The latest phase of the Ukrainian people’s journey started more than six weeks ago but the actual origins of this war go back more than 400 years.

What may have seemed as an opportune decision was taken in 1649 by then Ukrainian military leader Bohdan Kymelnytsky, who chose an alliance with the Russian Tsar over the Polish-Lithuanian alliance which was occupying the left side of Ukraine. It was meant to favour the independence of Ukraine, but it may also have been the start of a feud between Russians and Ukrainians, which we are witnessing today.

In 1649, Kymelnytsky was considered as “the prince of the Rus (Russians) in Ukraine” due to the very close affiliations he had with Russia. This alliance was sparked out of patriotism from Kymelnytsky, who sought to have his country liberated from the Polish-Lithuanian alliance which had been occupying Ukraine.

Poland had annexed Ukraine under the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth agreement in the early 15th century, but in the 18th century, thanks to efforts by Kymelnytsky in Ukraine, the treaty had fallen apart and it took Poland almost 300 years to regain its independence.

Ukraine, on the other hand, was influenced heavily by the Russian political system due to Kymelnytsky’s decision and never gained full independence until as late as 24 August 1991 when the USSR ceased to exist.

Ukraine’s independence de facto was brought on due to the decision of the country to abolish all Russian political influences on Ukraine’s parliament and legal system.

The fall of the USSR is an open wound on the side of all Russian leaders – it marks the fall of communism. This wound festered even more during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime, with evident tensions reaching all time high on more than one occasion.

In 2014, after conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Russia annexed Crimea together with the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, which are found in the East of Ukraine. Although Ukraine had voted for Independence in the early 90s, gaining more than 90% of the population’s trust (including Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk), Russia still deemed it its right to annex the aforementioned regions under its control in the 21st century.

In early September 2014, in order to reduce innocent civilian casualties, the Ukrainian government of the time had agreed to a ceasefire agreement with the Russian government, with the Russian separatists in the region gaining control of Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk.

 

The 2022 war

On 24 February, the Russian Federation, under the supreme control of Russian president Putin, entered the sovereign state of Ukraine.

Russia defended this decision by stating that it was carrying out an operation with the aim of “denazifying” Ukraine, which is ironic since the country is led by a president who is Jewish.

Right from the start of this invasion, missiles started hitting the country, the capital Kiev included. One thing was clear, the missiles were not targeted at any military bases, but they were hitting civilian communities, killing in turn hundreds of innocent Ukrainians.

Russia attempted a multi-pronged attack of Ukraine, from the northeast flank, the eastern one and finally the attacks on Kiev.

Local journalists in Ukraine told this newsroom that Russia expected to take over Ukraine in less than five days. The capital Kiev was expected to succumb to the Russian forces in less than five hours.

Upon entering from Belarus, which is a Russian ally, Russian forces were met with a united country aimed solely at stopping the invader’s advances into their country.

The Malta Independent’s local guide told this newsroom that “for the first time in the country’s history there was no North Ukraine, South Ukraine, West Ukraine and East Ukraine, there was Ukraine and that’s all. I guess this is the only positive note, if one is needed, that remains from this war.

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia has been widely condemned by the international community ever since it began.

On 1 April, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola visited Kyiv with the sole aim of sending a strong message to Putin and the Kremlin that Europe will stand with Ukraine at all costs and this invasion will not be tolerated, no matter what.

Echoing the sentiment in the rest of the civilized world, Metsola said that “the European Union must do all it can to fight against this brutal and unprovoked attack on Ukraine […] we cannot have an aggressor that suddenly decided to invade another country in Europe”.

Metsola also spoke about the fifth packet of sanctions which the European Union is currently discussing. These sanctions are aimed at targeting Russian individuals who have bought passports from European countries (Malta included) and have therefore gained access to the group of European citizens.

Ukraine is now actively attempting to join the European Union after the then Ukrainian Prime Minister, Viktor Yanukovych, in 2014 had opted to abolish all talks with the European Union. This decision led to country wide protests, forcing Yanukovych to flee the country, leaving the Ukrainian Parliament to vote him out of office. Yanukovych currently lives in exile in Russia.

 

‘Servant of the people’

Yanukovych was then succeeded by a number of Presidents, eventually by Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Zelenskyy, known as “the servant of the people”, restarted talks between Ukraine and the European Union for membership. He also started talks with NATO in order for the country to also form part of this organisation.

The Kremlin and Putin’s realisation that a country on its borders could form part of NATO further increased the irritation on Putin’s side.

All this combined led to a full-on scale war which resulted in thousands of people on both sides being killed.

One of the most recent battles in the capital of Ukraine took place in Irpin. Throughout the recent days, the Ukrainian armed forces made great advances in pushing back the Russian invaders back through Belarus.

The Malta Independent was in Irpin just hours after the liberation of the town. It witnessed, among other things, a platoon of Russian tanks that had been completely destroyed by Ukrainian forces a few kilometres away from Kiev. The attack on Ukrainian soil left numerous Russian soldiers dead.

The scene of the battle was horrific – blown-up tanks and burnt and dismembered Russian soldiers lying across the battlefield. Young people who would never embrace their families again, just because their political leaders had sent them into a senseless and brutal war.

A few kilometres away, this newsroom witnessed the atrocities committed by the Russians in Bucha, where hundreds of civilians were killed during the fighting or executed as Moscow’s army retreated. People were shot in their houses and in their cars, and in the church graveyard some 280 bodies were dumped into a mass grave. Tragedies like the ones that took place in Bucha and other nearby villages and towns have only served to further unite the Ukrainians and strengthen their resolve against the Russian invaders.

Photos: Giuseppe Attard