History has seen wars that lasted centuries. They differed in scale and character, but their cause was the same: irreconcilable positions, and one side choosing force to impose its political aims. For more than a thousand years, Ukraine endured repeated invasions – in the 11th, 16th, 17th and 19th centuries – from its northern neighbour Russia. The objective: subjugation and erasure of Ukrainians as a nation.
Although Russia recognised Ukraine’s independence in 1991 and reaffirmed its borders in the “Big Treaty” of 1998-1999, Russian politicians, including former Leningrad mayor Anatoly Sobchak, who helped bring Putin to power, and former Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov, publicly questioned Ukraine’s sovereignty and called for revising borders or imposing a protectorate.

Read full story on TOI+

END OF ARTICLE