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Is There Currently a War Going on Between Ukraine and Russia?

Yes.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was created in 1949 as an alliance of nations of joint defense against the Soviet Union’s Warsaw Pact of Communist nations. Ukraine secretly became a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member in 2020. Russia (a non-NATO member) just attacked Ukraine. Are we now looking at a possible World War III? Cooler heads must prevail!

N.A.T.O.‘s Article 5

According to Article 5 of the Organization’s treaty, if one member nation is attacked, all member nations are required to fight in defense of the attacked nation.

• Collective defence means that an attack against one Ally is considered as an attack against all Allies.
• The principle of collective defence is enshrined in Article 5 of the Washington Treaty.
• NATO invoked Article 5 for the first time in its history after the 9/11 terrorist attacks against the United States.
• NATO has taken collective defence measures on several occasions, for instance in response to the situation in Syria and in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
• NATO has standing forces on active duty that contribute to the Alliance’s collective defence efforts on a permanent basis.

Russian Military Amassing Resources on Ukrainian Border

Rumors Of A Full-Scale war Between Russia And Ukraine

Nikola Mikovic | Tsarizm | March 26, 2021

Russian and Ukrainian pro-war rhetoric on the Donbass continues to grow. Both sides are reportedly fueling the conflict that erupted in 2014, although at this point it remains uncertain if increased shelling and sniper fire will lead to a major war between the two countries.

According to reports, four Ukrainian soldiers have died and two others were injured on March 26 as a result of shelling. Kyiv constantly accuses Russia of attempting to sabotage the Minsk Agreements, signed in the Belarusian capital in 2015 by representatives of Russia, Ukraine, Germany, France, as well as the Russia-backed self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and Lugansk People’s Republic. The document effectively ended all military offensives, although a comprehensive ceasefire, which was one of the major points of the so called Minsk II deal, has never been established. The region has been stuck in positional warfare, and there are speculations that large-scale hostilities will continue in the coming months.

In the meantime, Russian and Ukrainian leaders, Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky, could sign another truce agreement, although it is improbable that it would be implemented on the ground. Kyiv and Moscow are also expected to keep playing the blame game and sharpening their rhetoric. For instance, the very term “the Donbass” could soon become a matter of another dispute between the two countries. Ukrainian Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Aleksey Danilov urged media not to call Donetsk and Lugansk regions “Donbass”, since this word is “a narrative imposed by the aggressor country”.

“The word ‘Donbass’ does not exist in any regulatory document of our country. It is a definition that is being imposed on us by the Russian Federation. There are clear names for the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. There is no Donbass” – said Danilov.

On the other hand, Alexey Pushkov, member of the Federation Council of Russia, wrote in his Telegram channel that “the Donbass never had anything to do with Ukraine”.

“Residents of most parts of the Donbass do not want to be part of Ukraine. They received Russian passports – wrote Pushkov, emphasizing the region should not exist in any of Ukrainian documents, since its residents “never had anything to do with territories inhabited by Ukrainians”.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has reportedly signed a decree that outlines Kyiv’s plans for the return of not only the Donbass but also Crimea under Ukrainian sovereignty. Such actions would likely lead to a direct military confrontation with the Russian Federation, given that the Kremlin leaders have pointed out on several occasions that they would “protect the Donbass”.

“We will not abandon the Donbass. No matter what”, said Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 14, while on March 17 he said that any Kyiv’s attempts to return the Donbass by force could have “grave consequences” for Ukrainian statehood.

Although Ukrainian and Western mainstream media often speculate about Russia’s alleged plan to invade Ukraine, at this point such an option does not seem realistic. Moscow, through its proxies, already controls the Donbass mines and achieved its military and political goals in 2014 and 2015. Thus, it is Ukraine, rather than Russia, that has reasons to start a military offensive and recapture the energy-rich region. However, the problem for the Western-backed Ukrainian authorities is that they still did not get firm guarantees that Russia – in case of a potential Ukrainian offensive – will not intervene to protect the Donbass republics. 

“The conflict in the Donbass may end within in a week, if Russia agrees,” said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

Indeed, if Russia does not interfere, Ukraine would need not more than a week to capture the territory that is currently controlled by the Russia-backed fighters. The armed forces of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and Lugansk People’s Republic can hardly hold their positions in case of a massive Ukrainian attack, especially if Kyiv is openly supported by NATO. That is why Russia’s role in this conflict is crucial. What also matters is if the United States – Ukraine’s major ally – is interested in another round of hostilities on the Russian borders. 

The Legacy of Tension

Ukraine and Russia War | Victor Takacs

The Ukraine and Russia War is a reality. How did it come about? Well, let’s look at some history for some understanding. In the nineteenth century Ukraine was controlled by the Czarist Russian Empire, which existed until the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. The Bolsheviks were communist revolutionaries led by Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky. Their revolution culminated in the brutal deaths of Czar Nicholas II and the members of his family in Moscow. It also culminated in the end of czarist rule in Russia and ushered in an era of tyrannical communist rule that would last for the next 74 years until its end in 1991.

In 1922, supported by the new communist regime in Russia, Ukrainian Bolsheviks rose up and took control of Kiev, which is Ukraine’s capital city. This was not fighting, that at the time, constituted Ukraine and Russia war. It was a civil war, during which Ukrainians fought each other. Within the next couple of months, they solidified control over the whole country. On December 20, 1922, the new Ukrainian communist government, Russia, Belarus, Transcaucasia (later Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia) all signed a treaty to create the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (the USSR or Soviet Union). Nine other nations would eventually join the Soviet Union to bring the grand total of Soviet states to fifteen. In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed and all fifteen states, including Ukraine declared their independence.

Recent Russian-Ukrainian Military Clashes

In 2014, civil unrest in Ukraine caught the attention of the Ukrainians’ neighbor to the east, Russia. Taking advantage of the chaos, the Russian military invaded and took control of Crimea. Thus began the Ukraine and Russia War. Since the time of the invasion, Russian Separatists and military personnel in eastern Ukraine have been fighting over control of vast swaths of territory there.

The United States has consistently recognized Ukraine’s territorial integrity and right to self-determination in recent decades. We have supported Ukraine in the Ukraine and Russia War. Thus we condemn Russian aggression and have supported Ukrainian defense forces through annual aid packages of American military hardware. These packages were never approved by the Obama Administration. However that has changed. The cornerstone of the Trump Administration’s Ukraine policy has been the authorization of shipments of military weapons to Ukraine. In particular Trump has approved the sending of FGM-148 Javelin Missiles to Ukraine three times during his administration. These are the best anti-tank missiles in the world. They are manufactured by Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.

FGM-148 Javelin Missiles