Ukraine has already been invaded by Russia

By Larysa Dyrszka and Nadia Rajsz
Posted 2/23/22

The United States and Ukraine are bound by the universal values that unite the free people of the world: respect for democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.

Russia does not share these …

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Ukraine has already been invaded by Russia

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The United States and Ukraine are bound by the universal values that unite the free people of the world: respect for democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.

Russia does not share these values.

In 2014, Russia forcibly annexed Crimea, a part of Ukraine. That Russian invasion of Ukraine was the first forced annexation in Europe since World War II.

A few weeks later, Russia began incursions into Eastern Ukraine, setting and propping up separatist governments on Ukrainian sovereign territory. Today Putin unilaterally “recognized” those separatist territories as independent. These are further incursions in Ukraine.

Since 2014, 14,000 Ukrainians have been killed following Russia’s invasion of Eastern Ukraine and Crimea. More than 2,000,000 people from eastern Ukraine have been displaced, and about 33,000 have been wounded.

On July 17, 2014, 298 innocent passengers and crew, including eighty children, flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, were blown out of the sky by a Russian Buk anti-aircraft missile launched from separatist-occupied territory in Ukraine by the separatists.

This armed occupation of Ukrainian sovereign territory constitutes a violation of several international laws and standards, including the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) Final Act (the Helsinki Final Act), the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE), the United Nations Charter (specifically, the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3314 on the use of "aggression" between member states) and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The Russians have today again violated the Budapest Memorandum, signed in 1994 by Russia, the US, the UK, and Ukraine, to protect the territorial integrity and borders of Ukraine in return for Ukraine’s agreement to become a non-nuclear weapons zone. In other words, Ukraine gave up the world’s third largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in return for the guarantee by the world’s superpowers that their country would remain intact and protected.

Since 2014, the Ukrainian American community has responded to the Russian invasion with humanitarian support. With the recent Russian military escalation, they have urged the sanctioning of Russian financial, energy, defense, and manufacturing sectors, including the removal of Russia from the SWIFT international financial system, and stopping the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. The Ukrainian American community supports including Ukraine as a part of any peace negotiations. It supports Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and stands against any attempts to force Ukraine to cede control of its territory. And finally, it embraces the 2008 NATO Bucharest Summit promise ensuring that Ukraine will become a member of NATO one day.

Diplomacy is not working to deter Russia from imminently invading Ukraine. It has already begun cyber warfare and saber rattling. It is now entering into the next phase in Eastern Ukraine. Russia’s military forces have surrounded Ukraine on three sides. And on February 21, Putin declared the separatist Ukrainian territories as independent. He is paving the way for further invasion. 

The free world must take additional steps to help Ukraine. On Saturday, Ukraine’s President requested that strict and firm sanctions be imposed now. Waiting until Russia escalates the invasion and crosses the Ukrainian border will be too late. 

Larysa Dyrszka – Town of Bethel

Nadia Rajsz – Town of Lumberland

Click here to read the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America's calls for sanctions on Russia.

Ukraine, invasion, warfare, Russia, sanctions, Crimea, Ukrainian American community

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