News of the Week: Ukrainian Crisis over Crimea

News of the Week: Ukrainian Crisis over Crimea

Background:

In August 1991, Ukraine declared its independence from USSR following an attempted coup in Moscow. While not ideal, Russia was struggling within itself thus Ukraine was let go and left to develop independently. 

In 2004, rumors of an election rigging swarmed after Viktor Yanukovych, a pro-Russian candidate, narrowly wins. Protests began, calling for a re-election. His rival candidate, Viktor Yushchenko won the re-election and is thus declared president. Yanukovych however, won the 2010 presidential election after his main competitor, Yulia Tymoshenko, was arrested for abuse of power.

Basic overview from the beginning of the Ukrainian Crisis over Crimea:

November 2013

This past November, Yanukovych instead of following through with an trade agreement with the EU, turned to Russia for the same supplies. Protests began after Yanukovych decided to reject a bill that would allow Tymoshenko to leave the country against Yanukovych's recent decision making. Protests grow throughout Ukraine, specifically concentrated in Kiev, to sizes nearing 100,000 people that lead to the intensifying of police action.

December 2013

In December, protests grew to 800,000 people in Kiev as relations with Russia grow deeper. Russian president, Vladimir Putin, invested financially in Ukraine, eliminating some of the country's debt and reducing its Russian gas prices.

January 2014

In mid-January of this year, the Ukrainian parliament passed restrictive anti-protest laws encouraging police to be forceful against protest. Protests only get bigger and more violent, leading to three deaths in the following weeks. By late January, the Ukrainian prime minister resigned and the parliament had to annul the new anti-protest law. In return for peace, the government promises to release any arrested protestors.

February 2014

In February, the government releases any protestors arrested since December and protestors started dispersing from Kiev. Yet, on February 18th, intense, violent clashes suddenly erupted with 18 people dead - 7 of which were police - and hundred injured. At this point, 25,000 protestors are crammed into Independence Square in Kiev. The reasons behind this sudden burst of violence is unclear, and the violence only worsened following. On February 20th and 21st, around 90 people are killed. Police action is much more brutal towards the protestors than it had been previously, and police seemed to be taking snipers and just shooting into crowds based on video taken of the scene. On February 22nd, political chaos erupted. Protestors worked to take control of the presidential administration buildings, forcing Parliament to remove president Yanukovych from power and set up a time for new elections. Yanukovych desperately tried to maintain power, denouncing this coup publicly on television but then disappeared completely. Meanwhile, Yulia Tymoshenko, the initial drive behind the protesting, was freed from jail. On February 23rd, the Ukranian Parliament elected Olexander Turchynov as interim president and issued an arrest warrant for Viktor Yanukovych. On February 26th, the Berkut police unit responsible for the violent attacks on the protesters on February 20th and 21st was disbanded. By the end of February, pro-Russian gunmen seized important building in the capital city of Crimea, Simferopol, including the airports. Crimea, though considered part of Ukraine, has Russian sovereignty. It is then revealed via a news conference that Yanukovych has fled to Russia and insists that he is still president.

March 2014

On March 1st, Vladimir Putin, fearing for his financial investments, requests to use Russian forces in maintaining the stability of Ukraine. Barack Obama, interfering for the first time, warns Putin to remain passive. However, the following day, Russia officially declared war with Ukraine, stationing troops in Crimea against the Ukrainian troops. On March 3rd, it was revealed the Yanukovych had specifically requested Russian force in Ukraine from the Russian president. On March 6th, Crimea's parliament voted to join Russia officially, with the promise from Russia that Crimea will receive full Russian support. The Russian gas company Gazprom, which is active in Kiev, threatens that it will cut off its gas supply to Ukraine if it does not start complying. On March 8th, the United States and France started making threats to Russia if the nation did not withdraw from Ukraine; however, when international monitors tried to enter Crimea, they were fired at, thus, confirming Russia's stance on the issue. Ukraine asks for back-up, including military force, from the United States and the United Kingdom against Russia. On March 13th, Ukraine's parliament voted to create a 60,000 person army in defense. On March 17th, the European Union and the United States imposed travel bans and frizzed certain assets on high-powered Russian officials. The following day, Putin signed a bill saying that Crimea was officially Russian. Quickly, the EU added individuals to be sanctioned in response to the annexation.

April 2014

On April 1st, NATO foreign ministers withdrew any civilian and military support from Russia. Yanukovych publicly spoke on April 2nd about his disapproval of the Crimean annexation. On April 10th, NATO released satellite images of Russian troops gathered in mass along the Ukrainian border, dating back to August 2013, proving a more long-standing plan of attack that seemingly before. On April 15th, Turchynov announced a new "anti-terrorist operation" initiative that backfired the next day when pro-Russian militants seize six armored vehicles from Ukrainian protestors. Russia, Ukraine, the United Stated and the European Union met in Geneva on April 17th in order to help the situation, specifically the highly violent clashes in eastern Ukraine. However, any work that the meeting achieved was backpedaled by the shooting of their Russians on April 20th, which was quickly blamed on Ukrainian nationalists. Turchynov ordered on April 22nd an increase in military force after two Ukrainian men were found having been tortured to deal by pro-Russian militants. Towards the end of April, eight OSCE international military observers were detained by pro-Russian militants in eastern Ukraine after being accused of being spies and in order to attract the attention of the full international community. One swede was released the following day due to medical reasons, yet seven remained in Russian custody until May 3rd.

May 2014

On May 1st, Turchynov reinstated conscription - mandatory army enlistment - in order to defend Ukraine. On May 2nd, the violence increased. Pro-Russians shot down two Ukrainian military helicopters, killing two people. Further, deadly clashes in Odessa left 42 people dead, many of them being pro-Russian activists who were burned alive after a building that they had barricaded themselves in caught fire. On May 7th, Putin tried to postpone independence referendums in eastern Ukraine in order to encourage Russian-Ukrainian dialogue; however, the pro-Russia militants ignored his plea.

Sources:

• http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-26248275
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_2014_Crimean_crisis
• http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2014/03/timeline-ukraine-political-crisis-201431143722854652.html
• picture of map: http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2014/03/21/what-u-s-sanctions-against-russia-will-really-do/