Why is Russia declaring war against Ukraine? Here’s what you should know

Russia-Ukraine war: Despite Western outrage and global appeals not to launch a war, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday announced a special "military operation" in Ukraine and called on soldiers there to lay down their arms. Delivering an emergency address, Putin said the operation has been launched to demilitarize the country. This comes hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine has not posed and will not pose a threat to Russia. Russia has deployed at least 200,000 troops near Ukraine's borders in recent months. Here's all you should know about the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Also Read | Russia-Ukraine War Live Updates: After Putin declares war, powerful explosions heard on east Ukraine front What is Russia's issue with Ukraine? Russia has long opposed Ukraine's accession to European institutions, including NATO and the EU. Putin has now argued that Ukraine is a puppet of the West and that it was never a proper state in the first place. He had sought guarantees from the West and Ukraine that the latter would not join Nato, a 30-nation defensive alliance, and that it will demilitarise and become a neutral state. Meanwhile, Ukraine has extensive social and cultural ties with Russia, and Russian is widely spoken there, but those ties have deteriorated since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014. When Ukraine's pro-Russian president was overthrown in early 2014, Russia launched an offensive. More than 14,000 people have died as a result of the battle in the east. Why and where are Russian troops deployed? When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, pro-Putin rebels captured large swaths of the east and have been fighting Ukraine's army ever since. Although an international peace agreement was signed in Minsk, the conflict continued, with the Russian president sending troops into two rebel-held areas - Donetsk and Luhansk. What does Russia want? Ultimately, the conflict over Ukraine is a battle for power and influence. In recent years, Ukraine's government, now led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has shifted its focus to the West, aiming to join the EU and NATO and move away from Russia's post-Soviet orbit. Also Read | Sensex crashes as Russia declares war against Ukraine Meanwhile, Putin has described the dissolution of the Soviet Union as a catastrophe and has worked to rebuild Russia's power base and sphere of influence over former Soviet states such as Belarus, Georgia, and Ukraine — the USSR's crown jewel and natural buffer state against Europe — during his 22-year rule. In recasting its relationship with Nato, Russia has spoken of a "moment of truth" and highlighted three demands. First and foremost, it seeks a legally enforceable pledge that Nato would not expand further. "For us, it's absolutely mandatory to ensure Ukraine never, ever becomes a member of Nato," Sergei Ryabkov, the Deputy Foreign Minister said. In 1994, Russia agreed to respect the independence and sovereignty of independent Ukraine. However, President Putin wrote a long paper last year describing Russians and Ukrainians as "one nation," and now he claims that Communist Russia produced modern Ukraine entirely. He considers the Soviet Union's collapse in December 1991 to be the "disintegration of historical Russia." President Putin has also said that if Ukraine joins Nato, the alliance will attempt to reclaim Crimea. His other two main demands are that Nato not deploy "strike weapons near Russia's borders" and that member states that joined the alliance after 1997 remove their forces and military infrastructure. That includes Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the Baltic. In reality, Russia wants Nato to re-establish its borders as they were prior to 1997. Also Read | Russia-Ukraine situation in danger of spiralling into a major crisis, says India at UNSC What next? Russia has declared war on Ukraine on Thursday. According to reports, military command centres in two Ukrainian cities- Kyiv and Kharkiv have been attacked by missile strikes. Meanwhile, Ukraine Foreign Minister said, "Ukraine will defend itself and will win. Putin has just launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Peaceful Ukrainian cities are under strikes. This is a war of aggression. The world can and must stop Putin. The time to act is now." However, Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned "Anyone who tries to interfere with us, or even more so, to create threats for our country & our people, must know that Russia’s response will be immediate and will lead you to such consequences as you have never before experienced in your history." -PTC News