Russian President Vladimir Putin has called the concept of a country a fictional one. It is claimed that its origin itself lies in the Soviet Union. Although it is a logic to justify the invasion of other countries' sovereignty by questioning the sovereignty of Ukraine itself, there is the historical context itself that led to this claim. In the modern sense, the state of Ukraine emerged independently from the Russian Empire with the Bolshevik Revolution.
However, even before the establishment of the Soviet Union, the identity of the 'national state' of Ukraine was clearly present. Rather, it continued its history by resisting the Russian Empire and fighting the Soviet Union. Since 2014, when pro-Western and pro-Russian confrontation began in earnest, Russian intervention has resulted in strengthening Ukrainian nationalism rather than dividing Ukraine.
Nicknamed 'Minor Russia'
Putin's claims are not without any basis in themselves. Ukraine's 'Principality of Kyiv' has Russian roots
Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, is the birthplace of Russian and Slavic peoples. The first feudal state established by the East Slavs among the Slavic peoples that had dispersed and moved in all directions since the early 7th century was the Principality of Kyiv (Kyiv Rus), which was formed around Kiev.
Annexing the region from the Baltic Sea in the North to the Black Sea in the South, and the Volga River in the East to the River Tisa in the West, the Principality of Kyiv embraced Christianity and introduced Byzantine culture to prosper culturally. do.
However, the Duchy of Kyiv was invaded by the Mongols three times from 1223 and was destroyed in 1240. Afterwards, a large number of people migrated from Ukraine to the northeast to escape the Mongol rule, and the present Moscow region emerged as the center of the Slavs.
The principality of Kiev is regarded as the birthplace of not only Ukraine, but also Russia and Belarus. There is still an ongoing debate between Ukraine and Russia as to who is the Principality of Kyiv.
Afterwards, in the present-day Ukraine region, an independent identity of Ukrainians, distinct from Russians and Belarusians, began to form during the rule of the combined kingdoms of Mongolia, Poland, and Lithuania.
Then, in the 16th and 17th centuries, a group of Ukrainian Cossacks signed the Perayaslav Pact (1654) with the Russian emperor in the process of developing an independence movement to break free from the domination of Lithuania and Poland.
This agreement is an agreement to receive protection from Russia as a condition for recognizing the autonomy of the Kozak group. .
Ukraine was born against the Soviet Union
It was in the process of the collapse of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union's invasion of Ukraine during the revolution that occurred during World War I that Ukraine briefly took on the form of a modern 'independent state'. Contrary to President Putin's assertion that "the Soviet Union created Ukraine," Ukraine was born from fighting the Soviet Union.
In 1917, when Tsar Russia collapsed due to the Russian Revolution, Ukraine's Constituent Assembly (Radha) declared independence and established the People's Republic of Ukraine. At this time, the Ukrainian parliament had a community of immigrants, including socialists and nationalists, Jews and Poles. Russia's provisional government, established on the site of the collapse of the dynasty, granted them autonomy, but when this government was overturned by the Bolshevik Revolution, Ukraine waged a war of independence against the Bolshevik regime.
The Soviet Union led the Bolsheviks in Ukraine (Ukrainian Soviet Republic), and the rest of Ukraine depended on 'allies' such as Germany and Austria. However, as the allies became defeated in World War I, Ukraine did not receive any guarantee of independence in the post-war process and was divided by neighboring countries such as the Soviet Union and Poland.
After Poland and the Soviet Union fought a war over territory, western Ukraine sided with Poland and sought independence as a nation-state. However, nationalist attempts at independence were ultimately thwarted by Poland's recognition of the Soviet republic in eastern Ukraine after a peace treaty was signed.
Although it was incorporated into the Soviet Union, Soviet Ukraine was recognized for its independent identity in the process. In the 1920s, Ukrainian language and Ukrainian culture were revived thanks to the Soviet policy of 'indigenization' that respected the national identity of ethnic minorities. This policy collapsed as Joseph Stalin consolidated his dictatorship and adopted 'Russianization' in the late 1930s, but at this point, Ukraine was no longer 'Minor Russia'.
Moreover, Stalin's Soviet Union exploited Ukraine. The orthodox theory is that the 'Holodomor' (great famine) in 1932 and 1933, when people starved to death in Ukraine, a major granary, was caused by the Stalin regime's wrong agricultural policy and exploitation of peasants.
For this reason, during World War II, Nazi Germany, which had marched into Ukraine during the German-Soviet War, was even welcomed as a liberation force. However, as the Nazis destroyed Ukrainian farms and industrial facilities, and committed “ethnic cleansing,” which indiscriminately slaughtered Jews, Poles, Russians and Ukrainians living in Ukraine, Ukrainians, with the exception of some far-right militant corps that joined the Nazis, did not survive in Ukraine. I did not agree with Germany.
Ukraine wants 'Soviet surviving' but rejects 'Putin Russia'
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine became independent as a sovereign state outside the Federation. Independent Ukraine itself was never seen as anti-Soviet or anti-Russian. Unlike the three Baltic states, Armenia, and Georgia, Ukraine was in a position to pursue the existence of an autonomous state within the Soviet Union. However, as the Soviet Union collapsed following a conservative coup and the rise of Boris Yeltsin against it, Ukraine naturally became independent just like any other country in the Soviet Union.
Even after independence, Ukraine has maintained a neutral stance on both sides, with pro-Russia and pro-Western governments alternately ruling. However, with the Orange Revolution in 2004, the Euromaidan rallies in 2013, and the ensuing Putin annexation of Crimea and the Donbass War, the nationalist consciousness of 'Ukraine resisting Russia' grew more and more.
According to a survey on consciousness released in 2016 by the Ukrainian think tank Rajumkov Center, 55.7% of respondents defined Ukrainians as “any Ukrainian citizen regardless of ethnic identity”. It shows that both Ukrainians and Russians are of Ukrainian descent, which is an increase of 16.9 percentage points compared to the 2007 survey.
In this situation, President Putin's argument of ignoring Ukraine's sovereignty itself is interpreted as an intention to justify intervention in Ukraine both internally and externally. Joshua Tucker, a professor at New York University, said, "The intention is to make a claim that Ukraine is not entitled to any rights as a sovereign state."
However, looking at Ukraine's response so far, President Putin's attempts have resulted in strong resistance rather than defeat of Ukraine's independence.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov recently published an article in the Atlantic Council titled 'Europe's future is determined in Ukraine'. "We must convince Moscow that the cost of a new offensive is too high to be considered."
It examines why Ukraine has become the gunpowder store of Eurasia from the perspective of relations with "brother Russia", nuclear weapons and national security, Ukraine's accession to NATO, Putin's 'Red Line', and Russia-Ukraine's energy weaponization.
Ukrainian nuclear weapons transform from 'Western-facing spearhead' to 'fault' with the dismantling of the Cold War
Ukraine joined the Soviet Union after the Bolshevik Revolution, and in 1954, the Soviet government handed over Crimea to Ukraine to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the Peryaslav Agreement. However, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine withdrew from the Soviet Union in 1991.
At this time, Ukraine inherited the nuclear weapons that the former Soviet Union had forward deployed toward the West, and possessed 176 nuclear missiles and 1804 nuclear warheads, making it the number three nuclear power after Russia and the United States.
During the Cold War, Ukraine, adjacent to the West, was the military base of the Warsaw Pact (WTO) against NATO and itself was a spearhead toward the West. Nuclear weapons were also deployed in Belarus and Kazakhstan, which are members of the Federation, but Ukraine was by far the best.
Specifically, 1240 out of 1804 ballistic missiles, 46 SS-24 missiles (each equipped with 10 nuclear warheads), 130 SS-19 missiles (six nuclear warheads per unit), and the remaining 564 are mounted on cruise missiles as long-range bombers. was to be carried.
However, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine gave up all its nuclear weapons according to the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances (Memorandum of Understanding) signed by the United States, Britain, Russia, and Ukraine in December 1994. In return for dismantling, they were promised financial support and security guarantees.
Because of this fact, after Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, when the crisis of war escalated again recently, it is pointed out that the memorandum of understanding that guarantees safety by powerful powers in return for voluntarily giving up nuclear weapons has become a 'paper piece'. Strictly speaking, this is not true.
First of all, the Memorandum of Understanding was signed not only with Ukraine, but also with Belarus and Kazakhstan. In other words, in exchange for the signing of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the United States, Britain, and Russia will not use force or threaten the territorial integrity or political independence of the three countries. It is a memorandum of understanding promising security guarantees.
In fact, the Ukrainian nuclear weapons were 'discarded items' that had been taken over by the former Soviet Union's Combined Task Force and were thrown away when the Soviet Union collapsed and withdrew. In analogy, for Ukraine, which became an independent country after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, a 'fault' was dropped in the yard after sleeping and waking up.
It was a chaotic period when the 15 independent countries that made up the Soviet Union were plunged into serious chaos following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Ukraine waged a fierce battle with Russia over a 'dangerous fence'. Russia claimed original ownership, but Ukraine claimed that the original owner was the Soviet Union, not Russia, and claimed that the country, which was a member of the Federation, also had ties.
The US and NATO were reluctant to entrust the management of 'dangerous stolen goods' to Russia in the chaotic period. His throat is vineyard, and he couldn't leave the 'dangerous stolen goods' to Ukraine, who doesn't know when it will be sold.
Therefore, the United States and the United Kingdom, concerned about the possibility of being used for terrorism through the black market, arbitrated and signed a 'Memorandum of Understanding' together with Russia and the three countries, U, Bel, and Carr, in Budapest.
Of course, it wasn't free. The US Clinton administration has begun to recover the stolen goods, offering a $12 billion compensation for management rather than transfer of ownership of nuclear weapons. The United States also promised a $300 million Ukrainian Livelihood Stabilization Fund.
Thus, from 1994 to 1996, nuclear weapons from Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan were transported to Russia under the supervision of international organizations and dismantled. In other words, Ukraine did not give up its nuclear weapons, believing in the promise of security guarantees from the United States.
The Budapest Memorandum of Understanding is a random, non-binding memorandum
The problem is that in 1999, President Vladimir Putin appeared in Russia saying that the collapse of the former Soviet Union was wrong and that Russia should reincorporate the 14 countries that achieved independence in 1991. ) that the Western government emerged.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States attracted Eastern European countries such as Poland and the Czech Republic to NATO. After this, Ukraine, along with neighboring Georgia, desperately needed to join NATO.
However, when the Euromaidan Revolution (a pro-Western anti-government movement) broke out in 2014, President Viktor Yanukovych fled to Russia and requested military assistance from Russia. It quickly seized the Crimean Peninsula, which had a majority of Russian residents, and annexed Crimea through a referendum.
In the Russian situation, when the Ukrainian government formalized a pro-Western route, such as applying for NATO membership, Russia took back the strategically important site it had handed over to Ukraine during the Soviet Union 60 years ago.
Sevastopol Special City (Sevastopol Federal City on the Russian side), a port city on the Crimean Peninsula, is famous as a base for the Russian Black Sea Fleet. It is also home to Russian-backed armed forces during the Syrian civil war.
Also, at this time, Russia supported the separation and independence of the two pro-Russian provinces in eastern Ukraine (Donetsk and Lugansk) from behind, and Ukraine was plunged into an endless civil war. The civil war, which resulted in more than 13,000 deaths and refugees, continues to this day.
In May 2014, the rebel-occupied areas (40-45% area in two provinces, with 3.2 million inhabitants) held a referendum for independence under the protection of Russia, calling themselves the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR). ) government has been established. However, the Ukrainian government and the international community, including the United Nations, do not approve of this.
The United States and Britain, which had promised Ukraine security in the Budapest Memorandum of Understanding, were unable to properly respond to Putin's 'gray zone strategy' with militia and had to suffer without a proper military response.
The Memorandum of Understanding "respects the independence and sovereignty of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine at their existing borders in accordance with the principles of the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe" (Article 1), and "Refrains from threats or the use of force against Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine" (Article 1). (Article 2), etc. It does not impose a legal obligation on signatories to provide military assistance.
Contrary to this, when the US imposed sanctions on Belarus for human rights issues, the Belarusian government said that the US sanctions would guarantee the rights inherent in the sovereignty of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine in accordance with Article 3 of the Memorandum of Understanding (“According to the principles of the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe”). and refrain from economic coercion designed to be subordinate to one's own interests").
In response, the US embassy in Minsk (Belarus) issued a press release saying, "This MOU is not legally binding, but it is compatible with measures against human rights violations in Eastern Europe." As the US government also stated, above all else, this Memorandum of Understanding is not an international agreement or an international treaty, but rather a 'memo-random', so it has no legal binding force to impose obligations on the parties.
This is why Putin did not budge even though the European Union (EU), including the United States and Britain, which are signatories of the Memorandum of Understanding, pressed against Russia's invasion of Crimea with diplomatic and economic sanctions cards such as suspension of visa issuance and freezing of overseas assets. .
After Russia's annexation of Crimea, Ukraine's will to join NATO grew stronger. Ukraine is in a hurry to join NATO because a memorandum of understanding alone does not guarantee security. However, President Putin regards Ukraine's accession to NATO as a 'red line', that is, an irreversible Maginot line.
Putin is demanding legally binding guarantees that NATO will not expand eastward or deploy weapons near Russian borders. However, the US and EU have taken a position that they will not discuss security without Ukraine.
Recently, Ukraine has been pursuing a pro-Western policy. Ukraine's constitution states that accession to the EU and NATO is a national goal.
Currently, Ukraine is NATO's 'partner country'. This means that NATO members share the perception that Ukraine could join the alliance in the future.
Russia is hoping the Western powers will ensure Ukraine does not join NATO.
However, the United States and its allies are refusing to ban Ukraine, saying it has the freedom to decide its security alliance as a sovereign state.
What is NATO planning?
NATO is ordering hundreds of warplanes and warships to be alert and will increase its deployment along the Russian-Ukrainian border.
In addition, NATO may launch a rapid response force of 40,000 troops, or deploy additional troops to Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia like Poland and the Baltic States.
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