Russia and Ukraine Conflict: A Library Guide

We’ve barely made it to the second anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic and already there’s a war on the horizon. In the early morning hours of February 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a “special military operation” into Ukraine, thus beginning a long-feared invasion. Media outlets are brimming with information and social media with misinformation. The reference librarians at Robbins Library have prepared this helpful guide to assist patrons in navigating the complicated topic.

Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has given a powerful address directed to Russia. ‘We will defend ourselves,” he said.

Current News

Background Information

Country Profiles

Russia

As part of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), Russia spent decades as a world superpower before internal division and the fall of communism in the early 1990s shattered the USSR into separate independent republics. Fueled by its vast oil and gas reserves, Russia’s economy gained strength in the early years of the twenty-first century, allowing the nation to implement more forceful foreign policy and leading to renewed influence in global relations. A healthy economic outlook and growing nationalism contributed to the rise and continued political dominance of Vladimir Putin (1952–), who has served as the nation’s president or prime minister since 1999. In the 2010s, Russian involvement in the Syrian Civil War, armed conflict in Ukraine, interference in other countries’ elections, and nuclear weapons testing have escalated international tensions significantly.

“Russia.” Gale Global Issues Online Collection, Gale, 2021. Gale In Context: Global Issues, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CP3208530140/GIC?u=arl&sid=bookmark-GIC&xid=c195712a. Accessed 22 Feb. 2022.

Ukraine

Ukraine sits at the heart of Eastern Europe with a vast territory rich in agricultural lands and natural resources. The country is home to some 130 national and ethnic groups and hosts seven World Heritage sites as designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Its location creates an important buffer between the European Union (EU) and Russia. However, the country remains bitterly divided between leaders looking to strengthen democratic norms and integrate with Europe and pro-Russian separatist regions along the eastern border.

“Ukraine.” Gale Global Issues Online Collection, Gale, 2021. Gale In Context: Global Issues, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CP3208530182/GIC?u=arl&sid=bookmark-GIC&xid=5cb418d5. Accessed 22 Feb. 2022.

Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Putin is a Russian politician who has served as President of Russia since 2012. Formerly an agent of the Soviet intelligence agency the KGB during the Cold War era, he lived undercover for a decade and a half. Putin then suddenly entered politics in the early 1990s and subsequently saw a meteoric rise. By August of 1999 ailing President Boris Yeltsin appointed him Prime Minister, and when Yeltsin stepped down that December, Putin became the acting President. Many were wary of his background in the KGB, which had a reputation for human rights abuses, and were also concerned about his status as a relative newcomer to politics. However, he won the popular election in March of 2000 to retain his post as President. Although his popularity was such that he easily won a second term in 2004, his approval rating soon began to plummet. He served as President until 2008 and then as Prime Minister until 2012.

In 2012, Putin was again elected President of Russia. He gained international attention in 2014 when he invaded the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and annexed it to Russia in what became known as the Crimean crisis. He continued his nationalistic and aggressive behavior, threatening the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) defense of Ukraine and the Baltic states– suggesting he would use nuclear weapons if necessary. Putin was accused of leading an interference program against the campaign of Hilary Clinton during the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. This interference was allegedly designed to secure the election of her opponent Donald Trump, who won the presidency that year. Both Putin and Trump have denied the existence of interference efforts in the years following the election. Putin began his fourth presidential term on May 7, 2018, and in 2021 he signed a constitutional amendment that would allow him to run for president twice more.

“Vladimir Putin.” Newsmakers, Gale, 2000. Gale In Context: Biography, l ink.gale.com/apps/doc/K1618002986/BIC?u=arl&sid=bookmark-BIC&xid=9f2be310. Accessed 22 Feb. 2022.

Volodymyr Zelensky

Ukrainian actor and political novice Volodymyr Zelensky first attracted global news headlines in the first half of 2019 for his sudden rise from sitcom stardom to newly elected president of his nation of 42 million. Four months after his inauguration, however, Zelensky was revealed to have spoken by phone to US President Donald J. Trump, whose entreaties to Zelensky ultimately set in motion impeachment hearings on Capitol Hill. “Though many commentators label Zelensky a Ukrainian Donald Trump because of his lack of political experience and background in entertainment, Zelensky is in fact an adept political actor,” declared Politico writer Nina Jankowicz, citing his performance “during high-stakes phone calls with the leader of the free world.”

Zelensky is Jewish and grew up in a region that was once part of what was known as the Pale of Settlement in tsarist-era Russia, a restricted territory to which most Jews in the empire were confined during a time of extreme antisemitism. For the first three months of his term as president, he and Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, who is also Jewish, shared the distinction of being the first two people of their faith outside of Israel who held political power as, respectively, head of state and head of government.

“Volodymyr Zelensky.” Newsmakers Online, Gale, 2019. Gale In Context: Biography, link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1618007034/BIC?u=arl&sid=bookmark-BIC&xid=8878de7c. Accessed 22 Feb. 2022.

Conflict

On February 24th, Russia launched a military invasion of Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin called it a “special military operation,” but the scale of the attack shows this is a full-scale war that has already caused more than 100 casualties and forced more than half a million. To understand the current conflict’s history in less than 10 minutes, watch the video above.

Timelines and Pictures

Warning: Some of these images contain graphic and/or upsetting content.

How does this affect us?

Washington sought to portray a united front against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine Monday as President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan measure rebooting the World War II-era “lend-lease” program that helped defeat Nazi Germany to bolster Kyiv. (May 9) AP News

Talking about Ukraine with your Children

*A girl paints on a notebook next to her mother as they shelter in the Kyiv subway, using it as a bomb shelter, Ukraine, Saturday Feb. 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)*

Disinformation and Censorship

Russia has been churning out disinformation and propaganda related to its war in Ukraine since before the invasion began. And while much of those efforts have been thwarted outside Russia, inside the country is a different story.

Fact-checking websites:

News:

For years, Russian state-funded and state-directed media outlets have promoted false and provocative stories about Ukraine. They do this to influence opinion. They portray Ukraine’s government as an instigator of violence, even against its own civilians.

Source: U.S. Embassy in Georgia

Media Racism

Russia is punished in both big and small ways as Ukraine remains resilient, and the media expresses shock over the invasion of a “relatively civilized” country.

Glossary

When it comes to learning about the conflict in Ukraine, there are a lot of terms that get thrown around. Here are a few you should know.

Annexation: Annexation, a formal act whereby a state proclaims its sovereignty over territory hitherto outside its domain. Unlike cession, whereby territory is given or sold through treaty, annexation is a unilateral act made effective by actual possession and legitimized by general recognition. [More]
Crimea: Crimea, Ukrainian Krym, also spelled Krim, autonomous republic, southern Ukraine. The republic is coterminous with the Crimean Peninsula, lying between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. In 2014 Russia covertly invaded and illegally annexed Crimea, a move that was denounced by the international community. Area 10,400 square miles (27,000 square km). Pop. (2001) 2,033,736; (2013 est.) 1,965,177. [More]
CSTO: The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) is an intergovernmental military alliance. Among its fundamental objectives is combating international terrorism. The CSTO aims to strengthen the national and collective security of its members through military-political cooperation, coordinating foreign policy, and establishing cooperation mechanisms. Reportedly, the CSTO is undertaking an effort to develop relationships with the Counter-Terrorism Committee of the UN Security Council, the OSCE, and other security entities. [More]
Deterrence: Military strategy under which one power uses the threat of reprisal effectively to preclude an attack from an adversary power. With the advent of nuclear weapons, the term deterrence largely has been applied to the basic strategy of the nuclear powers and of the major alliance systems. The premise of the strategy is that each nuclear power maintains a high level of instant and overwhelming destructive capability against any aggression—i.e., the ability, visible and credible to a would-be attacker, to inflict unacceptable damage upon the attacker with forces that survive a surprise attack. An essential element in successful deterrence is a degree of uncertainty on the part of a would-be aggressor as to whether the target power, although attacked and badly damaged, will nonetheless retaliate—even at the risk of suffering further, crippling damage in a second attack. Thus, nuclear-deterrence strategy relies on two basic conditions: the ability to retaliate after a surprise attack must be perceived as credible; and the will to retaliate must be perceived as a possibility, though not necessarily as a certainty. [More]
Donets Basin: Donets Basin, Ukrainian Donetskyy Baseyn, Russian Donetsky Basseyn, byname Donbas or Donbass, large mining and industrial region of southeastern Europe, notable for its large coal reserves. The coalfield lies in southeastern Ukraine and in the adjoining region of southwestern Russia. The principal exploited area of the field covers nearly 9,000 square miles (23,300 square km) south of the Donets River, but coal deposits also extend westward to the Dnieper River in the greater Donets Basin. [More]
Humanitarian Corridors: Humanitarian corridors are effectively a temporary pause of hostilities in a defined area, designed to reduce civilian casualties by allowing them to evacuate safely if they want to and for humanitarian aid like food and medical supplies to be delivered to areas of conflict. [More]
Kiev: Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, Kyyiv, or Russian Kiyev, chief city and capital of Ukraine. A port on the Dnieper (Dnipro) River and a large railroad junction, it is a city with an ancient and proud history. As the centre of Kyivan (Kievan) Rus, the first eastern Slavic state, 1,000 years ago, it acquired the title “Mother of Rus Cities.” It was severely damaged during World War II, but by the mid-1950s it had been restored, and in the second half of the 20th century it enjoyed a well-developed economic and cultural life. The independence of Ukraine from the Soviet Union in 1991 renewed Kyiv’s status as a major European capital. Pop. (2001) 2,611,327; (2021 est.) 2,962,180. [More]
Kremlin: (krĕm’lĭn), Rus. kreml, citadel or walled center of several Russian cities; the most famous is in Moscow. During the Middle Ages, the kremlin served as an administrative and religious center and offered protection against military attacks. Thus a kremlin constituted a city in itself, containing palaces, government buildings, churches, marketplaces, and munitions stockpiles. Famous kremlins still preserved include those of Moscow, Astrakhan, Nizhny Novgorod (formerly Gorky), Kazan, Novgorod, and Pskov. [More]
The Moscow Kremlin: The kremlin in the city of Moscow is known simply as the Kremlin. Triangular and surrounded by crenellated walls, it occupies 90 acres (36.4 hectares) in the historic core of Moscow. It is bounded on the south by the Moscow River and Kremlin quay, on the east by Red Square with Lenin’s tomb, the Moscow Historical Museum, and St. Basil’s Cathedral, and on the west and south by the old Alexander Gardens. The Kremlin’s walls, built in the 15th cent., are topped on each side by seven towers (20 towers altogether); among these is the Spasskaya [of the Savior], with famous chimes, above the main gate. [More]
NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), military alliance established by the North Atlantic Treaty (also called the Washington Treaty) of April 4, 1949, which sought to create a counterweight to Soviet armies stationed in central and eastern Europe after World War II. Its original members were Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Joining the original signatories were Greece and Turkey (1952); West Germany (1955; from 1990 as Germany); Spain (1982); the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland (1999); Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia (2004); Albania and Croatia (2009); Montenegro (2017); and North Macedonia (2020). France withdrew from the integrated military command of NATO in 1966 but remained a member of the organization; it resumed its position in NATO’s military command in 2009. [More]
Oligarchy: Oligarchy, government by the few, especially despotic power exercised by a small and privileged group for corrupt or selfish purposes. Oligarchies in which members of the ruling group are wealthy or exercise their power through their wealth are known as plutocracies. [More]
Propaganda: Propaganda, dissemination of information—facts, arguments, rumours, half-truths, or lies—to influence public opinion. Propaganda is the more or less systematic effort to manipulate other people’s beliefs, attitudes, or actions by means of symbols (words, gestures, banners, monuments, music, clothing, insignia, hairstyles, designs on coins and postage stamps, and so forth). Deliberateness and a relatively heavy emphasis on manipulation distinguish propaganda from casual conversation or the free and easy exchange of ideas. Propagandists have a specified goal or set of goals. To achieve these, they deliberately select facts, arguments, and displays of symbols and present them in ways they think will have the most effect. To maximize effect, they may omit or distort pertinent facts or simply lie, and they may try to divert the attention of the reactors (the people they are trying to sway) from everything but their own propaganda. [More]
Sanction: Sanction, in the social sciences, a reaction (or the threat or promise of a reaction) by members of a social group indicating approval or disapproval of a mode of conduct and serving to enforce behavioral standards of the group. Punishment (negative sanction) and reward (positive sanction) regulate conduct in conformity with social norms. Sanctions may be diffuse—i.e., spontaneous expressions by members of the group acting as individuals—or they may be organized—i.e., actions that follow traditional and recognized procedures. Sanctions therefore include not only the organized punishments of law but also the formal rewards (e.g., honours and titles) and the informal scorn or esteem by members of a community. [More]
Separatist: Someone who is a member of a particular race, religion, or other group within a country and who believes that this group should be independent and have their own government or in some way live apart from other people. [More]
Sovereignty: a: supreme power especially over a body politic b: freedom from external control : AUTONOMY c: controlling influence [More]
Soviet Union: Soviet Union, in full Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.), Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik or Sovetsky Soyuz, former northern Eurasian empire (1917/22–1991) stretching from the Baltic and Black seas to the Pacific Ocean and, in its final years, consisting of 15 Soviet Socialist Republics (S.S.R.’s): Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belorussia (now Belarus), Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kirgiziya (now Kyrgyzstan), Latvia, Lithuania, Moldavia (now Moldova), Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. The capital was Moscow, then and now the capital of Russia. [More]
Special Military Operation: President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia declared the start of a “special military operation” in Ukraine, pledging he would seek to demilitarize but not occupy the country, addressing the nation in a televised speech broadcast just before 6 a.m. local time. Mr. Putin said the operation would aim for the “demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine,” referring to the Kremlin’s contention that Ukraine’s military threatens Russia and that it is run by neo-Nazis [NYT More]
SWIFT: Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) is a member-owned cooperative providing secure messaging for international transfers of money between participating banks. Started in 1973 by 239 banks from 15 countries, SWIFT began providing messaging services in 1977. Its SWIFTnet messaging system lets banks share information about financial transactions. Financial institutions use SWIFT to securely exchange information including payment instructions. [More]
Treaty: Treaty, a binding formal agreement, contract, or other written instrument that establishes obligations between two or more subjects of international law (primarily states and international organizations). The rules concerning treaties between states are contained in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (1969), and those between states and international organizations appear in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties Between States and International Organizations or Between International Organizations (1986). [More]
United Nations: An international organization established on October 24, 1945. The United Nations (UN) was the second multipurpose international organization established in the 20th century that was worldwide in scope and membership. Its predecessor, the League of Nations, was created by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 and disbanded in 1946. Headquartered in New York City, the UN also has regional offices in Geneva, Vienna, and Nairobi. [More]