The Russo-Ukrainian war is a currently occurring war that is not being taken seriously enough in the United States. Because of differing perspectives and a lack of empathy, the weight of the war hasn’t reached the majority of Americans. Consequently, here’s a long-winded reality check.

Before anything else: it is important to understand both countries as a whole. I solely included the history of Ukraine because it has more to do with the ongoing war.

UKRAINE

History: Ukraine has been subject to foreign rule for multiple years, and was essentially under the control of Soviet Russia for a long time. In 1917, Ukraine was officially formed because of the resurfacing of a Ukrainian National Movement. Then, they were forced back into the Soviet Union in 1922. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist, Ukraine then regained its independence in 1991.

Characteristics: Ukraine is located in the East side of Europe. Because of Russia’s influence on Ukraine, the nations are extremely similar. The primary language is Ruthenian, also called Ukrainian. The population is at nearly 44 million people. Ukraine is plagued with corruption of multiple genres, which is a persistent problem in the country.

RUSSIA

Characteristics: Russia holds a population of about 141 million people. The primary language spoken here is Russian. Issues in Russia include the restriction of freedom of speech and assembly, along with other human rights.

In 2014, Russian separatists took over the Crimean Parliament (The State Council of Crimea.) Russia also captured Donetsk and Luhansk. This was one of the more recent conflicts between the two countries, before the war. This clearly indicates that there is still major tension between the both of them.

THE RUSSO-UKRAINIAN WAR

• Why is it happening?

First, some vocabulary to digest. One constantly recurring word in this conflict is NATO. This is an acronym that stands for: “The North Atlantic Treaty Organization.” In short, NATO is an alliance between multiple countries, including many countries in Europe and the United States.

REASON 1.

Russia is part of an intercountry alliance called the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization.) The main countries involved in it are Russia, Armenia, and Belarus. If Ukraine joins NATO, it will advance NATO boundaries closer to the CSTO boundaries. This gives NATO an attack advantage. However, if Ukraine stays neutral or joins the CSTO, the CSTO will have more of an advantage. In the end, this is one main reason for the Russo-Ukrainian war – Ukrainian Neutrality. Russia wants to demilitarize Ukraine, most likely so that they can eliminate one more possible threat. They most likely hope to gain control of Ukraine to avoid their involvement with other countries. As soon as Ukraine joins NATO, Russia is subject to threats from other countries in the alliance.

Just this year, Ukraine intended to join NATO, which Russia did not accept. The Russian President stated that the growth of the intercountry alliance was a “threat” to Russia. Not long after, Russian troops surrounded the Donbas region in Ukraine, and this led to the eventual beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian war several days later.

REASON 2.

Russia produces a lot of oil and natural gas. This industrial area is one that Russia hugely depends on. From Russia, gas is exported to Hungary and other countries in the EU. Since this section of their economy is vital, interruptions in trade will affect their economy.  Now here is another problem in this plot. Russia has to use Ukrainian pipelines to export their gas. After Ukraine became independent, they demanded tariffs from Russia to use their pipelines. 80% of Russia’s gas exports still go through Ukraine. In order to gain a maximum profit, Russia wanted to build new pipelines through other countries. Eventually, they plan to cease using Ukrainian pipelines.

Here’s an unexpected development: As of around 2012, Ukraine’s economic zone is found to contain an astonishing amount of natural gas in the Crimea region. Because of this discovery, it is possible that they may have one of the largest natural gas reservations. This makes them a noteworthy threat to Russia’s gas economy.  This was the reason for Russia’s 2014 Crimean invasion, disregarding what they claimed it was for. Russia will most likely not give Crimea back to Ukraine because of the economic discoveries in it’s area. They plan to use it to their advantage.

As a summary, Russia most likely aims to gain control of Ukraine’s newfound reservations. Which is stupid, because people are literally dying for natural gas.

• What has happened as a result? 

The war continues currently with a total of 23,000 deaths. The death number may or may not include civilians, though they too have taken much of the brunt of the invasion. Bombings have occurred at hospitals, schools, and neighborhoods.

NEWS: For the past months since the war began, newspapers have been revolving around the events in Ukraine. Here is a summary of a rundown of what’s happening there. Every day of this war has clear repercussions.

March 6th –

The death toll reaches hundreds.

Multiple people are arrested for anti-war protests in Russia.

March 9th –

Russian troops destroy a Ukrainian maternity hospital. A pregnant women and a baby died in the process.

March 12th –

A Ukrainian mayor is allegedly abducted.

April 1st –

Russian troops suffer from apparent nuclear poisoning after staying at Chernobyl.

April 2nd –

Kyiv is subject to huge amounts of damage.

A Ukrainian Journalist was found dead.

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A Helpful Video

The video above cannot be more strongly recommended. It precisely illustrates the ongoing situation in an understandable manner.

*CREDITS GO TO THE ORIGINAL OWNER.*

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How to Help

• Donating money to trusted organizations such as UNICEF. The most effective way to do this is to donate as much money as you can at a fixed amount each month. This will increase the impact that the donation has.
• Offering space to rent to Ukrainian Refugees. You can use sites such as Airbnb to do this.
• Volunteer at organizations that are involving themselves with the Russo-Ukrainian War.

LINKS: 1, 2

• Petition and/or Lobby the government. Petitioning, if done the right way, can actually be effective. For instance, if you want President Biden to increase the aid given to Ukraine, you can create a petition. If a petition reaches a huge number of signatures, it will probably have more gravity. Lobbying is similar to Petitioning. Lobbyists basically use means such as conferences or meetings to influence a politician on their views. If done with eloquence and education, Lobbying can win over anyone.

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ANOTHER THING TO KEEP IN MIND: This is actually a war. Like the Civil War in the 1800s, where soldiers charged at each other and fought to the death. Though war technology has evolved majorly since then, war does not change from it’s definition. Given that we have come 200 years since that date, the Russo-Ukrainian war illustrates that absolutely nothing has changed since then. Society has certainly not matured as much as it should have.