By Morgan Kikke
February 14, 2022
Tensions keep rising between Russia and Ukraine. It’s been brewing since 2014, when Russian troops crossed into Ukraine and caused a rebellion. Both countries have been raising their forces on the border between them. But, what has escalated since then?
Let’s start from the beginning. Ukraine was experiencing protests against the president, Viktor Yanukovych, because he denied a deal for more economical integration with the European Union at the end of 2013. By February 2014, there were more acts of violence and protesters, so Yanukovych fled the country. In March of the same year, Russian troops invaded Ukraine’s Crimea region and annexed them after Crimeans voted to be part of the Russian Federation. By July, the issue became international when a Malaysian Airlines flight was shot down in Ukraine, causing the US and European Union to be at odds with Russia. In October 2015, it was concluded that the flight was shot down by a Russian air-missile. Since February 2015, France, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine have attempted to come to an agreement with the Minsk Accords. It stated provisions for a cease-fire, withdrawal of heavy weaponry, and full Ukrainian government control throughout the conflict zone, but it was unsuccessful.
Just a year later, NATO announced a battalion rotating troops through Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland to try to deter future Russian aggression. In 2017, two US tank brigades were deployed to Poland to assist the battalion. During the Trump administration, security assistance to Ukraine was increased. In 2018, the US issued new sanctions for 21 individuals and 9 companies linked to the conflict, and they approved the sale of anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, which hasn’t happened since the beginning of the conflict. Then, in October 2018, Ukraine joined the US and some NATO countries.
In the spring of 2021, Russia began placing thousands of soldiers and equipment at their border shared with Ukraine. Since then, Russia hasn’t seemed to be much of a threat of invading Ukraine. There has been much support for Ukraine, from NATO and the US. NATO claims there will be a high price for Russia to pay if they do invade. Joe Biden has said that the US and its allies will respond decisively if Russia advances.
We’ll have to see what happens in this crisis. It’s already been almost 8 years since the conflict began. The US is supportive of Ukraine and has been assisting them.