Ukraine Flashcards
brief history of Ukraine
it was part of the Soviet Union until 1991 it gained independence and became a sovereign state. This was a blow to Russia as it showed Russia loosing power and EU gaining power as Ukraine was moving closer to the west.
challenges already in Ukraine and why its soverinity got challenged by Russia
-location: in-between Europe and Russia means people are divided
-west: Ukrainian
-east: Russian speaking
-until 1950s Crimea was actually part of Russia it was gifted to Ukraine to make them closer to Russia
-Ethnic division Ukrainian: 77.8% and Russian 17% this caused sepratism and meant it was hard for them to build a common national identity
things that needed improving in Ukraine
-state apparatus: people thought the government was corrupt and thought elections where rigged. this meant they had no trust in the government
-ukraine not that independent with power supply
-need to improve health and education
-needed more transparent electoral system
-better control of police and armed forces
2013- when the sovereignty was really challenged
-the president of Ukraine Yanukovych was talking to the EU about making trading deals and coppering with them however very suddenly started to form alliance with Russia instead to become closer with them.
-this angered the people and caused a long series of riots called euromaiden. this eventually led to president Yanukovych being forced out and he fled to Crimea. This is an example of the state apparatus not being able to control the people. This makes Putin mad and he annexed Crimea March 2014 is when they invaded. this is loss of territorial integrity. The conflict spread to the east swell because Russia backed the people defending it with military and resources.
impacts on people
-1.47 million IDPs from the east
- 600k left the country
-7000 people died in immediate fighting (this has increased to 13,000 in 2020)
-14,000 people injured
impacts on place
-bombing in debaltseve it was a major railway link. cut east Ukraine
off 7000 people got stranded
-donetsk airport destroyed
-chemical works and coal mines destroyed meant no energy and very large economic decline
-environment impact was large forest fired and some steppes burnt which is 40 percent of Ukraine
russia sanctions
lots of economic sanctions many countries said they would not trade with Russia anymore the Ruble declined
nato preventative method
in 2016 sent troupe to baltic state in 2016
current situation in Ukraine
the fighting has not stopped. Ukraine was doing military practiced with nato as it was looking on becoming part of nato. so in 2022 Russia fully invaded Ukraine eg. Kiev feb 2022.
how many people got displaced in total
7.8 million in total
