Why is Putin invading Ukraine now The Russian military is on the outskirts of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, launching an air, land, and sea attack. After months of denying he would invade his neighbor, President Vladimir Putin tore up a peace deal, sending troops across as Putin invading Ukraine borders.
Ukraine and Russia History
A thousand years ago, Russia and Ukraine shared a legacy that both countries have complicated or shared. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, Ukraine was the breadbasket of Europe in the last century, one of the most populous and powerful republics in the former USSR and a significant agricultural import. While Russia has watched over its neighbor to the West closely in the past, Ukrainians have experienced periods of protest and government corruption during their indepedent
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However, Moscow denied it and accused Kyiv of a military build-up of its own.
In December, President Biden warned of severe sanctions if Russia invaded Ukraine. Putin has constantly demanded guarantees from the West and Ukraine that it will not join NATO.
2014 invasion
This is not the first time that tensions have mounted between Russia and Ukraine. Russia had invaded Ukraine in 2014 and annexed its Crimean peninsula. Rebels backed by President Putin seized large swathes of eastern Ukraine and fought the army. The attack came in when its pro-Russian president was deposed. The war has claimed over 14,000 lives since then.
What does Ukraine want?
A 2001 poll suggests that nearly half of Ukrainians supported the country’s exit from the Soviet Union. Now, over 80 per cent of people support Ukraine’s independence.
Current situation
As Russia continued to launch missiles, Ukraine's military claimed at least "50 Russian occupiers" were killed. "Shchastya is under control. 50 Russian occupiers were killed. Another Russian plane was destroyed in the Kramatorsk district. This is the sixth," Ukraine's military said.
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The border guards further claimed that Russian forces were launching attacks with rockets and helicopters from several directions.
Ukraine's Major General Valeriy Zaluzhny said President Zelensky had ordered its forces to "inflict maximum losses against the aggressor".
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