What led to the situation between Ukraine and Russia?

When I was in 11th standard (2015), I remember taking part in an MUN where we had discussed the important Crimean crisis between Russian Federation and Ukraine. Russia and Ukraine and 13 more nations were a part of Soviet Union and with Ukraine becoming a part of NATO, things have fell off from there.

Crimea is a southern peninsula of Ukraine but was annexed by Russia (2014) due to large majority of people living in Crimea being of Russian descendant. A referendum was held in Crimea in 2014 where 96.77 wanted to join the Russian Federation, and within the local government of Sevastopol there was also a 97 percent vote for integration of the region into the Russian Federation with an 89 percent voter turnout.

However the polling was not recognised by other nations since there was presence of Russian army. Since then the situation has only soured over the time between Russia and Ukraine.

Coming back to 2022, the situation between Ukraine and Russia has only got worse.

Earlier this week, Putin has ordered 2 troops into the Eastern Ukraine and recognizing them as independent states giving fire to an ongoing conflict in the Donbas (Eastern Ukraine) between separatists, backed by Russia, and Ukrainian troops. The Donbas war has already led to the death of more than 15,000 people (even more).

A lot of agreements between Russia and Ukraine were made to have peaceful relations over the years but the Donbas situation led to the death of ‘Minsk Agreement’ engulfing the war.

Russia today is giving out Russian passports and citizenship to the self-proclaimed republics in Eastern Ukraine, ‘Russifying’ the areas. In terms of monetary value, it is estimated that Ukraine is losing $13-billion per day due to the war-like situation and the situation is expected to get worse. Colleges and schools for both international and national students have been off.

There is help from neighbouring countries, offering citizenship and allowing Ukraine citizens for refuge. People in Ukraine who are in the eastern parts are travelling towards the west. Displacement will effect the livelihood of people, the resources have again become scarce since the import and export have been halted due to the ongoing war situation.