Ukraine & Russia Conflict: What Does the World Knows So Far
While various parts of the world are still recovering from the outrageous pandemic, some of the most influential countries might just be stepping in a huge conflict. Ukraine, the southern neighbour of Russia is going through a major crisis as the Russian president, Vladimir Putin has started a large – scale military attack upon Ukraine.
Here is the information collected so far.
The President of Russia Orders Attack.
Vladimir Putin announced a “military operation” in the Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, an area that many Russian speaking Ukrainians call home. Parts of that region have been occupied and run by Russian-backed rebels since around 2014.
Mr Putin claimed that Russia was intervening as an act of self-defence.
According to the president, Russia did not want to occupy Ukraine, however he said he would demilitarise and would also “de-Nazify” the country
The President also added that anyone from outside power who would intervene would be met with devastating and instant response.
A Number of Tanks & Troops Invading Ukraine.
It was reported by Ukrainians that tanks and troops have invaded Ukraine at various points along the eastern, southern and northern borders.
Russian military convoys have crossed from Belarus into Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv region, and from Russia into the Sumy region, which is also in the north according to the Ukrainian Border Services guards.
Explosions Heard Across the Country.
Loud bangs were heard in the capital Kyiv, as well as Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. Blasts have also been heard in the southern port city of Odesa. It was also reported that Russia had carried out missile strikes on Ukraine’s infrastructure as well as on border’s guards.
For a statement, Russia’s Defence ministry has denied attacking Ukrainian cities – saying that they were only targeting military infrastructure, air defence and air forces with high precision weapons.
Convoys were also spotted entering Ukraine from Crimea, a territory that was annexed from Ukraine in 2014. There have also been reports where Russian troops were landing by sea at the Black Sea port cities of Mariupol and Odesa in the south.
Death Registered
The exact number of casualties is still unstable; however, the Russian Defence Ministry has confirmed a substantial number of casualties in Ukraine, announcing that over 500 Russian troops have died and more than 1,500 have been severely injured. It was also said that more than 2,870 Ukrainian soldiers and civilians have been killed, and about 3,700 were wounded.
Civilians Are Seeking Refuge
Many people in Kyiv have sought shelter in underground metro stations, bomb shelters and basements. It was also documented that some people have left the country, and many have stayed to fight for their country.
The Rise of The Price of Oil
Oil prices escalated above $100, which means that oil has significantly risen in different countries where oil is imported from Russia and meanwhile, the Russian currency, the rouble, fell to an all-time low against the dollar and the euro.
Ukraine Would Not Back Down
It was declared by the Ukraine army that they have shot down five Russian planes and a helicopter, however Russia denied this statement.
President Zelensky said that Ukraine had suffered losses including various property damages around the city area and a lot of aircraft and armoured vehicles has been destroyed. But according to Russia, they have only destroyed around 70 military targets in Ukraine.
Ukraine has also got the support of various countries, where some of them blocked financial transactions and other facilities for Russia.
President Zelensky has also refused to leave his country and has joined forces to fight in honour of his country.
Which Country Are Welcoming Refugees?
Due to the crisis, many countries are opening themselves to welcome Ukrainian refugees. It was last communicated that 281,000 people entered Poland, more than 84,500 in Hungary, about 36,400 in Moldova, over 32,500 in Romania and about 30,000 in Slovakia. The rest were scattered in unidentified countries.
Global visa requirements for Ukrainians
Various countries are lifting or revising their visa requirement protocols. Ireland announced that it was lifting visa requirements for Ukrainians. The UN forecasted that the number of people seeking refuge outside of Ukraine to other countries may have a possibility of rising up to five million. Several European countries are also preparing themselves for an influx of Ukrainian refugees.
It was also communicated that the Ukrainians can travel to approximately 140 countries and territories without the need for a visa or with a visa issued upon arrival.
The map below shows the visa requirements for Ukrainians as issued on February 26 from Aljazeera News.
The Ukrainian leadership has been able to fight the Russians and inflict on them devastating & catastrophic strategic losses on the battlefield. With the capture of Kherson the Ukrainians dealt the Russians biggest blow and setback as this was the first greatest strategic loss for Putin and the Russian military. The battle of Bakhmut is the second greatest defeat of the Russian army and at this it does not matter (strategically) to keep defending Bakhmut by the Ukrainians as they had been able to inflict massive casualties on the Wagner militia and the Russian armed forces. These groups can take over the remainder of the city, but the Ukrainians have strategically won this battle too. The Ukrainians have killed tens of thousands of Russian invaders around the city of Bakhmut, which is not strategically as important for the Ukrainians to keep defending at this time.
Within next several weeks, once the wet ground gets dry and with Spring it becomes more solid, the Ukrainians will be able to wage a massive counterattack involving and utilizing the newly delivered western tanks such as Challenger and Leopard 2 tanks and Bradley, Stryker, AMX-10 and Marder infantry fighting vehicles. These battle tanks and vehicles have much more capabilities and superior firepower, high tech options vs. the Russian equipment. If Ukraine will have enough number of the tanks and fighting vehicles, they should be able to start a massive counterattack relatively soon and liberate more of its occupied territories across Donbass, Luhansk and at a later stages Crimea as well.
Right now, the only strategy wanted war criminal Putin utilizes against Ukraine is to keep inflicting massive civilian casualties, terror and fear, destroying Ukrainian civil infrastructure and keep attacking these civilian targets to inflict more terror and leave the Ukrainians without electricity or water supply. It feels like Putin is utilizing the usual Russian military playbook he used in Georgia, Chechnya, Crimea and Syria: win the war by spilling more civilian blood, inflict more civilian terror and keep committing more war crimes to further inflict more fear and terror.
Hopefully the NATO members, the US especially will be able to throw in more weaponry, especially the F-16 fighter jets, hopefully higher range MGM-140 ATACMS rockets, counter rocket C-RAM weapons systems to better fight the Iranian drones and more for air defenses to counter the Iranian drones and ballistic missiles. The advanced Western fighter jets will be a vital tool to win this war, without these fighters the we are looking into a more prolonged war, that might last few more years. The F-16 fighter jets can provide important offensive capabilities and support the ground force efforts.
If Ukraine gets all the weaponry and equipment it needs, the Ukrainian armed forces should be able to clear Donbass and Lugansk within this year, Crimea most likely will also be de-occupied sometime in 2024. However, with the Russian defeat the Western powers should force the Russian Federation to de-occupy and leave all occupied territories of Moldova, Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Samachablo (so called South Ossetia) and Nagorno-Karabakh. Ukraine will be victorious and the Russian imperialism will once again be defeated. With the Ukrainian victory the world will forever destroy Russia’s imperialistic ambitions, Russian nationalism and this will save future generations from future wars and peace will definitely follow.