1. What should we know about the Ukrainian-Russian relationship?
After the fall of the Soviet Union, Ukraine attained its independence 30 years ago. Since then, it has battled to combat corruption and heal significant internal alienation.
The western part of the Ukraine was usually supportive of integration with Western Europe. Meanwhile, the country’s eastern region approved tighter relations with Russia.
Tensions between Russia and Ukraine reached an all-time high in February 2014, when violent demonstrators laid-off Ukraine’s pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych, in the “Revolution of Dignity”, as they say.
Russia managed to capture Crimea the same year. Around the same time, Ukraine was not in a strong, powerful position. The country had a provisional government and armed forces were off the cup.
When Putin saw that, he transferred the strike in a district of eastern Ukraine, Donbas. There was an armed incident between the government forces from Ukraine and separatists endorsed by Russia. More than 14,000 people were killed during this conflict. However, Russia still doesn’t want to admit its implication in the Donbas strife.
