WITH his ill-advised but not totally unexpected invasion of Ukraine last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin has thrown the world into turmoil, inaugurating a new era of global uncertainty that will presumably last for as long as Russian troops remain in Ukraine. Despite his huffing and puffing, military and diplomatic experts had continued to rule out a full-scale Russian invasion, deeming it a bridge too far for even a notoriously unpredictable Putin. The invasion proves that the Russian strongman will go to any length to realise his dream of restoring the glamour and prestige that he believes Russia gave up when the Soviet Union collapsed as the Cold War ended and the United States assumed global supremacy in the last decade of the 20th century.
While Putin is not wrong about Russia’s loss of prestige and global respect, it is his interpretation of how the collapse came about and, consequently, how to go about recapturing it, that has put Russia’s neighbours on their toes. For the Russian leader, the road to the glories of yore lies through territorial aggrandisement, meaning the invasion and conquest of places that, in Putin’s imagination, if not in reality, used to be part of Mother Russia. It never seems to have occurred to Mr. Putin that other countries may have their own ideas about political independence and cultural sovereignty. This is the unfortunate background to the invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, with many being rightly fearful that success there will only give Putin the confidence to go after the Baltic states and Poland. At his direction, Russia has already successfully intervened in Abkhazia and South Ossetia in 2008, and Crimea and Donbas in 2014 respectively.
We join the rest of the democratic world in condemning Russian aggression in Ukraine. If Mr. Putin has unresolved territorial disputes with Ukraine, he knows better than to take the law into his own hands. His unleashing of more than 200,000 troops on a smaller neighbour smacks of bullying and goes against the emergent global consensus around negotiation and compromise.We draw comfort from the fact that various world leaders and corporate bodies have condemned the Russian aggression. The United States and the European Union have denounced the invasion and offered military and other logistical support to the Ukrainian forces. A raft of targeted economic sanctions is under discussion. Several European countries have banned Russian flights from entering their airspace. UEFA has moved to relocate the venue of the 2022 Champions League final scheduled for May 28 from St. Petersburg to the Stade de France in Paris.
More condemnation and severance of economic ties will send a strong message to Putin and unite the world around a common, just cause. There are nearly 5,000 Nigerians currently living in Ukraine. The Federal Government should make good its word to ensure their safety or, failing that, ensure their airlift.
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