Ukraine’s turbulent history since independence

(Reuters) – Ukraine marks six months on Wednesday since Russia invaded the nation in what Russian President Vladimir Putin calls a “particular navy operation”.

Ukraine and its Western backers accuse Moscow of waging an unprovoked battle of aggression with the intention of grabbing land and erasing Ukrainian nationwide id.

Putin mentioned his intention was to disarm the nation with a view to preemptively guarantee Russia’s personal safety in opposition to NATO growth and to rid it of far-right nationalists who he mentioned threatened Russia.

Here’s a timeline of the principle occasions in Ukraine’s political historical past because it gained independence from Moscow in 1991.

1991: Leonid Kravchuk, chief of the Soviet republic of Ukraine, declares independence from Moscow. In a referendum and presidential election, Ukrainians overwhemingly again independence and elect Kravchuk president. He’s changed by Leonid Kuchma in 1994, when Ukraine additionally agrees to relinquish its nuclear arsenal – the world’s third largest, inherited from Soviet occasions – in return for safety assurances primarily based on respect for its independence and sovereignty underneath the Budapest Memorandum signed additionally by Russia, america and Britain.

2004: Professional-Russian candidate Viktor Yanukovich is asserted president however allegations of vote-rigging set off protests in what turns into often known as the Orange Revolution, forcing a re-run of the vote. A professional-Western former prime minister, Viktor Yushchenko, is elected president.

2005: Yushchenko takes energy with guarantees to guide Ukraine out of the Kremlin’s orbit, in the direction of NATO and the European Union. He appoints former vitality firm boss Yulia Tymoshenko as prime minister however after in-fighting within the pro-Western camp, she is sacked.

2010: Yanukovich defeats Tymoshenko in a presidential election. Russia and Ukraine clinches a fuel pricing deal in trade for extending the lease for the Russian navy at a Black Sea port on Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula.

2013: Yanukovich’s authorities suspends commerce and affiliation talks with the EU in November and opts to revive financial ties with Moscow, triggering months of mass rallies in Kyiv. Putin accuses the West of inciting and supporting the protests.

2014: The protests, largely targeted round Kyiv’s Maidan Sq., flip violent. Dozens of protesters are killed. In February, the parliament votes to take away Yanukovich, who flees. Inside days, armed males seize parliament in Crimea and lift the Russian flag. Moscow annexes the territory after a March 16 referendum which exhibits overwhelming help in Crimea for becoming a member of Russia.

April 2014: Professional-Russian separatists in Ukraine’s jap Donbas area declare independence. Preventing breaks out and continues sporadically into 2022, regardless of frequent ceasefires.

July: 2014: A missile brings down passenger airplane MH17 over jap Ukraine en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, killing all 298 individuals on board. Investigators hint again the weapon used to Russia, which denies involvement.

2017: President Petro Poroshenko, a pro-Western billionaire businessman in energy since Could 2014, clinches an affiliation settlement with the EU on free commerce of products and providers. Ukrainians additionally achieve the precise to visa-free journey to the EU.

2019 – Former comedian actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy defeats Poroshenko in an April presidential election on guarantees to sort out endemic corruption and finish the battle in jap Ukraine. His Servant of the Folks social gathering wins a July parliamentary election.

2021: Zelenskiy appeals in January to U.S. President Joe Biden to let Ukraine be part of NATO. Russia plenty troops close to Ukraine’s borders in the course of the spring in what it says are coaching workout routines. In December Russia presents detailed safety calls for together with a legally binding assure that NATO will quit any navy exercise in jap Europe and Ukraine. In response, NATO repeats a dedication to its “open-door” coverage whereas providing “pragmatic” discussions of Moscow’s safety issues.

2022: In a televised tackle on Feb. 21, Putin says that Ukraine is an integral a part of Russian historical past, has by no means had a historical past of real statehood, is managed by international powers and has a puppet regime. Putin indicators agreements to recognise the breakaway areas in jap Ukraine as impartial and orders Russian troops there. The West imposes extra financial sanctions on Russia. On Feb. 24, Putin declares battle in a pre-dawn televised tackle and Russia launches a three-pronged invasion, focusing on Ukrainian forces and air bases with missiles and artillery and putting areas in cities. As tens of hundreds of individuals flee their houses, Zelenskiy orders a common mobilisation.

(Compiled by Gareth Jones; Enhancing by Angus MacSwan)