How a Violent Conflict Came to Be
Did you know that 10,900 people have been killed in the Ukraine between April 2014 and May 2017 [1]? That 1.6 million people have been internally displaced [2]? The violence of the Ukraine-Russia conflict has developed with regards to key historical constructions of identities and ethnicities and crucial political events.
Identities and Ethnicities Today in the Ukraine, identities and ethnicities are all a varied mix of past influences, which have created tension between people with different identities and traditional values. Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius, a professor at the University of Tennessee, states that there are five main ethnicities in Ukraine today: Ukrainians speaking Ukrainian, Ukrainians speaking Russian, ethnic Russians, Jews, and Crimean Tatars [3]. Ukraine had previously been separated by Mongol invaders, the Tatars in Crimea, Poland, Lithuania, and Russia [4]. Due to the way in which Ukraine was conquered prior to becoming a country, regionalism—identities and/or nationalistic-like pride based upon geographical regions—occurred in the North, South, East and West regions [5]. Political strains were made worse due to preexisting, relatively minor, ethnic tensions, which then escalated into “open violence and large-scale military conflict” [6]. Political Misperceptions and Violent Events Political tensions began between Russia and Ukraine and between the Ukrainian government and Ukrainians. Ukraine had been a part of Soviet Russia before it gained independence in 1991 with a 90% approval in a referendum [7]. Although Ukrainians identified as Ukrainians, a process of Russification—Russian influences and traditions becoming the identity of Ukrainians—consumed many areas after Ukrainian independence, specifically within the Eastern and Southern borders of Ukraine [8].
The Orange Revolution in 2004, led by Yulia Tymoshenko, had the motive to help cleanse the political system in Ukraine from manipulative politicians [9]. Protesters spent 17 days in Kyiv Independence Square demonstrating their dissatisfaction with Ukrainian politics [10]. As a result, Viktor Yanukovych was elected president in 2010 with a set of promises, one of which included joining the EU [11]. After the Orange Revolution, however, Ukrainians had a sense of political apathy, as showcased by the lack of anger from Ukrainians when President Yanukovych imprisoned Yulia Tymoshenko, until the end of 2013 [12].
In 2013, President Yanukovych kindled the beginnings of the violent conflict when he retracted his decision to meet with the EU for negotiations [13]. Directly after, 100,000 protesters came out to Independence Square in Kyiv once more [14]. While most protesters were peaceful, some threw stones and firebombs at the police; the police responded with tear gas [15]. In early December 2013, the protesters had grown to about 800,000, and they created and maintained a fortified tent city in Independence Square for about three months [16]. Violence soon escalated into storm-ins of the encampment by the police, increased deaths, and hundreds more people wounded [17]. On February 20, 2014, the highest death toll seen at this time, 88 protesters died from sniper fire [18]. Unsuccessful negotiations the next day between the state and ‘rebels’ further fueled the conflict [19]. Pro-Ukrainian activists then boycotted the March 16, 2014 referendum to annex Crimea to Russia, which had a 97% approval [20]. On May 2, 2014, clashes began in Odessa, leaving 42 people dead, most of them pro-Russian activists that died in a burning building [21]. On May 11, pro-Russian Separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk declared independence after enacting referendums unrecognized by Ukrainian law [22].
Potential for Peacebuilding?
Although this conflict is ongoing and has not moved towards a productive end of the conflict for either side, there have been some good attempts that show potential for peacebuilding. Even though the Minsk agreements, signed in Belarus in February 2015 by Ukraine and Russia, required a full bilateral ceasefire and withdrawal of all heavy weapons on both sides, the violence intensified within Ukraine [26]. Since 2015, 147 pre-conflict prisoners have been exchanged from the Donetsk People’s Republic — the name of the Donetsk region in Ukraine after the referendum [28]. Continued dialogue between the ‘rebels’ and government in Ukraine has shown to produce concrete results, which will hopefully extend to full nonviolent peacebuilding efforts soon [27]. With more pronounced nonviolent peacebuilding efforts, dialogue between the state and the Donetsk and Luhansk regions will increase, thereby producing better results. With proper implementation, nonviolent peacebuilding efforts can help reduce the violence in Ukraine. In the meantime, hopefully more nonviolent actions will be used by Russian supporters and non-Russian supporters to detail their needs and wants about the conflict.
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References
[1] “Conflict in Ukraine enters its fourth year with no end in sight — UN report,” United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner, June 13, 2017, http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=21730&LangID=E.
[2] “Conflict in Ukraine enters its fourth year with no end in sight — UN report.”
[3] “The Unfolding Ukraine-Russia Crisis,” Directed by Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius, accessed May 29, 2018.
[4] “The Unfolding Ukraine-Russia Crisis.”
[5] “The Unfolding Ukraine-Russia Crisis.”
[6] “Ukraine,” Nonviolence International, accessed May 29, 2018, http://nonviolenceinternational.net/wp/ukraine/.
[7] “The Unfolding Ukraine-Russia Crisis.”
[8] “The Unfolding Ukraine-Russia Crisis.”
[9] “The Unfolding Ukraine-Russia Crisis.”
[10] “The Unfolding Ukraine-Russia Crisis.”
[11] “The Unfolding Ukraine-Russia Crisis.”
[12] Menon and Rumer, “Nobody Expected a Crisis,” 55.
[13] Menon and Rumer, “Nobody Expected a Crisis,” 78.
[14] Menon and Rumer, “Nobody Expected a Crisis,” 79.
[15] Menon and Rumer, “Nobody Expected a Crisis,” 79.
[16] Menon and Rumer, “Nobody Expected a Crisis,” 79.
[17] Menon and Rumer, “Nobody Expected a Crisis,” 80.
[18] Menon and Rumer, “Nobody Expected a Crisis,” 80.
[19] Menon and Rumer, “Nobody Expected a Crisis,” 80–81.
[20] Bill Chappell and L. Carol Ritchie, “Crimea Overwhelmingly Supports Split From Ukraine to Join Russia,” NPR, March 16, 2014, https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/03/16/290525623/crimeans-vote-on-splitting-from-ukraine-to-join-russia.
[21] “Ukraine crisis: Timeline,” BBC News, November 13, 2017, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-26248275
[22] “Ukraine crisis: Timeline.”
[26] “Ukraine ceasefire: New Minsk agreement key points,” BBC News, February 12, 2015. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31436513
[27] “Conflict in Ukraine enters its fourth year with no end in sight — UN report.”
[28] “Conflict in Ukraine enters its fourth year with no end in sight — UN report.”
