On February 24, about 6 o’clock in the morning, Russia launched a devastating attack on Ukraine by land, sea, and air. Troops have commenced the invasion through the borderline with Belarus, the annexed Crimean Peninsula, and from the side of the Donbas region where the Russian army conducts regular military operations against Ukraine since 2014. By the late noon of February 25, its forces were in Kyiv – the capital of a European-democratic country with a population of 44 million people. Military invasion by tanks and missiles is already in your neighbor European country. Help Ukraine defend peace in the world! Do so, please!
Photo by: AP
For several months, President Putin denied all the warning messages of the West and claimed he would not invade Ukraine, whereas all those Russian troops near the Ukrainian border, which the West referred to, were there for a drill. What is this if not a lie in the face of the whole world? Given that, what followed next was tearing up a peace deal by President Putin and sending troops across borders. Ukrainian military headquarters, as well as airports, were hit first. It took place near major cities across entire Ukraine. Afterward, troops and tanks rolled into the country from the north, south, and east.
Considering the ever-increasing number of the dead both in the ranks of the Ukrainian army that defends its country and among civilians, President Putin stands accused of breaking the peace in Europe that may jeopardise the entire European continent’s security structure.
Why did President Putin attack Ukraine?
In his TV address on the day of the invasion, the Russian leader claimed that his country could no longer “feel safe, evolve, and exist” because of what he declared was an ongoing threat from modern Ukraine. Many of his arguments were unreasonable or false. He declared his goal was “demilitarisation and de-Nazification” in order to save Ukrainian people that were intimidated and subjected to genocide. But there is no genocide in Ukraine in the first place: It is a full-of-life democracy with a legitimate president! Neither Ukraine asked for help or “liberation”, nor any other country in the world knows of any clamping down on civil rights in Ukraine. But President Putin. In fact, it looks like he’s just concocted any reason to invade a sovereign state.
Photo by: Reuters
Photo by: Reuters
Last year, President Putin presented to the public an article in which he characterised Ukrainians and Russians as “one nation”. There, he also wrote that the collapse of the Soviet Union was the “destruction of historical Russia”. In recent years, President Putin has often accused Ukraine of being taken over by extremists. The sole basis for that accusation was the democratic choice of the Ukrainian population to develop their country in their own way and according to their own values that are much more like European than Soviet ones.
Since the Union collapsed and having gained independence, Ukraine was making its way into a democratic future, whereas the Russian leader, for 30 years, was trying to take it back to the authoritarian past. He did so by influencing Ukrainian elections so that the country was led by pro-Russian presidents. Then, he seized the Crimean peninsula. And finally, he triggered a rebellion in the east of Ukraine, supporting separatists in a war with Ukrainian forces that claimed 14,000 lives.
Given that what President Putin declares very much differs from what he does and how the actual state of things is, we can only assume that, being 69 years old, and having gained no success in conquering Ukraine by civilian actions, he got prepared to do it in a military way. For the moment, it is obvious that Russia aims to overthrow the democratically elected government of Ukraine.
Photo by: AFP
However, what’s more, President Putin demands that Nato go back to its pre-1997 borders. He requires Nato to remove its military infrastructure from member states that entered the alliance in 1997 and later. That means Eastern Europe, Central Europe, and the Baltics.
How dangerous is this war for Europe?
For the first time since World War II, a major power invaded a European neighbour resulting in horrifying times for the civilian population of Ukraine as well as frightening times for the rest of the continent. Hundreds have died in the first few days of the war, both soldiers and civilians. France’s Emmanuel Macron called this military invasion “a turning point in Europe’s history”.
There is only one country that supports this war with actions, and it is Belarus. How is it possible? During 28 years of government, President of Belarus Lukashenko was supported by the Russian leader both strategically and… financially. For accuracy’s sake, he and his country totally depend on Russian money. And even though President Lukashenko, in his speech as of 2020, ensured that not a single soldier would enter Ukraine from the Belorussian side, he was lying, too. As soldiers, tanks, and even missiles did attack Ukraine precisely from the Belorussian side. And while dozens of people died from those, President Lukashenko was encouraging people to just continue living…
