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Russia's invasion of Ukraine
Russian troops, tanks and aircrafts moved into Ukrainian land and airspace in what appeared to be an attempt to take and occupy that country in a couple of days.
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Before then, early 2021, Russian tanks and troops, estimated at about 170,000, had been positioned near the Ukrainian border with Russia.
Western observers had surmised that presence of Russian troops and tanks near the Ukrainian border was meant to invade the country.
Russian leaders, including President Vladimir Putin himself, had, from November 2021, continuously denied that the intention was to attack Ukraine.
At a point, Russian leaders had claimed that they had started to withdraw some of the troops from Ukrainian border.
On February 24, 2022, the suspected invasion began.
President Putin defended the action by saying that Russian security concerns had compelled his country to move into Ukraine – to demilitarise it and purge it of neo-Nazists in that country.
First and second days of the invasion saw Russian aircrafts, drones and missiles striking Kiev Airport and key military installations and major cities in Ukraine.
The nuclear plant at Chernobyl was attacked and put under Russian control.
Russian tanks and troop pushed towards Kiev, the national capital, and faced strong resistance from Ukraine military forces.
On Sunday, February 27, it became clear that Russian forces could not advance beyond the outskirts of Kiev and the second capital city, Kharkiv.
A Russian brief advance into Kharkiv where there was street fighting was halted by Ukrainian military forces made up of regular troops, retired soldiers and civilian volunteers.
On the fourth day, Ukraine claimed it had shot down many Russian helicopters and drones and crippled many tanks. Many Russian soldiers were, allegedly, killed.
On the fifth day (at the time of writing), delegations of Russian and Ukrainian officials had converged on the border between Ukraine and Belarus for a meeting.
The goal was to find a way to stop the war that had seen thousands of Ukrainians fleeing their country towards the Moldovan, Polish, Hungarian and Slovakian borders with Ukraine.
Hope for a peaceful solution to the crisis was very slim – because Russia’s demand for halting the invasion appeared to the Ukrainians to amount to capitulation.
Russia had wanted Ukraine to disarm itself, demilitarise the country and accept Crimea as a Russian property and end its quest for North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) membership.
Meanwhile, the United States, the European Union and NATO members had all agreed to impose highly punitive economic, financial and other sanctions on Russia for invading Ukraine.
Western countries’ sanctions on Russia included sweeping sanctions against some Russian banks, companies and some individuals regarded as supporters of President Putin and President Putin himself.
The latest and most punitive has been cutting off Russia from the global money transfer system, known as SWIFT.
Removing Russia from SWIFT is regarded by Western leaders as a “financial nuclear weapon”. Russia has also been banned from some global games and sports.
Confronted with unexpected sanctions and bans, President Putin said later that he had placed Russia’s nuclear arsenal on high alert.
Besides, US, EU and other allies have decided to send to Ukraine weapons, especially anti-tank and ground-to-air missiles, for the Ukrainians to defend their country themselves.
That followed an appeal from President Vlodomyr Zelensky to the Western leaders to declare Ukrainian airspace a no-fly zone.
The Western countries declined because Ukraine is not a NATO member as yet.
Sending in fighter aircraft means declaring war against Russia.
Besides, Western countries have decided to provide Ukraine with weapons because of the extraordinary courage displayed by President Zelensky.
When it appeared that Russia could enter Kiev and overthrow the Zelensky government, in a day or two, the Americans sent in an aircraft to fly him out.
He refused to leave Kiev and Ukraine.
President Zelensky told the Americans: “I want weapons, not a ride.”
That spirit has also encouraged Ukrainians to volunteer as civilian fighters to stop the Russian invasion of their country.
Reacting to the invasion, United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, has asked President Putin to cease his invasion of Ukraine and withdraw his troops.
‘’The decisions of the coming days will shape our world and directly affect lives of millions upon millions of people,” he said.
Mr Guterres added that the use of force by one country against another violated the bedrock principles of the United Nations that all states had agreed to in its charter.
According to the UN Secretary General, the Russian invasion was wrong.
“It is against the (UN) Charter. It is unacceptable. But it is not reversible. I repeat my appeal from last night to President Putin, stop the military operation, bring the troops back to Russia,” he said.
Instead of pulling out, Russia rather vetoed a Security Council resolution that condemned the invasion and requested Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine.
Eleven of the 15 member-states of the council voted on February 25, 2022 in support of the resolution.
Three member-states – China, India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) -- abstained.
No action is taken when a resolution at the Security Council is considered defeated or lost if any of the five permanent member-states – US, United Kingdom, China, France and Russia – votes against it, according to the UN Charter.
However, the issue is expected to be debated and voted on later at the UN General Assembly.
It is likely that majority of member-states will vote in support of a resolution condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. However, no action will be taken because a General Assembly resolution does not carry legal force.
A vote at the General Assembly condemning a member-state for violation of the UN Charter is regarded as a wider condemnation that carries moral force.
On the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Pope Francis, Head of the Roman Catholic Church, has said that “those who made war should not be deluded into thinking that God is on their side”.
Pope Francis said the invasion had broken his heart.
‘’Those who make war forget humanity. It does not come from the people.”
He added: “They don’t consider everyday lives of people but put partisan interests before everything and truth, in the diabolic and perverse logic of weapons which is the farthest thing from God’s mind.”
Since President Putin took office as President of the Russian Federation in May 2000, he had tried in many ways to expand Russia’s sphere of influence.
After collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, its former republics plus Russia, formed a loose organisation in December 1991. It is known as the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
Putin’s Russia does not want former Soviet Union republics, especially those it has borders with – notably Ukraine and Georgia -- to become NATO members.
Russia had said that NATO membership for Ukraine and Georgia, and even non-Soviet Sweden and Finland, would endanger its national security and safety.
In 2014, Russia invaded and annexed the Crimea Peninsula which, geographically and historically, belongs to Ukraine.
In the same year, Russia supported two separatist groups in eastern Ukraine that had declared unilateral independence.
This year, the Russian Parliament declared Russian recognition of the two self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk and People’s Republic of Luhansk.
Russian troops, tanks and aircrafts moved into Ukrainian land and airspace in what appeared to be an attempt to take and occupy that country in a couple of days.
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