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Ground Report | New Delhi: What Does Russia Want in Ukraine; Russian soldiers entering Ukraine's capital Kyiv are in Obolon, a northern area of the city. This area is just nine kilometres away from Parliament and the central area of the city. Ukraine is trying to respond with all its might after Russia's attack. Therefore, there is a tremendous fight going on in the areas around the capital Kyiv.
A clash between Ukrainian and Russian forces continues at an airfield on the outskirts of the city. If the Russian army captures this airfield, then from here it can find a way to enter the capital. There are reports of heavy fighting in the eastern, northern and southern areas after the attack by Russian forces on Thursday.
After the attack, people have started taking shelter in Kiev's metro stations since Thursday night. After the airstrike, people were seen taking shelter in underground metro stations in the city, including the densely populated Pozniak area. So far eight people have been injured in the attack.
Ukraine was a cornerstone of the Soviet Union until it overwhelmingly voted for independence in a democratic referendum in 1991, a milestone that turned out to be a death knell for the fading superpower.
What Does Russia Want in Ukraine
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, NATO pushed east, incorporating most of the Eastern European nations that had been in communist orbit. In 2004, NATO added the former Soviet Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Four years later, he declared his intention to offer Ukraine membership someday in the distant future, crossing a red line for Russia.
Putin sees NATO expansion as an existential threat, and the prospect of Ukraine joining the Western military alliance as a "hostile act," a view he invoked in a televised speech on Thursday, saying Ukraine's aspiration to join the military alliance was a terrible threat. to Russia.
In a lengthy essay written in July 2021, Putin referred to Russians and Ukrainians as "one people" and suggested that the West had corrupted Ukraine and removed it from Russia's orbit through a "forced change of identity".
That kind of historical revisionism was on full display in Putin's emotional and grievance-filled address to the nation on Monday announcing his decision to recognize the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, while also casting doubt on Ukraine's own sovereignty. But the Ukrainians, who in the last three decades have tried to align themselves more closely with Western institutions such as the European Union and NATO, have balked at the notion that they are little more than a "puppet" of the West.
Indeed, Putin's efforts to bring Ukraine back into Russia's sphere have met with a backlash, with several recent polls showing a majority of Ukrainians now favour membership in the US-led transatlantic military alliance.
In December, Putin presented the US and NATO with a list of security demands. Chief among these was a guarantee that Ukraine will never join NATO and that the alliance will roll back its military footprint in Central and Eastern Europe, proposals that the US and its allies have repeatedly said are unworkable.
Russia Ukraine conflict
- Since the spring of 2021, Russia has gradually increased the concentration of military equipment, weapons and troops near the Ukrainian border.
- U.S. and British intelligence initially said at least 100,000 Russian troops were stationed in Ukraine's border areas and occupied Crimea, and Ukrainian and US presidents said the figure was 150,000 in February.
- Russia also strengthened the DNR and LNR groups.
- Russia's leadership has denied any plans to launch a large-scale invasion of Ukraine. By concentrating troops on Ukraine's borders, the Kremlin has demanded that the West provide assurances that Ukraine will never join NATO. Ukraine and the West rejected these demands.
- On February 17, Russian-controlled militants began shelling "heavy weapons", including civilian facilities: schools, kindergartens, and residential buildings, along the entire demarcation line in Donbas.
- In a February 18 address to Ukraine, US President Joe Biden said he had received information that Putin had decided to invade Ukraine again. In particular, Biden said, while the US president said that the chance for diplomacy remains until the invasion begins.
- On February 21, Russian President Putin declared "Russia's recognition" of the illegal armed groups "LPR" and "DPR" and instructed the Russian army to "maintain peace there."
- The European Union, the United States, Great Britain, Germany, Japan, and Australia have announced sanctions against Russia for recognizing illegal armed groups in Donbas.
- On February 23, US President Joe Biden ordered sanctions against the Nord Stream-2 pipeline operator in response to Russia's actions in Ukraine
- At 5 a.m. on February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the launch of a special operation in the Donbas at the request of the DPR / LPR. Attacks on the territory of Ukraine are carried out from different sides.
- The President of the United States addressed the nation and condemned Russia's "unjustified attack" on Ukraine.
- Martial law has been imposed in Ukraine.
- Environmental protection forces have moved on to a defense operation, the General Staff said. The Armed Forces and the military of other law enforcement agencies are fighting fierce battles with the enemy in various areas.
- President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree on general mobilization
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