Eight hundred fifty thousand people, mostly women and children, have so far fled Ukraine. Men of 20-60 years of age have, however, stayed back to fight it out.
Ukraine became a republic on 5th of December, 1991 after USSR’s exit from Afghanistan and its splitting into different countries. Otherwise it was a part and parcel of the erstwhile communist Soviet Union.
Volodymir Zelensky, a poplar comedian and actor, who suddenly gave up his professional career and stepped into the politics became president of Ukraine on May 20, 2019.
He promised to unite the country and fight rampant corruption which had plagued the country from its very inception. It won him unprecedented public support. But no one had ever expected that he would be able to keep his promises and lead his country this far.
He, from the very beginning, started looking up to the European countries and the US. He even openly expressed his desire to join the NATO.
This was a provocation enough for Russia. Putin therefore sought written assurances from the Western countries that they will not ever admit Ukraine into the NATO.
The US, who is spearheading the NATO, and its other partners not only blankly refused to do so but went on record to underscore that Ukraine is a free country and it is free to join NATO any time they may chose to do so.
Ukraine is second largest country in the Europe after Russia, in terms of area, and has the potential to become a formidable force in the region. Particularly the way it had started to equip itself with modern weaponry and military hardware procured by it from the West.
As a consequence Russia was left with no other option but to mobilise its military and artillery close to the Ukrainian borders. But despite making its intentions clear, the US, its Western partners, and Ukraine refused to bow down to the Russian demands and as such a full-fledged war has broken out in Ukraine.
Not only this but Russia has put its nuclear war heads at high alert and even threatened any outside intervention in this conflict will have unthinkable consequences.
The US and other NATO countries have already made it clear that they do not want to engage in this war with Russia directly but Ukrainians have to fight this war on their own but they will do everything else they can do to help them to preserve the sovereignty of their country.
Ukrainian President, Zelensky was offered a safe passage by the US and its Allies but he plainly refused to accept it. He has instead asked for more arms and ammunition to fight this war.
He is not a born politician or a worrier of any sort. But he has certainly proved his critics wrong who had thought that he does not have the skill of a statesman to lead an otherwise fractured nation, and be able to bear this burden for far too long.
But all his countrymen within and outside Ukraine are right now rallying behind him as he has chosen to lead them from the front. A remarkable act of bravery and courage, shown by him to take on a power, with one of the largest war machines in the world and more than five thousand nuclear war heads at its disposal.
Even the US and its European Allies have been taken by surprise as they had not expected this kind of leadership from him or resilience from his countrymen.
On their part they have opened up their borders and arms for the refugees and are doing everything they can do to make them comfortable at this crucial juncture.
They are providing the arms and ammunition that Ukrainians may need. They have imposed unprecedented sanctions on Russia’s access to the world financial system and trade to weaken it economically.
But on the other hand war in Ukraine has existential consequences for Russia so it cannot allow Ukraine to go the way it wants and as such war in Ukraine may not come to an end sometime soon.
God only knows if Zelensky will survive this war or not but he has already made his people and country proud.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author.
The facts, analysis, assumptions and perspective appearing in the article do not reflect the views of GK.