Spanish philosopher George Santayana once stated, “[t]hose who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” 

This lesson has presented itself various times, yet it has been ignored over and over.

On February 24, Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, ordered a military operation to invade Ukraine. By executing this act of war, the long-standing peace in Europe has come to a dramatic end.

This operation has had a ripple effect all around the world, taking a significant toll on the local Ukrainians. Pennsylvania has the second-highest population of Ukrainians in the United States.  Pleas for peace have taken place in Monroe County, as numerous residents lament the invasion.

Stroudsburg High School is no exception to the effects of the invasion. Numerous students within the school are of Russian or Ukrainian descent and have had their families involved in the conflict.

“Some of my family members have decided to go and enlist in the Ukrainian Armed Forces and are fighting for their country and their children’s futures,” said Stroudsburg senior Svyatoslav Gudzovatyy.

Locals are getting involved by setting up fundraisers, volunteering time to setting up programs, and gathering military and medical items to send to Ukraine. Click here to donate towards the war effort. 

To better understand why the invasion has occurred, one must rewind the clock and look back at the Soviet Union. 

The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union

After the world had eliminated the threat of the Axis powers in the Second World War, the post-war influence heavily favored the Allied powers. The Soviet Union, an Allied power, saw its power extend over Eastern Europe. During this time, Ukraine was a state inside the Soviet Union.

Joseph Stalin, the Soviet Dictator (1929-1953), had established an “iron curtain” over Europe. It distanced itself from any possible threat by the culturally different western nations. 

The Soviet Union viewed the Ukrainians as their own people. Within the Soviet Union, both countries had grown together until their collapse. In 1991, the Soviet Union would fall due to the new multi-party system and the development of a presidency. 

After the disbandment of the Soviet Union, the fifteen republics, including Russia and Ukraine, broke apart. Several problems arose because of the dissolution. Particularly, Ukraine was home to many nuclear missiles that Russia believed belonged to them.

Most importantly, it gave the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO, a way to influence Eastern Europe. 

The Growth of Ukraine

In 1994, a vital piece of legislation was signed, the Budapest Memorandum.  Despite Ukrainians claiming sovereignty, Russian officials never truly accepted their independence and still viewed them as one of their own. 

Simply put, the United States of America, Ukraine, and Russia met in Budapest to negotiate Ukrainian sovereignty. In the memorandum, it stated that Ukraine would return the nuclear missiles that belonged to Russia. However, Ukraine’s independence must be respected, In other words, Russia agreed not to invade Ukrainian territory.

Slowly, Ukraine swayed away from Communism and became a capitalist nation. Meanwhile, a young Vladamir Putin clinched power in Russia. Putin believed that Ukraine should still be a part of Russia. 

“First and foremost, it is worth acknowledging that the demise of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century,” Putin said in 2005 during his annual state of the nation address to parliament. “As for the Russian people, it became a genuine tragedy. Tens of millions of our fellow citizens and countrymen found themselves beyond the fringes of Russian territory.”

Fast Forward to 2014

After being in power for about 14 years, Putin slowly began to deteriorate the institutions that kept him in check, according to the Wilson Center. Russian oligarchs assisted Putin’s tyrannical rule by supplying wealth to the country.  

These oligarchs gained much of their power by taking over the government-owned businesses under the Soviet Union. Having the support of these oligarchs means Putin could control the country without being held accountable by his population, as reported by The Conversation. 

After ousting their pro-Russian president, many Ukrainians protested against the new leadership that followed. A large-scale protest in Crimea, a region in Southern Ukraine, led to Russian annexation.

The citizens of Crimea were in favor of the pro-Russian rule and felt left out by the new leadership. In an internationally rejected referendum, 96.77 percent of the population in Crimea voted to be a part of Russia. 

At this time, the world took notice of the Russian aggression. Ukrainians felt that the annexation was illegal. Even though the Soviet Union collapsed, Russia remained an enemy of world peace, according to The Warsaw Institute. 

The conflict foreshadowed a dark future to come for Ukraine and the rest of the world. 

Russia Invades Ukraine

After flirting with the idea of joining NATO and joining the European Union, Russia decided that it could no longer allow Western ideologies to seep into its borders. On February 24, 2022, Vladimir Putin ordered a ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine.

In other words, Russia had broken the long-standing peace established in Europe. The objective is currently to demilitarize Ukraine and establish a proxy government in favor of Russia.