The Russian and Ukrainian war that is ongoing has its origin in the tussle over the status of Crimea and parts of the Donbas, internationally recognised as a part of Ukraine. The tussle that began in February 2014, culminated in the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, soon after the Russian president Vladimir Putin announced what he called a “special military operation” in the country of 40 millions. Russia has been bombarding a number of cities in Ukraine, for over three weeks now and the Russian troops have reportedly destroyed 3,687 units of Ukrainian military infrastructure so far. The invasion of Ukraine by Russia has been widely condemned internationally.
The path to the war was laid when Russia commenced a major build-up near its border with Ukraine between March 2021 to April 2021. This was followed up by a second build up between October 2021 to February 2022 at the border near Belarus and Ukraine. During these developments, the Russian government repeatedly denied that it had any plans to invade or attack Ukraine but called on the US and NATO to stop further expansion in the East. Within days of the Russian attack, around 1,300 Ukrainian soldiers and at least 579 Ukrainian civilians were killed with minimal losses to the Russian forces. Students and nationals of various countries, including India, were stuck in different cities of Ukraine even after the war started. Indian medical students were evacuated on a war-footing by the Indian government under ‘Operation Ganga‘ through various neighbouring European countries.
After a week of slow progress, Russia started to attack Ukraine’s Biggest cities of Kyiv and Kharkiv in the north. However, in the south, the Russian forces made rapid advances in the first week of the war and took a swath of Ukraine’s southern regions of Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Mykolaiv.
Countries supporting Ukraine
As the war continues with multiple rounds of talks failing to arrive at a conclusion, a number of countries have supported Ukraine not just through sanctions against Russia, but also with arms and ammunition. Ukraine has received complete support from the NATO countries – Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal apart from the United Kingdom and the United States. Below is a brief overview of the kind of support Ukraine has received from various countries.
1) The US is sending an extra $350 million military aid to Kyiv apart from economic and political sanctions against Russia.
2) Canada is supporting Ukraine with lethal military weapons and a loan of one billion Canadian dollars.
3) Sweden has supported the Ukrainian forces with 5,000 anti-tanks rockets.
4) France is sending military equipment as well as fuel.
5) Britain is aiding Ukraine with its military weapons, including lethal defensive weapons. It has also promised major loan guarantees.
6) Belgium has supplied 3,000 automatic rifles and 200 anti-tank weapons along with 3,800 tons of fuel.
7) Netherlands has sent 200 stinger missiles apart from sniper rifles and helmets.
8) Czech Republic is supplying 4,000 mortars, an arsenal of 30,000 pistols, 7,000 assault rifles, 3,000 machine guns along with a large number of sniper rifles and a million bullets.
9) Italy has aided Ukraine to the tune of 110 million Euros ($123 million)
10) Portugal has supplied night vision goggles, grenades, bulletproof vests, helmets, automatic G3 rifles with ammunition.
11) Greece is supporting Ukraine with its defence equipment as well as humanitarian aid.
12) Romania is sending fuel, bulletproof vests, helmets and military material worth three million Euros ($3.3 million).
13) Israel is aiding Ukraine with 20 tonnes of medical equipment, tents, water purifiers and sleeping bags.
14) Spain has shipped over 20 tonnes of relief material along with defensive equipment and bulletproof vests.
Support for Russia
It has been reported that Russia has asked China for military assistance, though both the countries have denied the claim. China’s foreign minister Wang Yi said that China neither wants to be a part of the crisis nor does it want the sanctions to affect it. He reiterated that China would maintain normal trade with both the countries. However, Beijing has refused to call it an invasion and has not joined the US, EU and other countries in imposing sanctions on Russia. But US officials fear that China could provide Russia with economic and financial aid and also send military supplies such as armed drones. China has denied all such claims.
Countries that were once part of the Soviet Union, including Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kyrgyzstan, have stood by Russia throughout the crisis. Cuba, which still maintains close ties with Moscow, is also supporting Russia. Though India has not overtly taken sides, the world’s largest democracy has maintained a neutral stance and has repeatedly called on both sides to resolve the crisis peacefully through dialogue.
(The author is a graduate in mass communication and journalism from Bangalore University and a translator)
Aayush Pal 
Shobhil Shrivastava 
Dr. Niranjan B Poojar