By Tessa Larcher
For several years, tensions between Ukraine and Russia have been escalating. Most recently, diplomatic efforts were deployed at full speed in order to find a solution to the ongoing crisis. What now?
Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine yesterday, with airstrikes and ground forces entering from several directions in the country.
Earlier, the Russian president officially recognised the so-called Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics in eastern Ukraine, labelling them as independent. Both are on Ukrainian territory, although their populations are largely Russian-speaking.
To help fight the onslaught, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared martial law and announced they will stop every diplomatic relation with Moscow, telling his citizens not to panic.
Yesterday, Russian forces announced that they had even seized the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which spewed radioactive fumes across Europe in 1986 when it broke down, and taken its caretakers hostage.
Some newspapers reported that since the seizure, the area has been registering significantly higher levels of radioactivity than usual.
Origins of violence
The origins of the latest outbreak of violence between the two countries can be traced back to last year, when there was a massive Russian military deployment along the Ukrainian border.
Ukraine wanted to strengthen its security due to the pressures of the Russian military presence in its territory. In order to achieve safe security, it was considering an alliance with NATO – or at least, that’s what Russian President Vladimir Putin thought.
In the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, panic ensued as residents crowded into the subways to seek shelter or tried to leave the city.
It was reported that 194 Ukrainians and 57 civilians have been killed in Ukraine so far, with Zelensky calling on Europeans “with combat experience” to come and help repel the Russian invasion.
At the moment the invasion is still happening, more than 50,000 civilians leaving Ukraine in less than two days, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi.
The Russian invasion could soon extend to Georgia and Moldova, two neighbouring countries of Ukraine.
Looking for a solution
“It’s been a while since this situation lasts in Ukraine. We need a solution to end up this conflict,” declared Nataliya Slavych, 47 a Ukrainian who has been living in Sicily for more than ten years now.
“We are scared of what Putin is doing because it will never stop dominating our country and probably plan more. Look how they were already occupying our borders Crimea and Donbas. Russia’s intention is to take over the country, I think the only best solution to protect ourselves is to join NATO. “
Unfortunately, this represents a major problem for Russia, which does not agree with this potential accession of Ukraine to NATO. Russia strictly opposes NATO expansion and wants a guarantee that Ukraine will never join it, a position also shared by their allies, China.
Cold war reminiscence
Today, NATO has 30 member states, and other countries could join. Ukraine is not part of the alliance, but is still considered a “partner country”. During the 1990s, the end of the Cold War was marked by the collapse of the Soviet Union. Therefore NATO aimed to establish close relations with the nations of Central and Eastern Europe, which became newly independent after the Cold War.
For decades, the Kremlin has repeatedly claimed that the West has broken its promise. However, Western European leaders disagreed and said there has never been a formal agreement on NATO’s non-expansion to Eastern Europe, and that the alliance maintains an “open-door policy”.
“I think the USA and the UK should help Ukraine to join NATO because they could help us in defence against Russia,” said Slavych.
Should we be scared?
The Russian government had repeatedly declared that it has no intention of invading Ukraine. But these declarations were not reassuring in the eyes of the Ukrainian people, and ow their fears have become reality.
“Since 2014 Russia starts this war. Ukrainian society is already paying the price for this Russian aggression, can you believe more than 14,000 died?” continues Slavych, referring to 2014, when Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in southern Ukraine, supported by pro-Russian separatists who captured large parts of eastern Ukraine.
“The media is not really clear about the actual situation anyway. Also, Putin is a big liar because he’s already intending a war. So why are they occupying our borders then and sending troops all over the country? He’s playing with all the world right now.”
Ukraine invasion happening
Last night, Vladimir Putin launched a special military operation aimed at “demilitarizing” Ukraine. Bombing raids and explosions began this early morning, in several cities: Kyiv, Odesa and even Lviv, located 50 kilometres far from Poland.
As new cyber attacks targeted Ukrainian government sites, several airports and the country’s airspace were closed. Separatist leaders are asking Moscow for military aid to “help repel the aggression of the Ukrainian armed forces”.
Vladimir Putin launches live on TV declaring: “made the decision of a special military operation”. In his statement he does not use the word war explicitly, but explains that the intention is to “demilitarize” Ukraine, but also to “denazify” it, and “bring to its knees”.
And now?
Worrying about her hometown and her family living in Lviv, Slavych declared: “We are worried about our sons and our children’s future. I pray for my family, they live next to the Polish border where everything was calm compared to the other side of the country impacted by the Russian presence.
“I cried because in one night everything escalated. I’m getting bad news from my family as they are trying to find solutions to protect themselves as they can now. We are all scared and we don’t trust Putin’s intentions. At this point, I can tell people are trying to escape by crossing the Polish border.”
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