30
Ukrainians pray for
those who died during
the anti-government
demonstrations and
clashes at the Maidan
Square in Kiev, Ukraine,
February 23, 2014.
B
ulent Doruk/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Deep Roots, Deep Conflict
Understanding the Tensions and Ties Between Russia and Ukraine
BY BURKHARD PAETZOLD
T
he historic, cultural and religious connections
between Russia and Ukraine are very close.
Ukraine, like much of Eastern Europe is cultur-
ally diverse. Some of its people feel a significant allegiance
to Ukraine, while others feel stronger ties to Russia, other
countries or even ethnicities. Even today it is not uncom-
mon for family ties to exist across national borders.
The question of whether parts of Ukraine want to be
more closely tied to Russia has resulted in violence, largely
in far eastern Ukraine, in the Donbass region. To date,
this grim conflict—sometimes called the War in Donbass
or the War in Ukraine—has left more than 9,000 people
dead and 20,000 injured, while displacing another 1.5
million people.
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The Spark: Maidan
In February 2014, hundreds of thousands of people con-
verged on Maidan Square in Kiev to protest Ukraine's
pro-Russian government. This was a powerful and sur-
prising moment. People of different backgrounds drew
together in a kind of self-organizing civil society—a model
in sharp contrast to the corruption and lethargy of the
existing regime. Tragically, the Ukrainian government
cracked down on the protests with massive force, thus
strengthening a nationalist agenda over the civil rights
movement. Then-President Yanukovych fled to Russia.
Crimea (a peninsula in southern Ukraine) had been a
long-standing territorial dispute between the nations. In
March 2014, Crimea held a referendum to decide whether