1. Home
2. Opinion

MASSIVE RUSSIAN TROOPS MOBILISATION NEAR UKRAINE CAUSES GRAVE CONCERN

YB WEB DESK. Dated: 1/20/2022 12:27:33 PM

T K NANDANAN War clouds are being formed over Ukraine as Russia is sending troops from the country’s far east to Belarus for major war games. Deputy defence minister Alexander Fomin said the drills are intended to practice at a joint response to external threats by the alliance of Russia and Belarus, which have close political, economic and military ties.Ukrainian officials have warned that Russia could launch an attack from various directions including from the territory of its ally Belarus. It is feared that Russia would dramatically bolster an estimated 100,000 troops with tanks and other heavy weapons amassed near Ukraine in what the West fears could be a prelude to an invasion. Meanwhile, in another development that could cause far-reaching impact on the world order, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Russian President Vladimir Putin are holding a meeting in Moscow on Wednesday. The meeting is sure to revive the Iranian nuclear deal. As it is known to the world, Iran has been trying to produce nuclear arsenal for long but the stiff resistance from Israel and the western countries including the UShas made Iran unsuccessful in the effort. It may be recalled that Iran had issued warning several times in the past that Israel would be deleted from the face of this earth within hours if it wanted. So, the fresh alliance bid with Russia by Iran is a cause concern for peace-loving people. Ukraine is a country located in eastern Europe, the second largest on the continent after Russia, capital being Kiev. A fully independent Ukraine emerged only late in the 20th century after long periods of successive domination by Poland-Lithuania, Russia and the USSR. It may be recalled that Ukraine crisis first flared in early 2014 following the Ukrainian ‘Revolution of Dignity’ that overthrew a pro-Russian president. Russia subsequently sent in troops to annex Crimea claiming it had to protect the rights of Russian citizens and Russian speakers living in the southern Ukrainian territory. The annexation gave Russia a strategic Black Sea port, earned Russian President Vladimir Putin a surge in domestic support and resulted in broad international condemnation. Soon after the annexation, Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine’s coal-rich Donbas region seized much of the Donetsk and Luhansk administrative regions, where the majority of residents are Russian speakers, and declared the establishment of the Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk people’s Republic. However, Moscow has expressed concern that the Biden administration may provide too much support to Ukraine and so the Ukrainian military may try to re-take the Russian separatist-controlled regions in the east. Uneasy calm prevails over the Russia- Ukraine border as there is a massive Russian troop build-up along the border of Ukraine, whose government is seeking to align with NATO and the West. Russia is sure to fight tooth and nail to see that Ukraine does not take the side of NATO. In the bygone era of cold war between the US and former USSR, the world had aligned on two sides-countries owing allegiance to US were known as NATO (still in force) and the countries owing alleging to USSR were known as Warsaw Pact. However, the Warsaw Pact was disbanded following the disintegration of the USSR. But the allies of the US still form the NATO and Russia is still NATO’s bete noire. The current problems between the two countries-Russia and Ukraine have just popped up out of the issue of Ukraine going the NATO way.