THE RUSSIAN UKRAINIAN CONFLICT 2022
What has led to the Russian invasion in February 2022?
24 February 2022 “Russia has begun a large-scale military attack on Ukraine, its southern neighbour, on the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin.”
Before we start
Regardless of your belief system, the values of justice, peace and reconciliation are important in order for society to function and for humans to reach their full potential.
The current crisis challenges these basic human rights and will have enormous implications for many people, including many people affected here in Ireland. Therefore it is important to be sensitive to all the issues raised here.
Background to the Ukraine: Location
Where is Ukraine?
Ukraine sits between Russia and the central
European countries of Moldova, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and
Poland. To the north is Belarus.
Background to the Ukraine: Geography
Ukrainians call their capital Kyiv not Kiev. Kyiv is derived from the Ukrainian language name, whereas Kiev comes from the Russian language.
Kyiv was officially adopted in 1995.
Background to the Ukraine: Language
Ukrainian is its own language, different from Russian. They share only about 60% of the vocab, but the sentence structure and alphabet is largely the same. Most Ukrainians speak or understand Russian but not vice versa.
Significant numbers of people in the country also speak Polish, Yiddish, Rusyn, Belarusian, Romanian or Moldovan, Bulgarian, Crimean Turkish, or Hungarian. Russian is the most important minority language.
In 1989 Ukrainian once again became the country’s official language, and its status as the sole official language was confirmed in the 1996 Ukrainian constitution.
Українська – своя мова, відмінна від російської. Вони поділяють лише близько 60% лексики, але структура речень і алфавіт майже однакові. Більшість українців розмовляють або розуміють російською, але не навпаки.
Значна кількість людей у країні також розмовляє польською, ідиш, русинською, білоруською, румунською чи молдовською, болгарською, кримсько-турецькою чи угорською мовами. Російська мова є найважливішою мовою меншини.
У 1989 році українська знову стала офіційною мовою країни, а її статус єдиної офіційної мови було підтверджено Конституцією України 1996 року.
Background to the Ukraine: Religion
The Cold War: 1945-1991
A huge amount of this current crisis is rooted in the legacy of the Cold War (1945-1991) which was a period of mistrust and competition between the USA (the West) and the Soviet Union (the East).
The world split between the two sides in fear of nuclear war.
Russia at that time was known as the USSR. A communist superpower.
Western Europe was on the USA’s side in an organisation called NATO. (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation)
Both sides feared invasion. Russia controlled several countries on its border to act as a buffer against the threat of NATO forces.
NATO 1949-2020
After the USSR collapsed, Russia lost what it saw as a ‘buffer zone’. NATO remained. NATO expanded as you can see on the map.
Ukraine, which was part of the Soviet Union won independence as the USSR broke up in 1991.
Russia has always considered Ukraine to be within its ‘sphere of influence’ and does not want to allow the Ukraine to have closer ties with the EU/NATO.
The European Union
And it’s not just NATO.
Look at this map of the European Union.
The light yellow countries are original countries. The darker yellow countries are ones that joined in 2004.
Ukraine wanted to join the EU.
Ukraine used to be part of the USSR. It has close cultural ties with Russia.
Why do you think Putin so interested in Ukraine?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0br5fxh
Putin
Vladimir Putin is the President of Russia, and has been the country's leader for more than 22 years.
He has been in the news a lot recently because of his decision to invade the country of Ukraine.
President Putin has led Russia for a long time, but he's quite a controversial figure and opinions about him are very divided - both in Russia and around the world.
Some see him as a strong, charismatic leader who has worked hard to earn Russia a place alongside some of the most powerful countries in the world. Opinion polls in Russia often say how popular he is among his people.
But critics think he leads by force, that he has taken away many people's freedom, and disagree with how he runs Russia and deals with world affairs.
2014: Crimea
The country shares borders with Russia both to the east and northeast.
In 2014 Russia took over the Crimea. The region was of particular interest to Russia since it depends on the Black Sea for access to the Mediterranean. The Port of Sevastopol, is one of the few ice-free deepwater ports available to Russia. This conflict, which began in 2014, is ongoing.
The Ukraine is an important route for Russian gas. The continent gets nearly 40% of its natural gas and 25% of its oil from Russia.
Russia-Ukraine recent chronology
MARCH 2021
DECEMBER 2021
JANUARY 2022
FEBRUARY 2022
https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/60417806
What are some of the religious responses to the call to justice, peace and reconciliation at the moment?
The Hindu response to the challenge
At the heart of the Hindu faith is a call to peace. Read more about it here https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zvfbwmn/revision/4
The Jewish response to the challenge
Peace is a very important belief in Judaism. It also teaches that sometimes war cannot be avoided – a theory known as 'just war'
Read more here
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zysf2nb/revision/3
The Christian response to the challenge
Read the following article
The Muslim response to the challenge
Read the following article
The Buddhist response to the challenge
What are some of the non-religious responses to the call to justice, peace and reconciliation at the moment?
Amnesty International's response to the challenge
The United Nation's response to the challenge
Read more here
Global Responses to the challenges
All around the world, people are responding to the challenges being faced by people impacted by the conflict. Some of these responses are non-religious and some of them are religious.
How can you respond to the challenge?
What can you do as an individual to help others to realise the importance of justice, peace and reconciliation in the world today?
What can you do as a school community to help others to realise the importance of justice, peace and reconciliation in the world today?
As a school community, what can WE do?
Fundraising Collection Day
Friday 11th March
“The vision of the Irish Red Cross is to be a leading humanitarian organisation, providing impartial services and support to vulnerable people communities both at home and abroad.”
150 years of humanitarian action
humanitarian aid organisation in the world today.
Solferino in northern Italy in 1859, which saw over 40,000 people killed or wounded.
Seven principles
Seven principles
Why fundraising and not supply collection?
Fundraising Collection Day
Friday 11th March
Symbol of Ukraine
You will see sunflowers
Around the school on Friday