What is going on with Ukraine and Russia?

This year, tensions that have been building since the fall of the USSR, in 1991, have risen to a new level. To understand why, we would have to go back to the days of the Cold War when Ukraine was a part of the USSR (Union of Socialist Soviet Republics) and many central European countries, such as Poland, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, etc were part of a Soviet alliance called the Eastern Bloc. Western European countries like France, Western Germany, The United Kingdom, and also countries like Canada and The USA were part of an alliance called NATO. During the Cold War, NATO and the Eastern Bloc were at odds and the world was very, very close to nuclear war. When the Eastern Bloc collapsed in 1990 and the USSR collapsed in 1991, it was split into Russia, Ukraine, and other countries. After the split, Russia was still at odds with the current standing NATO and Ukraine. Russia believes that some lands currently in possession in Ukraine belong to Russia.

From February 20th through March 26th, 2014, Russia annexed Crimea, which is a part of Ukraine that was given haphazardly to Ukraine in 1954 to appease the rebellion after Joseph Stalin’s death. Joseph Stalin was responsible for a famine that killed over 1.1 million Ukrainians, so Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the USSR at the time, gave them the Crimean Oblast, or district, to the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic. A lot of Russians disagree with this transfer because the area is ethnically Russian, it gives Russia more access to oil and trade in the Black Sea, and many question the legality of the transfer, as Crimea did not have an election on the matter. After the annexation, tensions between Russia, NATO, and Ukraine only rose. Russia is clear on what it wants, a Russian sphere of influence in Eastern Europe and removal of USA Nuclear warheads in Europe.

The Kremlin In Moscow

The Kremlin, which is the highest government in Russia, believes NATO’s expansion in Eastern Europe breaches its security interests and worsens post-Cold War tensions. Of course, NATO won't just ignore an imminent invasion of Ukraine, so warnings have been placed. Germany warns Russia that annexation of any more Ukrainian territory would result in the abandonment of Nord Stream 2, a major energy pipeline. One thing to note is that Russia provides 128 billion cubic meters of oil to Europe every year, or one-third of all of Europe's oil.

So, how does this affect you? Well, the US imports $30 billion of minerals from Russia every year, such as platinum, iron, steel, etc, and also imports $2.5 billion worth of agricultural products from Russia such as fertilizers. If those suddenly disappear, the US will suffer another huge economic loss, just as it’s just recovering the worldwide effects of COVID-19.

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Child, David, and Umut Uras. “Ukraine Latest Updates: US, Germany in ‘Lockstep’, Says Biden.” Ukraine-Russia Crisis News | Al Jazeera, 7 Feb. 2022, www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/7/macron-takes-leading-role-ukraine-liveblog/

“Russia’s Possible Invasion of Ukraine.” Center for Strategic and International Studies, www.csis.org/analysis/russias-possible-invasion-ukraine. Accessed 8 Feb. 2022.

“Why Did Russia Give Away Crimea Sixty Years Ago?” Wilson Center, www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/why-did-russia-give-away-crimea-sixty-years-ago. Accessed 9 Feb. 2022.