Ukraine crisis: Protestors declare Donetsk “republic”
BBC news
April 7th
Ukraine’s Donetsk region has recently been occupied by pro-Russian activists. The activists have seized government buildings and are declaring the region as the “People’s republic of Donetsk”. Ukraine is calling this the second wave of Russian operations to destabilize Ukraine with U.S. secretary of State John Kerry saying that the actions of the protestors did not seem spontaneous. The issue of Ukraine began when there was a conflict whether they have trade ties with the European Union or Russia. The nation was divided between pro Russians and Pro EU. Eventually protests erupt over the issue with protesters numbering up to 800,000 at one point. Parliament passes restrictive anti-protest laws to try to counter this revolt and it soon became deadly. Riot police and protesters fought on the streets with guns, batons, and Molotov cocktails. Pressure from the world forces the prime minister of Ukraine to resign and parliament annuls the anti-protest laws. More protests and more violence erupts with the death toll exceeding 100. The president of Ukraine flees the nation and a temporary president is instated with elections for a new president set for May 25th. Then Pro-Russian gunmen seized buildings in Ukraine’s region of Crimea and demanded annexation. The European Union and the United States impose sanctions against Russia and condemned their actions. Crimea secedes from Ukraine by a vote which Ukraine still sees as invalid. Russian troops are placed on the Ukrainian border and threaten the nation. Now it seems pro-Russian forces are again trying to overthrow a region.
This story is important for two major reasons. The first is the continuing aggression of Russia towards Ukraine. The second is the neglect of media outlets to cover this story and the negligence of nations to respond to Russia’s actions. The story of Ukraine’s turmoil has been going on for months with no positive outlook...