Russia had recently started invading Ukraine. This sudden news had made a lot of people research things they hadn’t really paid too much attention to before. The Russians’ relationship wasn’t good with the Ukrainians’, and held a grudge against them for almost a decade. Russia’s neighbor also wanted to be part of NATO, or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which would threaten Russia. The Soviet Union is also known for spending a lot of money on the military, and the money would be simply wasted if they didn’t use the cash to attack. This is why Russia started capturing Ukraine.
First of all, Ukraine wanted to join NATO, so that the country would be safe from invasion. However, this decision led to the fact that Ukraine is being invaded. Russia said that they wouldn’t allow their neighboring country to join an organization that is opposing their country, so Russia placed 100,000 troops on the border. They claimed the purpose of those soldiers was for a “defensive” purpose. They lied. On February 24, 2022, they launched a full-scale invasion, attacking from everywhere except the west (that would be in the area of NATO), which would result terribly for the Russians. NATO has a rule where if your country is under attack, you couldn’t join the organization. Russia couldn’t allow Ukraine to become a group that didn’t like its country. Their country would be in a very vulnerable position, being able to be attacked and bombed from the left and the right, from the place of Alaska. So, Russia had to try to strike Ukraine so its future would be better.
Next, Russians didn’t like Ukraine. The country was originally part of Russia, but it separated due to different opinions on things. However, Russia had tried to make this country part of it ever since. They probably needed an excuse to invade a country without that much blame, so they might have had to wait. Ukraine wanting to join NATO was a perfect chance for Russia. Putin, the Russian president, could say that Ukraine was threatening them, and start “defending” by attacking. Obviously, the justification wouldn’t be very convincing internationally, but looking from the Russian view, it is probably the best option they have to reduce more severe sanctions and attack from additional countries.
Last of all, Vladimir Putin knew his military army was very strong, and that the money spent on it would be wasted if they didn’t use the army to ambush somewhere. Although the United States might have much more money than Russia, Russia is still winning in the nuclear war. This country could literally have the chance to destroy the entire world if they want to. A lot of people think that if Russia starts losing, they would launch nuclear weapons. Russia has 6,257 nuclear weapons, while the USA has 5,550.
These are the main reasons Russia is attacking Ukraine. In conclusion, Ukraine wanted to join NATO, so Russia was partially forced to attack. The biggest country on Earth also didn’t support the country that separated. Naturally, Russia was preparing for something like this to regain the territory that they thought should be theirs. Finally, Putin didn’t want the money spent on the military wasted, so there was a high chance that sooner or later he would attack a country anyway.
