War News: The events that led to Russian invasion of Ukraine - The Santa Clarita Valley ProclaimerWar News: The events that led to Russian invasion of Ukraine - The Santa Clarita Valley Proclaimer
Ukraine and Russia used to be a part of the same country
In 1991, the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics), also known as the Soviet Union, got divided into 15 different countries
The biggest among those countries was Russia. Ukraine was also among those countries that got separated from the Soviet Union
However, that is not true. Ukrainians always had a nationalistic identity among them. In 1921, Lenin's Red Army invaded Ukraine
Before becoming a part of the USSR, Ukraine was an independent country that achieved independence from the Russian Empire in 1918
The nationalistic feelings among Ukrainians, and the belief that Ukraine deserves to have its own national identity, are not something that emerged after 1991
After their independence, there emerged people with different opinions about the collapse of the USSR
Some people were happy about achieving independence and looked forward to joining the European Union