American Veteran Interviews Ukrainian Soldiers Fighting in Europe’s Forgotten War

At this very moment, a war rages on in Europe. To paraphrase Marko Ramius, it is a war with no monuments. No parades. No victories. Only casualties.

Many Americans have forgotten or “moved on” from the idea of Russian aggression in Europe, while our friends and allies in Ukraine are embroiled in a struggle for territorial integrity. But a very real and kinetic conflict exists today that is contributing to a humanitarian crisis not seen in Europe since the Yugoslav civil wars of the 1990s.

Now, Russia has amassed a hundred thousand soldiers on the border in preparation for a possible invasion.

But how did Ukraine get into this position? And where is it going?

The Path to War

In the 2000s, several successive Ukrainian governments sought closer ties with the European Union (EU). One of the keys to achieving this goal was an association agreement with the EU that would have provided Ukraine with monetary assistance in return for reforms.

In November of 2013, protests erupted in Kiev after then-President Viktor Yanukovych and his pro-Russia government refused to sign the EU agreement, choosing instead to pursue a Russian loan bailout and closer ties with Russia.

The protestors were young, pro-EU Ukrainians who would eventually occupy Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) in the capital Kiev. This occupation would become known as the “Euromaidan” and would see the ousting of Yanukovych, who fled to Russia amid the violent protests in late February of 2014.

Writing for Newsweek that month, journalist Lecia Bushak observed that “Euromaidan had grown into something far bigger than just an angry response to the fallen-through EU deal. It’s now about ousting Yanukovych and his corrupt government; guiding Ukraine away from its 200-year-long, deeply intertwined, and painful relationship with Russia; and standing up for basic human rights to protest, speak and think freely, and to act peacefully without the threat of punishment.”

In the immediate aftermath of the Euromaidan movement, the Ukrainian government adopted a much more pro-Western stance. As a result, pro-Russian protests broke out in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts (counties), together commonly called the “Donbas.” In early 2014, Russia violated international law and several…