What is happening in Ukraine? Why is Ukraine so important for Russia? Everything you need to know.

We all know that Europe is on the verge of another war but a few of us really know the reasons as to why and how it all started in the first place. Russia and Ukraine conflict goes back to when Ukraine got seceded from the USSR. The Russia under Putin has been trying to keep their hegemony and influence on the former broken pieces of USSR. The extent of this influence can be measured from the fact that only recently when the US was in search of bases in countries near Afghanistan, Russia had offered them their bases in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan without having consented with the Uzbek and Tajik leadership.

This influence had been in place for quite a while. But lately, Ukraine and some other states have been moving out of Russian influence and, worst yet, NATO is welcoming them with open arms. This is exactly the sour point for Russia. It has made formal proposals demanding assurances from the West of not extending NATO membership to Ukraine. The very formation of NATO was to counter USSR's imperialist expansion and aggression. Its existence even after USSR's breaking, is questioned by Many journalists and IR experts

Russia claims that NATO’s goals are that of cornering Russia by making alliances with all the states in its neighbourhood and also inviting some of them to join NATO. Moreover, Russia sees any step taken to disrupt Russian influence on its bordering countries as a threat to its existence. Russia, in a nutshell is justifying its having influence over Ukrainian and other states by calling it a defensive measure.

Indeed, for Russia to have influence over Ukraine and other of its bordering sates and to have pro-Russian governments installed in these states, it can create a buffer zone between NATO held areas and its mainland. For Russia, these states are the gateway to main Europe. Besides their close proximity, the two countries have deep social and cultural ties, as Ukraine was a former USSR republic.

The first major offensive by Russia was launched in 2014, after the Pro-Russian Ukrainian leader was removed. Russia invaded the country and before signing peace deals, it heavily armed the separatist pro-Russian groups in some parts of Ukraine. These separatist groups have established their presence regions such as Donetsk and Luhansk. And these regions are referred to as contested ever since. The Ukrainian army and the rebels used to have occasional skirmishes in these regions, but with no Russian soldiers involved. Russia has always denied providing support to the rebels.

Now as the Russian president have recognised these two regions as independent states, it has stationed its soldiers in these states for the first time. Russia has taken several shrewd steps such as handing over 70,000 passports in the rebel held areas, so that they can justify their planned actions as ‘protecting their people’. Independent observers have recognised these steps as signs of Russia's preparation for war.

On 24th February, Russian president formally ordered a ‘specialised military action’ in Ukraine, invading it. The Western world has reacted to it with imposition of severe sanctions, but Russia seems to have prepared for it. As a matter of fact Russia has previously survived through these sanctions during 2014 Ukraine crisis.

Will the sanctions help deter further Russian aggression is yet to be determined. Many experts are of the view that if the west turns a blind eye on Russia, it can move one to capture the whole of Ukraine and then may prepare to invade other neighbouring countries also.