Prior to the crisis, Putin had undermined the notion of Ukraine as an independent nation. He also launched a barrage of accusations against the government in Kyiv that were widely seen as a prelude to an invasion.
However, EKO HOT BLOG reports that for months, President Vladimir Putin denied he would invade his neighbour, but then he tore up a peace deal, sending forces across borders in Ukraine’s north, east and south.
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As the number of dead climbs, he stands accused of shattering the peace in Europe. What happens next could jeopardise the continent’s entire security structure.
The big question is; Why did Russian troops launch an attack on Ukraine?
Zelensky who sought to break through the wall of state-controlled Russian newscasts that have depicted Ukraine as a nation run by Nazis threatening Moscow saw his nation attacked by the Russian troops.
Putin had ordered a full-scale invasion from the north, east and south. In a pre-dawn TV address on 24 February, he declared Russia could not feel “safe, develop and exist” because of what he claimed was a constant threat from modern Ukraine.
In a bid to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO, Putin ordered a major attack on Airports and military headquarters were hit first then tanks and troops rolled into Ukraine from Russia, Russia-annexed Crimea and ally Belarus.
Many of President Putin’s arguments were false or irrational. He claimed his goal was to protect people subjected to bullying and genocide and aim for the “demilitarisation and de-Nazification” of Ukraine. There has been no genocide in Ukraine: it is a vibrant democracy, led by a president who is Jewish.
“How could I be a Nazi?” said Volodymyr Zelensky, who likened Russia’s onslaught to Nazi Germany’s invasion in World War Two. Ukraine’s chief rabbi and the Auschwitz Memorial have also rejected Mr Putin’s slur.
Putin has expressed concern over the expansion of NATO, into Eastern Europe and former Soviet Republics, especially Ukraine.
NATO is a political and military alliance that dates back to 1949 and consists of 30 member countries, including the US, Canada, the UK, France, Belgium, and many other European nations. NATO membership is open to any European country that meets its criteria. The alliance has said Ukraine is among three nations that are considered aspiring members.
Putin has criticized NATO for expanding eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. He has said NATO enlisting nations on Russia’s borders represents a provocation, though NATO insists it is a defensive alliance and not a threat to Russia.
In one of his speeches, Putin said the invasion of Ukraine was an act of self-defence against NATO expansion.
Putin has also accused Ukraine of committing genocide and called its government a Nazi regime, claims for which there is no evidence.
Earlier this month, Putin claimed genocide was being committed against ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine, particularly in the Donbas region, where Kremlin-backed rebels have been fighting with Ukrainian forces since 2014.
Recently, Putin recognized Donetsk and Luhansk, two separatist regions in the Donbas, as independent states and ordered Russian troops in for a “peacekeeping” operation, a move that was widely seen as a pretext for war.
In his Thursday speech announcing the invasion, Putin again repeated the claims of genocide, saying he was seeking the “denazification” of Ukraine, a country whose democratically elected leader, President Volodymyr Zelensky, is Jewish.
In a lengthy speech Monday, Putin claimed Ukraine wasn’t a real country: “Ukraine has never had its own authentic statehood. There has never been a sustainable statehood in Ukraine.”
He argued Ukraine was created by the Soviet Union under its first leader, Vladimir Lenin, despite overwhelming evidence of Ukrainian culture and history that predates the Soviet Union. Putin also insisted that Ukraine is part of Russia.
“Let me emphasize once again that Ukraine for us is not just a neighbouring country. It is an integral part of our own history, culture, spiritual space,” he said.
Putin has also incorrectly stated that Russia gave Ukraine the right to break away, when in fact, the Ukrainian people voted overwhelmingly for independence in a 1991 referendum, The Washington Post reported.
For the referendum vote, 84% of eligible voters went to the polls, and more than 90% voted in favor of independence.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine voluntarily gave up the nuclear weapons in its territory in exchange for a guarantee of security by the US, the UK, and Russia.
Putin, however, has expressed concern that Ukraine has the knowledge and desire to obtain nuclear weapons, thus posing a threat to Moscow. While there is no evidence that Ukraine is trying to acquire nuclear weapons, The New York Times reported that Putin had spewed conspiracy theories to talk up the threat and use it to justify an invasion.
“If Ukraine acquires weapons of mass destruction, the situation in the world and Europe will drastically change, especially for us, for Russia,” Putin said Tuesday. “We cannot but react to this real danger, all the more so since, let me repeat, Ukraine’s Western patrons may help it acquire these weapons to create yet another threat to our country.”
Putin nurses a deep sense of grievance over the loss of Russia’s power and influence since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. Ukraine was formerly part of the Soviet Union but declared its independence in 1991.
Having a prosperous, modern, independent and democratic European state bordering Russia was perceived as posing a threat to Russia’s autocratic regime. If Ukrainians succeeded in fully reforming their country along lines of other western democracies, it would set a bad precedent for former Soviet countries and serve as an example for Russians who want a more democratic country.
Putin perceives that western democracies are in a weak and particularly vulnerable state — thanks in part due to Russian efforts to create discord and sow divisions in Europe and North America abroad making this an opportune time to launch a major military adventure.
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