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Russia – Ukraine War Updates

The ongoing crisis in Ukraine has become the focus of the international community, but it’s been difficult to understand what is happening and why.

Russia invaded Ukraine because it wanted to annex territory from Ukraine, so that Ukraine can never join NATO or become a successful European Union democracy that could threaten Russia. Russia also invaded because of rising Ukrainian nationalism and a desire for closer ties with Europe.

In the West, there has been a lot of focus on why is Russia invading Ukraine. But few are asking fundamental questions: Why is Russia invading at all? And why does it want to annex territory from Ukraine?

To answer those questions, we must first understand what makes up an empire.

Why Are Russians Invading Ukraine And What Does Russia Want?

Russia was a great power for about two hundred years. A superpower.

Russia was a superpower because it controlled much of the territory between the Baltic and Black Seas.

If Russia were to regain this territory, it would constitute an empire again. Russia is invading Ukraine because it wants to restore its position as a great power.

Why Does Russia Want To Be a Great Power Again?

Russia is ruled by an authoritarian government, which uses nationalism as a means of maintaining its grip on power. If there are no external threats, Russians might turn on Putin and his regime.

Oddly enough, Putin’s government is clinging to power because it is actually a weakened and dysfunctional state.

A Distorted Reality

Putin enjoys tremendous support among his people due to the allure of nationalism. The Russian people are led to believe that they are threatened by an external enemy – and they are suffering as a result.

One might ask how this could be the case, if Russia doesn’t have territory outside of its own borders? It is because there is an illusion of “greatness.

The Russian people are led to believe that their country is great because it can project outside of its own borders.

Putin’s regime has distorted the reality of his country and he has used nationalism as a means of maintaining this delusion. As a result, the Russian people have little interest in democracy and freedom.

Putin knows that if the people of Russia became more interested in democracy and freedom, he would be removed from power. This is why Putin invaded Ukraine.

Russian Aggression – A Brief History

Russia has a long history of aggression against its neighbors, but the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 is the best example of Russian imperialism. (You can read more about this invasion here.) It was not an isolated event – it was part of a pattern of behavior.

It was the first time that Russia invaded abroad since World War II. But it had been planning to invade Afghanistan since the late 1970s – even before it had invaded neighboring Georgia and would invade Ukraine later.

When Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Soviet invasion memorial in Kabul, he said “it is our duty to uphold international law.” By invading and annexing parts of Ukraine, President Putin has proven that he doesn’t care about international law or human rights norms.

The invasion came at a time when Russia was weak. The Soviet economy was on the verge of collapse.

The Afghan War lasted more than nine years and it cost the Soviet Union $80-100 billion and more than 15,000 lives. Afghanistan’s resistance movement, called the mujahideen, ultimately drove the Soviet army out of its country after heavy losses. It is said that this war crippled the military power of the USSR, leading to its collapse in 1991.

Russian imperialism is not new

In fact, it has been a long established tradition in Russia.

In the early 20th century Russian Czar Nicholas II was determined to expand his empire. He tried to annex Finland, Estonia and Latvia – all of which were former territories of the Russian Empire.

Annexations lead to conflict – This was in addition to the ongoing territorial disputes with the Baltic States and Poland over lands lost at the end of World War I.

The Crimean War of the 1850s resulted in Russia’s loss of the territory, which can be viewed as a dry run for Putin’s current intervention in Ukraine.

A pattern of aggression emerges from this history.

Why Annex Territory? This is a good question. Because it’s easier to maintain an empire if you have territory outside your own borders. It’s cheaper. Through military control, you are able to exert influence on countries that don’t have your same values or systems of government. Therefore, these are some of the reasons why Russia is invading Ukraine and provoking human suffering and causing environmental harm.”