Decoding—Russia’s Objectives

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is not new but has been there for a long now. However, the tension between the two countries has been up since 2014 when Ukraine’s pro-Russia President, Viktor Yanukovych, was ousted in 2014 following protests in the country. Since then, Kremlin has been alleging that Ukraine has been taken over by “extremists” and that it was duty-bound to bring matters to normal.
However, the latest events that occurred and resulted in further tension between two countries—which are currently at war—is, Ukraine’s drift towards Europe and particularly its willingness to join NATO. The move was vehemently opposed by Russia which said that it will never tolerate that and, it will be forced to take the necessary action. Russia even told the west to ensure that Ukraine is not allowed to become a member of NATO before it could call back its troops stationed along the Ukrainian border—the move which was being flagged by the US.
Much before what the world is witnessing these days, Russia, soon after Viktor Yanukovych was ousted, invaded and captured Crimea in the South and even triggered a rebellion in several other areas including backing the separatist groups within Ukraine to push for more destabilization of the country which once was a part of USSR.
In his speech in which Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the launch of what he termed as “Special Military Operation” to “demilitarize” as well as “de-nazify” Ukraine, which, as per him, is carrying out genocide of people living there. However, the objectives are more and way beyond that.
As of now, Russia’s message seems to be clear that it will not tolerate any interference in its sphere of influence and that it wants and can go to any extent to maintain that reputation and hegemony. The message also appears to have gone well around the world as big power across the globe, not only have refrained from any direct intervention but have stated it publicly that they will not indulge in any offensive: the same was stated by US President Joe Biden which has been projected in the inaction of NATO even as Russian troops reach Kiev.
While the long-term objectives of Russia’s war on Ukraine will become clear with time, as of now, it is clear that Russia is attempting to overthrow Ukraine’s democratically elected government and strengthen, as well fortify its sphere of influence in the region. While it is not—at all—clear whether Russia will stop at Ukraine, there is a mounting security crisis at the doorstep of the European Union, posing immense challenges for the first time since World War II.