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What is going on in Ukraine?
Lets explore it.
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is surrounded by Belarus in the North and
Russia in the north east, and in the south we have Romania, Moldova, Black Sea, Sea of
Azov and in the West we have Poland, Slovakia and Hungary. And the Ukraine is roughly the
size of Texas. That is about It 233000 sq. miles.
Did you know? The word Ukraine means "Borderland" or "Bordering Country"? Historically, Ukraine
acted as a bridge between Asia and Europe.
The territory of Ukraine was first inhabited 44,000 years ago. A cradle of early civilization,
it is believed to be in Ukraine, that our hunter-gatherer ancestors first domesticated
horses.
Over the years, it has been ruled by various powers as fragments until its consolidation
into the Soviet Republic in the 20th century.
Ukraine has extensively fertile farmlands and is known as a global "Bread Basket". In
addition, the country is well developed in the manufacturing sector, particularly in
the area of aerospace and industrial equipment.
Recently there has been unrest in Ukraine. The main reason was over business and trade
ties between Ukraine and the European Union (EU). The EU is a group of 28 countries in
Europe that collaborate with each other. It all started when an agreement was expected
to be signed between the two. However, Ukraine's government decided not to go ahead with the
agreement, and instead, decided to further improve its ties with Russia, one of its already
big trading partners. Many Ukrainians became upset because they believed their country
would benefit from having closer ties with the EU countries.
However there were some Ukrainians happy to strengthen their partnership with Russia.
Ukrainians that felt hey ought to have closer ties with EU felt cheated. They protested
against the decision. The protests were held in the capital city
of Ukraine, Kiev. The government had to use force against the protesters and many were
hurt. The situation became really bad and all the people of Ukraine ousted President
Viktor Yanukovych. He fled to Russia and a temporary government has been set up until
May. So, whats going to happen in May? They are
still working on that part. So, as we said there were some Ukrainians
who preferred closer ties to Russia instead of the EU, especially those in a southern
region of Ukraine named Crimea. Crimea is a major land mass located just South of Ukrainian
mainland and West of the Russian region of Kuban. It became the Autonomous Republic of
Crimea, when Ukraine became an independent nation in 1991. The sovereignty of the port
city of Sevastopol and an autonomous Republic of Crimea was however, in dispute with Russia.
After President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted, Russia sent its troops to Crimea on March
1, 2014, claiming to protect Crimea's pro-Russian population.
A referendum was held in Crimea on March 16, 2014 and the citizens of Crimea overwhelmingly
voted to break off from Ukraine and join Russia. As a result, the Russian President, Vladimir
Putin, completed the annexation of Crimea on Friday, March 21, 2014 and signed a treaty
declaring Crimea a part of Russia. So, on April 3, 2014, Crimea and the city
of Sevastopol became part of Russia's Southern Military District.
However, Crimea was legally a part of the Ukraine after the Soviet Union disintegrated.
So, many countries in the West including United Kingdom and the United States, blame Russia
for illegally entering into Ukraine's land and do not accept the Russian annexation of
Crimea. Escalations continue in Eastern Ukraine. The
Ukraine government want pro Russian demonstrators to leave the office buildings that they occupied.
On the other hand, Russia is looking to increase its presence in the Ukraine. So, now there
are fears of civil war or more areas being taken over by Russia. The Western countries
are considering more sanctions. Where will this lead to?
Hmmm, What do you think?