War In Donbass A Ukrainian Tragedy

The Editor examines the causes and course of the war in Donbass.

- David Grummitt

Ukraine as a sovereign state has had a very chequered history. The origins of its national identity stretch back into the Middle Ages with Kievan Rus, a Slavic principality which prospered from the tenth to the thirteenth century. Subsequently Ukraine came variously under the influence of the Polish/Lithuanian, Russian and Austro-Hungarian states, but with the end of World War I, in 1919, Ukraine emerged briefly as an independent state before being absorbed into the USSR. It remained so until December 1991 when the Ukrainians voted in a referendum for independence and shortly afterwards the new leaders of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine met to formally dissolve the Soviet Union.

Euromaiden and the Crimea

The geopolitical situation of Ukraine has been problematic since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. In 2004 the so-called ‘Orange Revolution’ removed the president Viktor Yanukovych in favour of Western-backed opponents, but in 2006 Yanukovych returned as prime minister and in 2010 he was again elected president. In the meantime Ukraine’s economic position worsened. As a result of 2009 Financial Crisis the country’s wealth fell by some 15% and disputes with Russia led to the supply of natural gas through Ukraine being temporarily suspended.