Ukraine is in dire need of help, but no one is offering any.
The United Nations has declared a famine in Ukraine. This means that more than 10% of the population is suffering from malnutrition and that people are dying. But despite this, there has been little to no action taken by the international community to help Ukraine, which has led to questions about why this is happening.
What happened in Ukraine?
In 2015, a civil war broke out between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists. The war lasted for three years and was extremely bloody, with thousands of casualties on both sides. During the war, Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops into eastern Ukraine to support the separatists. In 2018, an agreement was reached between Russia and Ukraine called Minsk II. This ended fighting between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists but it did not end the conflict itself.
Why did fighting break out?
“The conflict started because of the Russian annexation of Crimea,” says Dr. Jonathan Adelman at the University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies. “Crimea had historically been part of Russia until 1954 when it was transferred to Ukraine.” According to Adelman, Putin believed that Crimea should have remained part of Russia after this transfer occurred.
