Questions tagged [ukraine]
Questions relating to the government or the politics of Ukraine.
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What is the pacifist position on Ukraine?
What/who are the prominent pacifist movements/organizations/thinkers in the 21st century, and what is their position on the conflict in Ukraine?
Much of the public and political discussion about the ...
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What would setting up a no-fly zone by NATO over Ukraine actually mean?
Zelensky has recently requested NATO to set up a no-fly zone over Ukraine hoping to reduce the bombing and NATO rejected this request. The main reason provided for this was not dragging the alliance ...
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What had the Russian government to gain from the late 2021 military build up and threatening possible invasion of Ukraine?
I tried to find a clear answer from the media (too many examples to list here, search for Russia-Ukraine conflict in the news), but could not quickly find good, comprehensive answer with non-...
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What, if any, reasons prevented Ukraine from joining NATO?
Given the annexation of Crimea in 2014: one could argue that Ukrainian officials considered joining NATO between 2015 and 2021. What if any obstacles did Ukraine face to joining NATO during 2015-...
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Why does Putin want to attack Ukraine in the early 2022? [duplicate]
It seems to be accepted that Putin wants a war in Ukraine, and in absence of any other strong allied militaries around, the only way to get that is attack by Russia itself.
The military conflict in ...
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What is the meaning of the Z and V symbols being sported by the Russians in the current Russo-Ukrainian conflict?
There are these two symbols (Z & V) which are considered as Russian prowar symbols which are appearing on Russian Army vehicles and being worn by Russians supporting the war. There is some ...
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What exactly does Putin mean by 'genocide' in Ukraine?
Today, Russia's president Vladimir Putin was talking with Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Putin referred to the situation in Ukraine's breakaway regions as a 'genocide'. What exactly is he ...
user8398
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What does Ukraine gain by having Western countries ban all Russian visa?
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said earlier in an interview
with the Washington Post that Western countries should ban entry to
all Russians. Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, in turn, ...
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What exactly are the stated (political AND military) objectives of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine?
Edit:: The answers thus far show the political objectives, which are of course part of what I was asking, but what exactly are the military objectives of the invasion: like bomb certain buildings or ...
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Are there constituencies for the partition of Ukraine?
The people of Ukraine seem to be of two minds. Some (mostly in the West) want a west-leaning Ukraine free from Russia. Others (mostly in the East), want a Ukraine that's part of, or at least tied to ...
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How can we estimate the real support of continued resistance among Ukrainian citizens?
Inspired by the question How can we estimate the real support of the war among Russian citizens? and discussion therein.
Is there an estimate how many Ukrainians (on Ukrainian-controlled territory, ...
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Why is Russia not using nuclear weapons against Ukraine?
Russia is suffering from the cost of war in both blood, money, and resources. The sanctions hurts their economy and the international condemnation hurts their reputation and pride. All of this will ...
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Why does the US keep announcing what they think Russia is going to do in Ukraine?
There must be some motive here that I can't understand. For one I can easily think of reasons why the US wouldn't want to make public the things that they know, if not for any other reason than to ...
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Was the change in government in Ukraine legal?
President Putin recently called the change in government in Ukraine an "anti-constitutional coup and a military seizure of power". Obviously, the interim government and their Western allies disagree, ...
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Isn't sending weapons to Ukraine an escalation?
As the title asks, isn't sending weapons to Ukraine an escalation in the war? Perhaps, due to this not being a 'declared war' or an 'invasion' (from the Russian pov), so sending weapons to Ukraine isn'...
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How would Ukraine joining NATO affect Russian security?
The current Russian troop buildup close to Ukraine and the exercise in Belarus are partially justified by Russian security interests which, in particular, mean that Russia very much opposes NATO ...
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Has Russia explained why Ukraine can trust them, given the Budapest memorandum?
It doesn't seem in dispute that Russia has breached the Budapest Memorandum, which among others said that Russia will "Respect Belarusian, Kazakh and Ukrainian independence and sovereignty in the ...
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What is the United States' interest in Ukraine?
I read several articles on why Russia is interested in Ukraine. But not much found on why USA is going after it. Appreciate if someone can explain this to me.
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Why don't signatories of Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances (except Russia) protect Ukraine with force?
The Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances is a political agreement providing security assurances by its signatories relating to Ukraine's accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of ...
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What's the basis for preparations to imminent Russian invasion into Ukraine?
A follow-up to previously closed question.
As of Feb 13th, there's still no Russian invasion into Ukraine, however, some countries are retracting their air traffic to Ukraine and even de-leasing ...
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Why does Russia not declare war on Ukraine in order to incorporate their conscripts into the war?
Russia has been saying that there is no war in Ukraine, just a "Special military operation". Their laws prohibit them from sending conscripts to military operations outside Russia. The war ...
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Why does the Trump-Zelensky phone call matter?
I think that a simplified version of this question (which is put on hold because of too much opinion in the question) is an interesting one and I hope to learn something from this discussion.
The ...
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Does NATO have any obligation to defend Ukraine against Russia?
Does NATO have any obligation to defend Ukraine against Russia? Why is it not sending NATO troops on the Ukraine border to defend against Russia? I thought the point of NATO is to defend against ...
user39733
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Why is a country like Poland that is vehemently anti-refugee so accommodating to people of Ukraine?
The ruling Polish PiS party's single biggest sensationalized issue seems to be immigration and the anti-immigrant euro-skepticism. But Polish people now are very receptive of Ukrainian people.
Is it ...
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Why is visa-free travel such a big deal in politics?
There is currently a motion within the European Parliament to allow visa-free travel for Ukrainians. However for some reason I don't understand why it's such a big improvement - most Ukrainians who ...
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Can a region of Ukraine secede or become part of another country lawfully?
If the population within a region of Ukraine wanted to become a
part of Russia (suppose a fair vote was 75% in favor), is there a
peaceful legal/government procedure in Ukraine to make this happen?
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Why doesn't any nuclear power country which is supporting Ukraine hand them a Nuclear Bomb?
Some 25 nations were on the call and all said they would continue to contribute aid, some saying for the first time their support will include lethal assistance. NATO was also represented.
In addition,...
user42212
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What is the purpose of the siege of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol by the Russian invaders?
What are the geopolitical, military and humanitarian objectives that will be achieved following a successful siege of the civilian population of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol by the Russian military ...
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Can the aggressions of Russia against Ukrainian territory be understood in a politico-historical light? [closed]
With the Crimea occupation and the further rather aggressive steps it seems as if Russia tries to annex parts of Ukraine, and it is unclear whether the Crimea is already an annexation of the Ukraine ...
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Exit strategies for the Ukraine war
[Remark three months later, Aug 24, 2022: The question seems as pressing as ever. The conflict has indeed turned into a text book war of attrition, with neither side being able to make a decisive move....
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What would Ukraine gain by joining the European Union rapidly?
President Zelensky of Ukraine urged the European Union today to grant his country immediate accession to the EU bloc.
Would joining the EU bloc rapidly allow the European Union members to help more ...
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Why does the US treat the problems of Russia and Ukraine as its own?
In this question, I do not raise questions about the conflicts themselves. The question is different - how is the fact that the United States recognizes these problems as its own justified from a ...
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What makes the war in Ukraine exceptional?
I would like to state beforehand that the war Ukraine is tragic and I hope the conflict will end soon (preferably resolved via negotiations). However it is hard to ignore that it receives a lot more ...
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What reasoning did Eritrea provide for its vote on the UN resolution against the war in Ukraine?
In the recent UN General Assembly resolution denouncing Russia's actions in Ukraine, only four countries were opposed, besides Russia itself.
We have Belarus, a close ally of Russia that is involved ...
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Why are Western politicians even bothering to react to Russian claims?
Some examples of claims from Russia which Western politicians recently had to respond to:
Ukraine was making nuclear weapons in Chernobyl
Ukraine had biolabs working on new biological weapons
Ukraine'...
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Are power plants legitimate military targets under international law?
I've seen clips and articles stating that recent Russian attacks on Ukrainian power plants amount to "War Crimes". This seems right to me but I couldn't find any resource explicitly ...
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Why does Russia try to prevent Ukraine from getting closer to the EU?
Which disadvantages does Russia fear?
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Why is the fact that Ukraine President Zelenskyy publicly stated that Trump didn't pressure him whatsoever being ignored?
People are up in arms about allegations that President Trump's pressured Ukraine to reopening an investigation into Joe Biden.
My question is, why are the mainstream media and the people leading the ...
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Who is the Russian military commander in charge of the war on Ukraine?
It seems like we are only hearing from Putin about the military operations. When we hear about Russian generals it's about them getting killed, like Sukhovetsky, deputy commander of 41st Army.
Which ...
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Why don't Russia and Ukraine enter an official state of war?
Since 2014, it's clear that Russian troops have invaded Ukrainian territory. Crimea was fully annexed and the Donbass is in a state of perpetual conflict. However, officially speaking, Russia and ...
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Has any Western leader articulated how NATO would benefit from admitting Ukraine?
NATO sees itself as a defensive alliance, so its members are expected to benefit from banding together and deterring attacks.
No doubt Ukraine would greatly benefit from membership in its recurring ...
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How can Putin save face?
Former MI6 Chief, Sir Robert John Sawers, says
we need to be a little bit careful about how we do that, we must leave Putin a way out
And Yuval Noah Harari says:
Nobody could say for sure how the ...
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Are there military arguments why Russia would blow up the Kakhovka dam?
There is a similar question here asking why Ukraine would blow up the dam. Russia, however, controlled the dam and could have blown it up to slowdown the Ukrainian counteroffensive, that was planned ...
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Is there any proof that Ukraine was planning military deployment into the self-proclaimed republics in Donbass prior to 24 February 2022?
In an interview with CNN's Christine Amanpour (transcript), the Russian president's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, has claimed that there have been "strong indications" that Ukraine had been ...
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Why is the West ignoring Belarus when threatening with sanctions related to the current Ukraine and Russia situation?
When reading different news outlets (e.g. Associated Press, CNN, Reuters) it seems the west is focused on threatening Russia with action should it decide to go forward with the expected (from the west ...
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Can the current European sanctions against Russia have a significant effect?
Many European countries and the EU itself have imposed economic sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. However, according to this Guardian article citing this study, European nations are ...
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Would a tit-for-tat retaliation against Russian civilian infrastructure be a violation of the Geneva convention?
Ukraine is currently suffering from a series of Russian attacks against civilian infrastructure, which might soon result in the entire country not having access to electricity. Does the Geneva ...
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What are some non-partisan sources about the relative balance of power in the Russia-Ukraine conflict?
Before the war everyone was saying Russia would just walk right in; now everybody makes a big kerfuffle about every Ukrainian tactical victory. What are good analyses on what the strategic situation ...
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Are there military arguments why Ukraine would blow up the Kakhovka dam?
Today the Dniepro river dam at Kakhovka was breached. It is not obvious which side is responsible. While the Ukrainina side blames the Russians, the Russian side, obviously, blames the Ukrainians. So ...
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How do Ukraine aid levels compare to what was being spent on Afghanistan?
Seems like every other week we hear that Ukraine is getting some military aid. Or civilian aid.
The numbers are fairly consequent, often $1+ billion on the US side. Other NATO countries also chip in....