By Chris Shea, staff writer
For months, pro- Russian rebels have been fighting in Eastern Ukraine, leaving thou- sands dead and wounded.
The rebellion of the pro-Russian forces be- gan in April, drawing inspiration from the Russian annexation of the Crimea just weeks before the rebellion.
The separatists in the East are primarily Russian-speaking and are enraged over the overthrowing of pro- Russian president Vik- tor Yanukovych. So how did Ukraine get to this point?
It all stems from the end of the Soviet Union back in 1991. In August of tending demonstrations in ’91, the parliament of Ukraine declared independence from the USSR following the pro- Communist coup attempted in Moscow, Russia. By December of that year, 90 percent of Ukrainians chose independence in a nationwide vote.
Twenty-two years later, in November of 2013, Yanukovych’s cabinet abandoned an agreement on closer economic ties with the European Union. It instead sought clos- er economic ties with Russia. Later in that month, small protests started and began to gather pace, as 100,000 people attended a demonstration in Kiev, Ukraine’s capital. Police launched their first raid on protestors. Thirty-five were arrested.
As time went on, as many as 800,000 people were attending demonstrations in
Kiev, which would reach apocalypse-like scenarios. By February of 2014, President Yanukovych signed a com- promise deal with the leaders of the protests. The next day, Yanukovych disappeared as protestors began to take con- trol of government buildings.
After the fleeing of Yanu- kovych, that’s when the pro- Russian forces began to rebel. Between Feb. 27 and 28, they seized buildings in the Crime- an capital, Simferopol. President Putin then requested to use force in Crimea to protect “Russian interests.”
As the weeks progressed, 97 percent of people in Crimea voted to leave Ukraine and join the Russian Federation (or so organizers say). To sum it up: Russia annexed Crimea
As time went on, as many people were from the Ukrainians even though it had belonged to Ukraine since 1957.
So why should we care about what happens as far away as East- ern Europe?
This isn’t just a violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty, it’s expan- sionism from Russia. It appears that Russia is trying to maintain control of the former Soviet blocs and remain as an Eurasian power.
No good can come from what started out as a simple protest. If there is further escalation, it could initiate a possible large-scale Euro- pean war, which of course means a high percentage of refugees, a pos- sible new nuclear arms race, and even a devastating impact on the global economy.