Why Did Russia Attack Ukraine? The Strife Clarified in 10 Focuses

Russian President Vladimir Putin propelled a military operation in Ukraine on Thursday with blasts heard over the nation and its foreign minister caution a "full-scale attack" was underway. Russia has attacked Ukraine in what might be the begin of war in Europe over Russia's requests for an end to NATO's eastbound expansion.

Roots of the Conflict

While there had been tensions between Russia and Ukraine, a previous Soviet republic, for a long time, the circumstance started getting out of control in early 2021. In January last year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy encouraged US President Joe Biden to let Ukraine join NATO.

This rankled Russia, which begun sending troops close its Ukraine border for "preparing works out" in spring last year and expanded it amid autumn. By December, the US started hyping up the deployment of the Russian troops and President Biden cautioned of serious sanctions in case Russia attacked Ukraine.

Russia has requested that the West gives a legitimately authoritative guarantee that NATO will not hold any military movement in eastern Europe and Ukraine. Vladimir Putin claims Ukraine may be a puppet of the West and was never a legitimate state besides.

Typically not the first time tensions between Russia and Ukraine has come to a boiling point. Russia had attacked Ukraine in 2014 when rebels supported by President Putin had seized huge swathes of eastern Ukraine and have battled Ukraine's armed force since at that point. At that time, Russia had added Crimea.

As a previous Soviet republic Ukraine has profound social and cultural ties with Russia, and Russian is broadly talked there, but ever since Russia attacked in 2014 those relations has frayed.

Russia attacked Ukraine when its pro-Russian president was removed in early 2014. The war within the east has since claimed more than 14,000 lives.

Russia and Ukraine had signed the Minsk peace agreement to end the outfitted strife in east Ukraine, including the Donbas region. But as the struggle has proceeded, Russia says it is sending "peacekeepers" to the region where the strife is brewing. The West calls it a smokescreen by Moscow to occupy autonomous region.

The new tension between Russia and Ukraine, which moreover borders the European Union, has repercussions for the EU. And that's why the EU, most of who are NATO signatories have joined the US in declaring sanctions, against Russian entities.

Just weeks back, French President Emmanuel Macron flew to Moscow to conversation to President Putin to decrease tensions.

India has called for a diplomatic way out of the current emergency between Russia and Ukraine.

Mohamed is political and foreign policy analyst and economic development scholar in East Africa. Founder and Executive Director of Save the Environment. Alumni of Addis Ababa University. He got M.A in Development Studies from Southeast University in Dhaka, Bangladesh.