On February 24th, 2022, the world witnessed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with a military force of over 150,000 troops. Although this invasion may initially seem unexpected, the extensive history between Russia and Ukraine has built up to this moment. Since the times of the Kievan Rus, Russian Slavs and Ukrainian Slavs have maintained close ties with each other. While they had their differences, their cultural similarities strengthened their relationship through- out the upcoming centuries. Once the Soviet Union was formed in the early 20th century, a union of over 15 differ- ent countries was created, which caused Ukraine to become a province under the control of the Russian Communist Party. During the Cold War, the Soviets used Ukraine as an access point to the West and as a stronghold for nuclear weapons.

However, in 1991 when the Soviet Union was dissolved, Ukraine gained its independence, and Russia lost much of its political and military influence in Eastern Europe. Many nations that were formerly under control of the Soviet Union such as Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have leaned to the west for economic and military support and have even joined NATO. Ever since then, Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, has been working to reverse these events. As Global Studies and Russian teacher Mr. Michael White states, “Putin has never trusted the west, and his world view is that the west has always tried to restrict Russia.” Through his recent actions, Putin aims to restore Russia to its former state of global wealth and power.

In 2014, Ukraine was planning to sign an agreement with the European Union which would have likely propelled the nation into the NATO alliance. However, when Viktor Yanukovych, the president of Ukraine at the time, refused to sign the agreement, public protests ensued which sparked the “Revolution of Dignity.” Yanukovych eventually fled to Russia, and a new government was formed, but Putin decided to take ad- vantage of the public chaos in Ukraine. He sent troops to Crimea and eventually annexed the territory as a demonstration of the people’s “free will.” Putin stated that his invasion was justified by the fact that many Ukrainians are of Russian origin and share the same social and cultural history. Critics today, however, believe his main motive for attacking was to prevent Ukraine from falling under the west’s sphere of influence; his continued belief is that Ukraine is valuable both economically and militarily to Russia.

Negotiations between NATO and Ukraine resumed recently, and throughout 2021, it seemed as if Ukraine would officially join the alliance. How- ever, in February of 2022, Putin recognized the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk, two territories in Ukraine, and sent troops into eastern Ukraine. In less than two weeks, the conflict dis- placed over 4 million Ukrainians, many of whom have sought refuge in Romania, Hungary, and Poland. In response to the invasion, many European nations have started to provide humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine. Also, the European Union recently imposed heavy economic sanctions on Russia which is having a severe effect on their foreign exchange mar- ket. Overall, Russia’s invasion is actively transforming European foreign policy.

When asked about how the conflict is impacting Russians and Ukrainians in the US, White stated that Russian and Ukrainian Slavic educators are “devastated and upset.” He emphasized how this situation is similar to that of 9/11 in that it has had an emotionally scarring effect on the Slav- ic community. “At some point, Europe and the US will need to stand up for state sovereignty,” White stated, regard- ing the impact of the conflict on the relation between Russia and the west in the future. “War is the last option.”

Information retrieved from The New York Times, The Guardian, Vox, BBC News, and NATO.