The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, has heavily insisted that Ukraine is a part of Russia and not its own independent power. Putin has been doing everything in his power to force Ukraine back into European control, going as far as to deploying hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers in Ukraine, which could lead to a full scale attack. If an attack were to occur, it could lead to the United States possibly getting involved with another war, as the Pentagon has deployed soldiers along the Ukrainian border. With Russian and United States soldiers both along the Ukrainian border, tensions are rising between both countries, and it’s possible China will have involvement as well.
The conflict between Ukraine and Russia goes way back to the 9th century. Ukraine separated from Russia as its own independent country. Russia, however, still has a little bit of control over a small part of Ukraine, and Ukraine sees Russia as a brute force that only wants to seize control over Ukraine just to have more power over other countries, the United States included. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an organization dedicated to protection against any kind of attack from Russia, and Russia sees Ukraine as an added force to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which could take a small chunk of power away from Russia. These two opposing viewpoints clashed together which led to pretty much what’s going today. Again, Russia sees Ukraine as still part of their country, since Ukraine originally was part of Russia before separating to become its own country in 1991. According to The Washington Post, Ukraine “served as a strategic part of the Soviet Union, with a large agricultural industry and important ports on the Black Sea.” Back in July, Putin remarked, “I am confident that true sovereignty of Ukraine is possible only in partnership with Russia.. Together we have always been and will be many times stronger and more successful. For we are one people.” Communism at its finest.
In an article by Vox, Mark Galleoti explains, “I think from his point of view, you know, he’s 69. He can rule for only some years to come politically, but he’s probably getting old and he’s getting tired. It’s fairly obvious that he is tired and bored with much of the job. The last thing he wants is for his legacy in the history books to be the guy who lost Ukraine, the guy who rolled over and let NATO and the West have their way.” And frankly, this is plausible. Big leaders like Vladmir Putin, Kim Jon-un, and even US presidents such as Donald Trump or Joe Biden want to make a big name for themselves (some more than others). They want to make history as the leader of their country, and Putin is very obviously trying to make a name for himself so he doesn’t go down in history as “The Guy Who Lost Ukraine”.
Keep in mind Russia is a giant country. Like I’m talking big. Like big, big. Just because of its immense size, it already has some kind of power over other countries. Russia sits right smack in the middle of other countries, easily shadowing them. Along with a brute military force and some severe Imperialist beliefs, Russia is not a force to be messed with.
So what can we hope for in the future? First off, we hope that Putin doesn’t launch a full scale attack on Ukraine, blowing up nearly half of their cities and killing thousands of people. It’s possible that even the United States may get involved if things get violent. And what happens if the United States get involved? World War III. Calling it now. We had a scare like that when North Korea tensions were high. (And who is to blame for that? You decide) We can only hope that somehow, someway, things get resolved peacefully and we can go back to … you know.

MINDING. OUR. OWN. BUSINESS.