What Is Happening Along The Russia-Ukraine Border For Dummies

Russia had gathered close to 150 000 troops along the Ukrainian border — many  predicted that this could spiral into the largest military conflict Europe has experienced in decades. The roots of this conflict go back centuries, but have been exacerbated in recent years, mostly due to demographics.

Russia and Ukraine became new countries when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Of all the post-Soviet states, only Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine have considerable Russian language use, (by both ethnic Russians and non-Russians) in everyday life. In Ukraine, the east is more Russian speaking and pro-Russian while the west is more Ukrainian speaking and anti-Russia. It is estimated that up to 1/3 of Ukrainian nationals use more Russian language on a daily basis. To summarize: the eastern part, along the border has a more Russophile culture than the west.

Going back in time, over a thousand years ago, Ukraine’s capital city of Kiev, was the center of the Slavic state, Kyivan Rus, birthplace of both Ukrainian and Russian cultures. Ukraine was rarely ever an independent entity, before 1991. There were only a few periods: right after World War I, and a short span in the 1600s, when they had self-rule. The nation has therefore been under partial or total Russian rule for most of its history, which is a big part of why the subject of Russian influence is divisive in popular discourse. Many see Russia as the source of historical imperialism and to be resisted, while others feel a sense of shared culture and heritage.

To make an analogy, it is probably similar to Scotland and Ireland, where most of them speak the English language today and anglicisation has had a huge impact despite popular discourse, with Northern Ireland wanting to be in the UK and Scotland voting to remain in the UK after a 2014 referendum, despite the popularity of Braveheart!