By Pablo Daniel Magee
What is really happening in Ukraine, and why is Russian President Vladimir Putin currently putting at risk a relative world peace over this territory?
The first thing we should have in mind when discussing Ukraine, is that it is the cradle of Russian civilization. That cradle is better known under the name of the Kievan Rus’: a principality which existed between the ninth and the thirteenth Century. This principality, which was overthrown by the Mongol invasions in the year 1240, is the oldest common political entity of the modern states of Belarus, Russia and… Ukraine: the first beat of contemporary Russia’s heart. A part of the Russian Empire, Ukraine became the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1922, following the Russian revolution, and later reached independence in 1991, with the fall of the USSR. As journalist Sylvie Kaufmann reminds us, this explains why in July of 2021, in an article entitled On the historical unity of Russians and Ukrainians, President Putin defended the idea that “Russians and Ukrainians are one people – a single whole” and that “the wall that has emerged in recent years between Russia and Ukraine, between the parts of what is essentially the same historical and spiritual space, to my mind is our great common misfortune and tragedy.” Before coming to the conclusion that: “One fact is crystal clear: Russia was robbed (of Ukraine), indeed.” Retrospectively, such an article published seven months ago was clearly announcing the events presently taking place.