A Historical Look at Why We Must Stand with Ukraine

If one is to understand the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine, it is critical to examine the historical context of the post-Soviet relationship between the two countries and decades-old promises made to Ukraine regarding security from a potentially hostile, nuclear-armed neighbor.

In December 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, giving 15 countries their independence. Among them was Ukraine, which had been the second most advanced Soviet republic behind Russia. Its economy was relatively developed, especially compared to the other republics. It was also an important military hub, which saw it inherit some 1,700 nuclear warheads at the time of the collapse. It was the third most nuclear warheads held by any country behind the United States and Russia.

Although Ukraine lacked the software to launch the missiles, it represented a serious security risk. The West did not like the idea of multiple former Soviet states having nuclear weapons because they felt it threatened stability in a region where so many countries had been forcefully brought under the Soviet regime in Russia. There were also concerns that cash-strapped nascent nations could sell the weapons to terrorist groups. The United States and the United Kingdom agreed that it would be better to deal only with the containment of a nuclear Russia under then-Russian President Boris Yeltsin.

In December 1994, U.S. President Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister John Major traveled to Budapest, Hungary, and signed the Budapest Memorandum with Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and Yeltsin. The agreement committed the U.S., U.K., and Russia to security assurances respecting the sovereignty of Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. Those countries then transferred their nuclear weapons to Russia (some were destroyed) and joined the Treaty of the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, vowing never to create new nuclear weapons and only use atomic energy for peaceful purposes.

In 2000, Vladimir Putin became President of Russia. Putin was not nearly as warm to the West as Yelstin or Gorbachev, noting that he found the collapse of the Soviet empire to be "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century."

In 2004, Viktor Yushchenko ran for president of Ukraine. Yushenko wanted to improve relations between Ukraine and the West. Putin backed his pro-Russian opponent, Viktor Yanukovych, who wanted to draw Ukraine closer to Moscow. In the run-up to the election, Yushenko was mysteriously poisoned with TCDD Dioxin, a herbicide, badly disfiguring his face.

In an election marred by widespread election interference and voter intimidation, Yanukovych was declared the winner despite significant evidence of foul play. The European Union refused to recognize the election, while Ukranians poured into the streets in utterly massive protests referred to as the Orange Revolution. The protests were successful, and Ukraine's parliament dismissed the results and called for a new election. With the world closely monitoring this time, Yushenko easily won.

Yushenko struggled to build consensus and curb corruption in the young democracy and, in 2010, lost to Yanukovych in a three-way race. However, Yanukovych did not win the support of the people or parliament to move closer to Russia, as both favored the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, which was meant to create a path for Ukraine to join the EU. In 2013, Yanukovych canceled the signing at the final hour and announced he would sign an agreement to join the Customs Union of Russia with Belarus and Kazakhstan.

This led to protests similar to the Orange Revolution, with the people calling for Yanukovych's resignation. This time, the protests were put down violently. Despite relentless state violence ordered by Yanukovych, the people persisted. In what was known as the Revolution of Dignity, some 50,000 Ukrainians marched to the parliament. The violence peaked with special police opening fire on the protestors. Despite this, the people managed to take Kyiv, and Yanukovych fled.

Parliament voted 328-0 to impeach Yanukovych, who was then in Russia, under Putin's protection. Yanukovych supporters in Ukraine struck back, taking two eastern cities and raising Russian flags over them. Putin then decided that Russia must retake Crimea, whose Black Sea ports provide quick access to the Eastern Mediterranean, Balkans, and Middle East. Putin sent Russian commandos into Crimea in unmarked uniforms. Known as the Little Green Men, the Russian troops quickly took the entire Crimean peninsula.

There is something of a political divide in Ukraine, with a minority mainly comprised of those who are older and live in eastern areas closer to Russia, tending to favor closer relations with Russia while remaining somewhat skeptical of the West. The vast majority of the country, however, is united in the belief that Ukraine should remain a democratic, independent, sovereign state.

Separatists have attempted to "liberate" the Donbas, a region that comprises roughly a third of Ukraine's land and borders Russia. It is an energy, metal, and mineral-rich region that Putin would very much like to absorb. Russian GDP is very low for a country of its size and resources, mostly because of the systemic looting and ongoing corruption that has marred the country, beginning with the fall of the Soviet Union.

Putin himself is thought to be perhaps the richest man on Earth, having amassed unthinkable riches as a head of state. While most of his wealth is opaque, what was discovered in the Panama Papers alone—thought to be but a small portion of his overall worth—paints the picture of an oligarch among oligarchs.

In September 2014, Ukraine, the separatists, and Russia entered into the Minsk agreements, which created a demilitarized zone and a cease-fire that the Russians and separatists broke, taking the Donetsk International Airport in the process. A new cease-fire was agreed to but was again broken. War in the Donbas continued through 2021.

In the spring of 2021, Russia began a major military build-up near the Ukrainian border. This was followed by a second build-up in October 2021 in both Russia and Belarus. Despite Russian denials that it planned to attack Ukraine, U.S. intelligence of Russian invasion plans, including satellite photographs showing Russian troops and equipment near the border, were released that December. Fighting escalated dramatically in the Donbas, and Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022.

The fact that Russia invaded Ukraine and not vice versa is simply irrefutable—full stop. It is also clear that Russia has remained the aggressor and has not demonstrated that it can be trusted to adhere to cease-fires and peace agreements. The idea that Russia's invasion of Ukraine was a justified preemptive attack against its eventual admission to NATO because of U.S. assurances is a Russian myth based on an erroneous interpretation of something George H.W. Bush's Sec. of State James Baker said prior to the signing of the Two Plus Four Treaty that dealt with the fall of the Berlin Wall. Any revisionism neglects its absence in the actual treaty, 1997's NATO-Russia Founding Act, and Russia's commitment to respecting Ukraine's borders and sovereignty in the Budapest Memorandum.

The people of Ukraine have fought a valiant war of attrition against what was said to be the world's second most powerful military, defending themselves in a war that was supposed to last three weeks for three years. The Russian economy has been ravaged, its currency weakened, and its people exhausted by the high price of the aggression in both blood and treasure.

Allowing Putin to regroup and restock will only make future attacks on Ukraine and other bordering countries more likely. Furthermore, to abandon Ukraine is to turn our back on our stated values that sovereign countries shall not be invaded and that a nation's lands shall not be claimed by force. It also disrespects the principle that each sovereign state is free to choose its own alliances, enshrined in the 1975 Helsinki Accords.

Putin is a murderous war criminal who clearly does not share Western values, posing a grave threat to global stability. To align ourselves with such a man in any way or support a peace deal that does not respect pre-war borders would be a grave mistake that would irrevocably tarnish our nation’s global reputation.

Slava Ukraini

Dennis "Mitch" Maley is an editor and columnist for The Bradenton Times and the host of our weekly podcast. With over two decades of experience as a journalist, he has covered Manatee County government since 2010. He is a graduate of Shippensburg University and later served as a Captain in the U.S. Army. Click here for his bio. Mitch is also the author of three novels and a short story collection available here.