On February 20, 2022, the Beijing Olympic Games came to a successful conclusion, and in the short film of the closing ceremony, there was a profound picture, that is, the picture of Ukrainian athletes embracing Russian athletes after the game. This picture has attracted a lot of attention, but who would have thought that after the Beijing Winter Olympics, conflict between Ukraine and Russia would break out.
On February 25, 2022, the Ukrainian president claimed that their country had been completely abandoned by the West. This country has become a "lonely man", but how did this European power get to where it is today?
In 1991, the Soviet Union disintegrated as a superpower, and on August 24, Ukraine declared its independence. As one of the former Soviet unions, Ukraine inherited 30% of its legacy, a mighty army, a fearsome nuclear weapon, sophisticated armament, which also included the Tu-160 bomber, which is one of the most powerful weapons in modern warfare, and is currently the world's largest, largest nuclear bomber, and the fastest flying strategic bomber.
Although Ukraine had just become independent, it inherited a large inheritance and became the world's third-largest military power after the United States and Russia. No matter in which era, the military force is strong, it basically has a firm foothold in the world. Ukraine also has a very good industrial system, accounting for one-third of the total Production of Steel in the Soviet Union, about 40% of iron, and almost half of the Agricultural Products in the Soviet Union. This is undoubtedly a good start for Ukraine, which has just become independent, but today's Ukraine has become a "lonely person". And Ukraine and Russia have been involved since ancient times, after the "peaceful separation of the family", how did Ukraine get to this point today?
Historically, Ukraine, which has been through war, has also been ruled by other countries, including the Mongol Golden Horde, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and Poland, and later became part of Russia.
Eastern and western Ukraine became a member of the Soviet Union, and until the collapse of the Soviet Union, the relationship between the two countries can be said to be one family. But after Ukraine's independence, their relations were not as friendly as before.
After Ukraine's independence, Yeltsin also said that the two countries would call each other brothers in the future, but Ukraine, which was independent at that time, did not think so. At that time, Ukraine was a big power, and its military power was very strong, which also led to some expansion, and even did not pay attention to the United States and Russia. In the face of the Russian proposal of a state alliance, Ukraine did not accept it, but chose to split up.
Although the alliance of nations did not succeed, Russia regarded it as a brother and repaid its foreign debts.
However, there were actually some problems within Ukraine at that time, which were also problems left over from previous history. Western Ukraine was once ruled by Western countries, which made the people here closer to Europe, while the east was pro-Russian. This makes the country have some contradictions within itself, but the contradictions and influences brought about by the outside are also huge.
In the last century, the United States and the Soviet Union were two great powers, and they competed with each other for many years in order to compete for hegemony. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States did not sit back and relax, but instead aimed at the successor states of the former Soviet Union, Russia and Ukraine.
Although the Cold War was over and the greatest enemy (the Soviet Union) had disintegrated, Ukraine and Russia had become a thorn in the eye and a thorn in the flesh of the United States.
In the last century, in order to compete with the United States for hegemony, the Soviet Union's domestic economic situation declined rapidly, and the economic level of each member country became very poor. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia and Ukraine were burdened with high arrears, and the living standards of the people at home were naturally not much better. The United States told Russia and Ukraine that the most important thing for the two countries now is to develop the domestic economy and improve the people's living standards, while the military side can be put aside for the time being, and there is not so much money at home to maintain military equipment.
Naturally, Russia did not believe the words of the United States, which was jealous of their military power, and if they lightened the military according to the Idea of the United States, it would be very unfavorable to their position in the world afterwards.
Ukraine, however, believed that the level of economic development in their country was generally not high, light industry was very backward, but heavy industry in the military was very developed, which caused their level of industrial development to be extremely unbalanced. Although Ukraine has become independent, the country can almost be said to be destitute, and the military expenditure is extremely large, which they cannot afford.
The United States also promised Ukraine that as long as they destroy some of their domestic weapons, the United States and Europe will give them military security guarantees.
Ukraine inherited many of the nuclear weapons of the former Soviet Union, in the face of this nuclear power, many countries in the world are difficult to adapt, especially the United States and Russia, they do not want to see Ukraine become a nuclear power, in order to make Ukraine give up nuclear weapons, the United States, Russia and other countries have cooperation.
Three years after Ukraine's independence, the country's GDP has dropped by 24%, and the economy has been in a mess since then, coupled with the nuclear power plant explosion accident that has been examined before, 100,000 people in the country have been implicated, and the people have also developed a fear of nuclear. As a result, many people not only rejected the nuclear industry, but also opposed it, and the United States seized the opportunity to advocate calling on Ukraine to destroy its nuclear weapons in its territory.
Ukraine signed an agreement with the United States and Russians to ship nuclear weapons to Russia for destruction. While the denuclearization programme was under way, Ukraine also dismantled 10 Tu-160s.
The reason for the dismantling of Figure 160 is also because the United States learned that Ukraine would sell military equipment with the mainland, and Ukraine wanted to use these military equipment in exchange for money to develop the economy. However, after the United States and Russia knew about it, they did not want the Tu 160 bombers to fall into the hands of the mainland, so they put pressure on Ukraine on the grounds that the Tu 160 threatened the national security of the United States and the West, and the Ukrainian side had no choice but to destroy 10 Tu 160s, and the Russian side did not succeed in obtaining these weapons.
Ukraine, which is not supported by military power, coupled with the low domestic economy, makes Ukraine's position in the world far inferior to that of the time of independence.
After the 21st century, Ukraine's domestic economy has finally improved, but the country's status has plummeted. In 2001, the seven-year-long denuclearization mission was successful within the agreed time, but the lion, who lost its fangs, was no longer afraid. The economic assistance and military protections previously promised by the United States have also been greatly reduced.
In Ukraine at that time, there were two voices, one was close to Russia, and the other was pro-European, which made them fall into a very embarrassing situation.
After the United States and some European countries established the Northern Language, they have always wanted to let more countries join their camp, and their biggest threat was the Soviet Union. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia became a new threat, in order to expand NATO eastward, many countries were instigated color revolutions, while Ukraine was sandwiched between NATO and Russia, the position was very embarrassing.
Before 2014, the relationship between Ukraine and Russia was not so rigid, but after that, the relationship between the two has created a rift, which is getting bigger and bigger, and the original "brothers" have finally "turned against each other".
Yanukovych is a pro-Russian president, and his refusal to sign a free trade agreement with the EUROPEAN Union has caused many dissatisfactions, which not only caused a political crisis within Ukraine, but also caused strong dissatisfaction in the United States, NATO and the European Union. Eventually, Yanikovich was ousted from politics, and the pro-European president came to power in Ukraine. And the new government does not recognize the $250 billion it originally owed to Russia.
Some parts of Ukraine, because they are pro-Russian forces, are very dissatisfied with the pro-European behavior of the new government and demand that these forces be incorporated into the Russian Federation. Crimea was the first to attack, which decided to become independent in March 2014.
Crimea was once Russian territory, but after Russia and Ukraine joined the Soviet Union, crimea's ownership changed. In 1954, Khrushchev divided Crimea from the Russian Federation to Ukraine.
In 2014, Crimea held a referendum, and more than 90% of the people agreed to Crimea's secession from Ukraine and, after independence, joined the Russian union. For the next four years, Russia largely controlled the Kerch Strait, and thus the military fortress.
After the independence of Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk in Ukraine also wanted independence, but they were not recognized, but they almost did not belong to Ukraine.
And ukraine's crisis does not stop there, the newly independent Ukraine is very strong militarily, and this is also due to their military talent. Weapons and equipment are very important in the military, and valuable technical personnel is what every country wants.
As early as 1992, the United States had begun to mine talent in Ukraine, and the most important job of their NGOs was to find and control sensitive talent. In order to attract talent, the United States also offers very generous remuneration, attracting many talents to its own country. Some people also hold some top-secret archives of the former Soviet Union, and through these they have made great contributions to the United States.
In addition to the United States, some other countries have also set their sights on the Ukrainian military industry, who have left the country and have a very big impact on the military industry. Coupled with the poor economy of Ukraine and the generally low living standards of the people, this also makes many people leave Ukraine voluntarily.
The chaotic political situation is also one of the reasons for this situation. There is nothing wrong with the post-independence Ukraine wanting to get rid of the rule of other countries, and any country wants to be its own master, but some politicians are not completely concerned about the country. The first president, faced with unbalanced industrial development, used shock therapy, but this method was not suitable for Ukraine, and instead of improving the country's situation, it also caused inflation and serious damage to the country's economy.
In the years that followed, the inaction of some politicians, as well as their selfishness, led to the emergence of many oligarchs in the country.
Ukraine, which has suffered from a national crisis, has become weaker and weaker, so it has tried to join NATO and the European Union, seeking asylum, but Russia naturally will not agree. NATO has expanded eastward five times, and they are targeting Russia. Ukraine is located between Russia and NATO, and If NATO wants to expand its footprint to the Russian border, Ukraine is an important target. Russia must also stop it, because it concerns Russia's security and interests, and it will also change the balance and stability of European strategy.
Ukraine had already put forward the goal of joining NATO 20 years ago. Although this goal was abolished during this period, in 2019, Ukraine wrote this ultimate goal into its constitution.
At the end of 2020, Ukraine decided to break with Russia once and for all and to become part of the West.
In 2022, after the East Olympic Games, the situation between Russia and Ukraine changed drastically, and the war burned to Ukraine. At 6 o'clock on February 25, another explosion occurred in the Ukrainian capital. President Zelenskiy, on the other hand, does not see any country standing with Ukraine.
No one expected Ukraine to evolve from a former power to today.00 And what Ukraine will look like after that, no one knows. Where the Ukrainian issue will lead the world is also unknown.