Russia and Ukraine have been at war since 2016.
On February 15th, 2019, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared war on Russia. This came after a series of incidents that began in 2016 when Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine. The conflict has since escalated into a full-blown war between the two countries, with both sides claiming to be acting in self-defence. While many details about the conflict are known, there are still some important questions that remain unanswered.
What started the war?
The current conflict began in February 2016 when Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that Crimea was now part of Russia. At the time, Putin said he was protecting ethnic Russians living in Crimea from persecution by Ukrainian nationalists. He also claimed that he had not made this decision unilaterally but instead had approval from local Crimean leaders.
Crimea is an autonomous republic within Ukraine and has been since 1954. However, after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Crimeans were given a choice to either join Russia or stay with Ukraine.
In 2014, Crimeans voted for their independence from Ukraine and for annexation by Russia.
Why did Vladimir Putin annex Crimea?
The annexation of Crimea was a strategic move by Vladimir Putin to expand his influence into Europe. The peninsula is strategically important as it sits along major shipping lanes and is close to both NATO member states and EU countries like Romania and Bulgaria.
“What does annexation mean?”
Annexation is when one country takes over another country’s land without permission or consent.
The United Nations has denounced all annexations as illegal under international law.
However, annexations have happened throughout history.
Germany annexed Austria during World War II.
China annexed Tibet in 1951.
Egypt annexed Gaza Strip in 1967.
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