New Delhi: Vladimir Putin’s Russia has been building troops near Ukraine, and the United Kingdom has said it believes an invasion has already begun.
According to media reports, UK Health Minister Sajid Javid has said Britain will impose sanctions on Russia.
Moscow had been denying that it was planning an invasion, but it Monday recognised two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine, deepening fears of a new war in Europe. There was immediate international condemnation. US President Joe Biden signed an executive order to stop all business activity in these regions, Reuters reported.
Russian stocks, meanwhile, slumped Tuesday and the rouble hit a near two-year low. In fact, as Ukraine-Russia tensions continued to escalate, markets tumbled across Asia.
The tensions between Ukraine with Russia go back a long time.
It was in August 1991 that Soviet republic of Ukraine leader Leonid Kravchuk declared independence from Russia, a couple of months before the dissolution of the USSR in December 1991. Ukrainians approved it in a referendum on December 1 and elected Kravchuk their president. He, however, lost the next presidential election in 1994 to Leonid Kuchma, and the latter was reelected in 1999, in a vote that was stated to be riddled with irregularities.
Pro-Russian Viktor Yanukovich was declared president in 2004, but after protests over the allegations of rigging, the election had to be conducted again and Viktor Yushchenko, a former prime minister known to be pro-West, became the new president. Yushchenko promised to bring Ukraine under NATO and the European Union, and NATO made a promise in 2008 that Ukraine will join the alliance one day.
However, Yanukovich made a comeback by 2010, and Ukraine inked a gas pricing deal with Russia — in lieu of an extended lease for the Russian navy in a Black Sea port in Ukrain. In 2013, looking to revive economic ties with Moscow, Yanukovich's government suspended all trade and association talks with the EU, triggering mass rallies in Kyiv.
The protests continued and protests turned violent by February 2014, when and many got killed. Yanukovich fled after the Ukrainian parliament voted to remove him. Soon after, armed men seized parliament in Ukraine's Crimea and raised the Russian flag. The tensions that flared up in 2014 continue to date.
Here is a timeline of the main events since Russia annexed Crimea in March 2014.
2014 (March): A referendum shows overwhelming support to Crimea joining the Russian Federation, and Moscow annexes the territory.
2014 (April): Pro-Russian separatists in the Donbass region declare independence. Fighting begins and still continues, despite frequent ceasefires.
2014 (May): Petro Poroshenko, a pro-Western businessman, wins the presidential election.
2017: An agreement is inked between Ukraine and the EU, which opens markets for free trade of goods and services, besides visa-free travel to the EU for Ukrainians.
2019: New Ukrainian Orthodox church wins formal recognition, angers the Kremlin. Poroshenko loses the presidential election to Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a former comic actor, who promises to end the war in eastern Ukraine. His Servant of the People party wins the parliamentary election. (It was US President Donald Trump’s call to Zelenskiy to investigate his rival in the US presidential race, Joe Biden, over possible business dealings in Ukraine that led to the attempt to impeach Trump).
2020: IMF approves $5 billion aid for Ukraine to help stave off default during a recession brought on by the pandemic.
2021: Zelenskiy appeals to US President Biden to let Ukraine join NATO.
Sanctions imposed on opposition leader Viktor Medvedchuk, the Kremlin's most prominent ally in Ukraine.
Russia begins to mass troops near Ukraine's borders, calls it training exercises.
In a first, Ukraine uses a Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drone in eastern Ukraine, angers Russia.
Russia begins building troops near Ukraine again.
Biden warns Russia of sweeping economic sanctions if it invades Ukraine.
Russia makes detailed security demands, including a legally binding guarantee that NATO will give up any military activity in Ukraine and eastern Europe.
2022 (Jan 10): Talks between US and Russian diplomats fail to narrow differences on Ukraine.
2022 (Jan 14): Ukrainian government websites hit by a cyberattack warning all to "be afraid and expect the worst".
2022 (Jan 17): Russian forces start arriving for joint drills in Belarus, to the north of Ukraine.
2022 (Jan 24): NATO puts forces on standby and sends more ships and fighter jets to eastern Europe.
2022 (Jan 26): The US presents a written response to Russia's security demands, reiterates commitment to NATO's "open-door" policy.
2022 (Jan 28): Vladimir Putin says Russia's main security demands not addressed.
2022 (Feb 2): The US announces to send 3,000 extra troops to Poland and Romania so they can shield NATO allies in eastern Europe.
2022 (Feb 4): At Beijing Winter Olympics, Putin wins Chinese support for his demand that Ukraine cannot join NATO.
2022 (Feb 7): French President Emmanuel Macron meets meeting Putin in the Kremlin, and then visits Kyiv.
2022 (Feb 9): Biden says "things could go crazy quickly". The US State Department advises Americans living in Ukraine to leave immediately. Other countries issue similar advisories.
2022 (Feb 14): As some Western media say Russia could invade on February 16, Zelenskiy urges Ukrainians to fly flags and sing the national anthem in unison on that day.
2022 (Feb 15): Russia says some of its troops are returning to base, after "exercises" near Ukraine. Russia's parliament asks Putin to recognise two Russian-backed breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent.
2022 (Feb 18): Michael Carpenter, the US ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, says Russia has probably massed 169,000 to 190,000 personnel in and near Ukraine.
2022 (Feb 19): Putin overseen exercises held by Russia's strategic nuclear forces.
2022 (Feb 21): The Kremlin says Russia is recognising the two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent entities, and that Putin will sign a decree on it shortly.
2022 (Feb 22): The UK says it believes Russia has already begun invasion of Ukraine, and decides to impose sanctions.
(With Reuters inputs)