The Russian invasion of Ukraine has affected the entire world and it will have severe consequences in the long run on the global economy. The world that is still recovering from the harrowing shadows of the coronavirus pandemic, is forcefully dwelled into the Russia Ukraine conflict that intensified in no time. The Russian military’s incursion on Ukraine in the last days of February is the result of this. The current estimations about the Russia Ukraine conflict war are at least 9.1k deaths, along with 1.8k non-fatal injuries, whereas, at least 100 buildings are destroyed.
The aggressively ambitious approach of Russian President Vladimir Putin has created uncertainty in Europe as the invasion of the Russian military on Ukraine was something, which was predicted but still seemed unfathomable.
President of Russia, Putin had been hinting for quite some time that an attack on Ukraine is likely if Western allies to NATO do not comply with his demands, and that’s exactly what happened. He has been aiming to overtake the country and was threatening the Ukraine President to make Ukraine part of Russia – realizing his lost dream of rebirth into the USSR.
Why does Russia want Ukraine?
It all started when Ukraine asked to join NATO, something which the neighboring country Russia could not digest, and the hushed conflict since 2014 was reignited.
The Russia Ukraine conflict also got international exposure in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine. The expulsion was not taken easily by Ukraine and since then both countries have been in a passive state of war.
Why does Russia not want Ukraine to join NATO?
The long-lost dream of rebuilding the Soviet Union along with security concerns about his country has led the Russian president to take some questionable decisions in the past couple of weeks.
The relationship between Russia and Ukraine has been sour since 2014, the request of the Ukrainian president to president Joe Biden to induct Ukraine in NATO seemed like the last nail in the coffin. Russian troops started marching towards the Ukrainian border after warnings from the Russian president were not taken seriously.
Any and all the neighboring nations who want to be a part of NATO might face the same consequences as Ukraine, Putin has made sure to get that across.
Why Russia-Ukraine tensions have again reached a boiling point?
The tension between the two nations goes way back to the time when Ukraine claimed independence after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. However, the tense situation between these two countries escalated once again in 2021 when the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked the president of the United States of America Joe Biden to enroll Ukraine in NATO.
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the Ukrainian president to be a puppet of the west. The request of Zelenskyy to become part of NATO was not digested by Russia and it ordered its military forces to march towards the border of Ukraine.
Unusual troop movements of Russia have been seen near the border of Ukraine since last November. Russia kept on denying the deposition of its forces at the Ukrainian border until it actually attacked the neighboring country.
Why is there a war between Russia and Ukraine?
February and March of 2014 saw Russia invading the Crimean Peninsula and annexing it from Ukraine. There are a lot of geopolitical reasons behind the current aggressive military face-off between the two countries. The main reason that Russia itself publicly quotes is Ukraine’s attempt to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or NATO, which Russia takes as a security threat to its country.
Both countries have been in a state of unrest with each other since the year Ukraine gained its independence from the Soviet Union.
Why is Russia invading Ukraine 2022?
Russian President Vladimir Putin has waged a “premeditated and unprovoked” war against its neighboring country Ukraine. The war started to intensify as the Russian tanks and their military armored vehicles entered the roads of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. The war has further escalated since the day as the Ukrainian military and civilians both put forward armed resistance to stop the Russian invasion of their homeland.
Russia has engaged its airborne troops which are bombarding the cities resulting in mounting casualties and destruction across the country. To understand the conflict in depth we need to understand the dynamics and historical importance of both countries.
Ukraine
Ukraine is one of the most important countries in eastern Europe. It is the second-largest country in the region after Russia, having a staggering population of about 43.6 million. The capital of the country is Kyiv, which is also the largest city in Ukraine.
The civilization’s history in Ukraine goes back to 32,000 BC. Ukraine was termed as the richest nation in the region before the 13th century when the Mongols invaded the country and it was fully divided.
Modern-day Ukraine got its independence in 1991 after the fall of the Soviet Union. After independence, Ukraine has always followed a unitary republic mode of governing under a semi-presidential system. It declares itself a neutral state.
Ukraine religion is Christianity. 87.3% of the population of Ukraine follows Christianity, with several other believers of diverse minority religions. The Ukraine language is Ukrainian but Belarusian and Bulgarian are also commonly spoken across the country. The Ukraine currency is Hryvnia which has a high value but is strongly negatively affected by the on-going war.
The current president of Ukraine is Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the prime minister is Denys Shmyhal. Ukraine is known for its hospitable people and rich culture. It is one of the leading exporters of sunflower oil across the globe.
Russia
Russia is a transcontinental country that is spanned across eastern Europe and all the way to northern Asia. It is said to be the largest country in the world based on area. Russia is said to be ninth in the world according to its population. The current population of Russia is 145.5 million.
The capital of Russia is Moscow but the cultural hub of the country is Saint Petersburg. The main Russian religion is Christianity with 47.1% of the population following Christianity. The Russian language is Russian with a lot of regional and national languages spoken in different parts of the country.
Russian currency is the ruble, currently in crisis after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The President of Russia Vladimir Putin, presiding in the seat since 2012, is facing backlash from across the globe for his decision of military incursion in Ukraine.
Ukraine army vs Russian army
There is no comparison between the Ukraine army vs Russian army as the two countries head on the war.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is a military enthusiast and has been building a strong military as well as increasing his military strength for a very long time. On the other hand, the Ukraine army size is nowhere near the latest technologies which make the Russian army more decorated. Let’s have a Ukraine army vs Russian army comparison in numbers to have a clear picture of this ongoing war. The Russian army has 850,000 active personnel whereas the Ukrainian army has only 250,000. If we talk about the ground army equipment, Russia has 12,500 military tanks whereas Ukraine has only 2600.
Russian army equipment includes war front tanks, hypersonic missiles, the latest aircraft, and high-grade weapons are all of which will make this war one-sided. The world is yet to witness how the situation settles in but as far as the comparison of the two forces is concerned keeping in mind the Russian army size, Ukraine is at a loss here as the civilians continue to get killed, dispossessed, or flee entirely as the Ukraine army equipment are nowhere near its counterpart in war.
Putin threatened the Ukraine army a lot of times and then physically started pushing its troops at the Ukrainian border.
The world witnessed how Putin waged a cyberwar with Ukraine by releasing suspicious malware into the country that made the system go down. Major military personnel, journalists, dissenters, and politicians from the country were all targeted, in addition to major disinformation campaigns on social media regarding the war.
The two countries are nowhere near each other in terms of army size as the armored vehicles possessed by Russia are more than 30,000 whereas the Ukrainian army has only 12,0000 armored vehicles. The Russian army has 14000 artillery guns but on the other hand, Ukraine has about 3000 artillery guns which are nothing when it comes to the war they have embraced.
Let’s have a Ukraine army vs Russian army comparison on the naval front and that it cannot give hope to the Ukrainians of winning this war. The Russia army has 600 naval vessels compared to the 38 naval vessels in the Ukraine army. The Ukraine-Russian navy has no submarines but there are 70 submarines in the Russian army.
The air force of Russia has more than 41000 airplanes along with 772 fighters whereas Ukraine has a total of 318 aircraft in its fleet with 69 fighter planes,
Ukraine has been working on its anti-tank missiles with the support of the United States of America but still, the strength is nowhere near Russia. Ukraine also has javelin missiles that easily target the Russian tanks. These are man-portable fire anti-missile and are based upon an automatic guidance system.
The Russian supremacy in terms of the military is visible by a blind person as well. There is no way a comparison between Russia and Ukraine and the small neighbor or Russian giant is most likely to suffer more in terms of human casualty and economic derailment.
Will U.S. and Russia go to war?
One of the most lethal questions in the minds of everybody across the planet is whether the U.S will take part in this ongoing war with Russia. The answer is that it’s highly unlikely for the United States of America to jump into this war at this moment.
The newly elected president Joe Biden is still struggling to find firm ground and combat pandemic and economic issues and make the country stand back on its feet and get back to the norm which was prevalent before the coronavirus pandemic. Biden has also verbally announced that his soldiers will not engage with the Russian military, and still defend NATO countries from across the border.
With all these challenges on hand, it is highly doubtful that the United States of America will jump into a war with Russia right now. It hasn’t been long since American troops and forces left Afghanistan after decades of serving in the war and the exit from the country was disgraceful, to say the least.
The world trolled and humiliated the American forces for leaving the country like this but the exit was inevitable, no matter how haphazardly.
Final verdict
Russia waged war over Ukraine to prove to the world that they have military power as well as the right force to intimidate its neighbors. But this move is very costly for Russia because of the criticism it received from the world and the sanctions which are to be followed.
This attack on Ukraine must be counter-stopped in the early stages otherwise this might result in World War 3 if other nations also jumped in to help their ally country. Ukraine is at the receiving end in this Russia Ukraine conflict and it needs to use all of its resources to show resistance. But the current military numbers are not reciprocated on both sides, if one city after another begins to fall in the hands of Russian troops, Ukraine is at a threat of being conquered by Russia, leading to the once again beginning of the return of the USSR – Soviet Union.
