How it all started The Russia-Ukraine conflict (see current map) is rooted in centuries of contested identity, shifting rule, and colonial domination. Beginning in the 14th century, the territory now known as Ukraine was ruled by competing powers—including Poland-Lithuania and the Austro-Hungarian and Russian empires. Ukrainian nationalism emerged in the mid-19th century, but modern Ukraine was not established as a sovereign nation until the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991 (watch a video exploring Ukraine's origins). Today's tensions stem from that independence—its geographic position between Europe (and the broader NATO alliance) and Russia makes it both a strategic asset and a symbolic battleground for influence. Ukrainian revolutions against pro-Russian governments in 2004 and 2014 prompted Russia to illegally annex Crimea—a peninsula on the Black Sea—and launch a full-scale invasion in 2022 (watch a breakdown of the war). The current war, Europe's largest since World War II, has profoundly affected the Ukrainian people, their infrastructure, and the post-Cold War global order.
Also, check out ... > Russia now controls roughly 20% of Ukraine. (View) > Stalin's policies in the 1930s caused a devastating famine in Ukraine. (Watch) > Hear how Putin's Soviet childhood shaped his rule. (Listen) > In 2021, Putin wrote a 5,000-word historical treatise justifying an invasion. (Watch) -1440 |
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