops from the border with eastern Ukraine, but maintains those that were in Belarus. On the same day, in a coordinated action with the Kremlin, the Russian parliament asked Putin to recognize the two separatist regions of Ukraine as independent. This Monday (21), the Russian president announces that he has signed the parliamentarians’ request and, officially, makes Russia an active actor in the conflict and no longer a presumed judge.
