Russia’s military forces poured into Ukraine from four primary directions, according to an analysis by the research group Institute for the Study of War. These maps tell the story:
The tensions in the region trace back decades to Ukraine’s decision in 1991 to declare independence from what was then the Soviet Union.
Ukraine has been an independent country ever since, but Russian President Vladimir Putin insists it should be a part of Russia. “Ukraine is not just a neighboring country for us,” Putin said in a televised speech Monday. “It is an inalienable part of our own history, culture and spiritual space.” Ukraine was among several Soviet republics that became independent countries as the Soviet Union collapsed. The Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania eventually joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, as did several former members of the Soviet-era Warsaw Pact.. Putin has said he considers the prospect of Ukraine joining the Western alliance “a hostile act.”, Russia annexed Crimea, a strategic Ukrainian peninsula on the Black Sea.
Putin’s critics contend that his invasion realizes a years-long desire to take control of Ukraine. Paving the way for such an action, they note, he has increased his crackdown on dissent within Russia in recent years. Many of his political opponents have been jailed or killed.
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