Theme:
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Since February 2022, the Russian-Ukrainian war has been ongoing. As of December 2022, 42k people had died in the war, and many more had been injured. Approximately 1.4 crore people were displaced. The infrastructure of Ukraine has been severely damaged.
Russia-Ukraine war:
- Earlier, in March 2014, Russia invaded Crimea (a part of Ukraine) and declared it as a part of Russia by stating that it took the move to protect the ethnic Russians in the region. This has started the Russia-Ukraine conflict. At that time, an armed conflict took place in the Donbas region of Ukraine too, which is a part of the broader Russo-Ukrainian War. Minsk agreement 1 (September 2014), an international agreement aimed at implementing a ceasefire was drafted, but it couldn’t solve the crisis. So, the Minsk agreement 2 (February 2015), was drafted and both countries agreed to implement a ceasefire.
- Ukraine has had a partnership with NATO since 1992. It applied for NATO membership in 2008. But the process was paused in 2010. But after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, Ukraine restarted its plans to join NATO. Russia has been strongly opposing Ukraine’s plans to join NATO. Russia is against NATO’s eastward expansion stating that the expansion is a threat to its security. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin demanded a legally binding guarantee that Ukraine will not join NATO and also NATO should not conduct any military activity in Eastern Europe.
- Since November 2021, Russia has started amassing tens of thousands of soldiers and military equipment near Ukraine’s border. On 21st February 2022, Russia recognized Donetsk, and Luhansk as separate countries. They are internationally recognized as part of Ukraine. After recognising them as separate countries, Russia announced that its troops will enter the separatist republics as peacekeeping forces, which further increased the tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
- Several countries including the US, the UK and the European Union opposed the recognition of Donetsk, and Luhansk as republics and imposed limited sanctions on Russia.
- On 24th February 2022, Russia started invading Ukraine by land, air and sea stating that it is a special military operation. Explosions were reported in several cities in Ukraine on the same day.
- Since then, it is estimated that 42k people died during the war, and many more were injured. Approximately 1.4 crore people were displaced. Several people went to other countries as refugees. The infrastructure of Ukraine has been severely damaged.
- Even though Ukraine’s armed forces are heavily outnumbered by Russia’s armed forces, civilians of Ukraine joined the fight to defend their country.
- The international community condemned Russia for declaring war. Several countries imposed sanctions on the country.
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The Russia-Ukraine conflict affected the global economy negatively. It hiked the prices of several commodities including energy and food. Russia and Ukraine account for 10% and 3% of global wheat production. Wheat is the main staple food in many countries around the world. Moreover, Russia is one of the largest producers of crude oil and natural gas.
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Several countries are sending financial and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. The US is the largest provider of military assistance to Ukraine. The country is sending military equipment to help Ukraine defend itself against the attacks.
- It is estimated that $1 trillion is needed to rebuild Ukraine.
Conclusion:
The Russia-Ukraine war was started in February 2022 and has been ongoing for the past 10 months. There can be no military solution to this crisis. Hence world leaders should unite to end the war and restore peace in Ukraine.
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