Ukraine from Latin America.

 

Jorge Zavaleta Alegre.

Ukraine requires more than one trip to discover the richness of its history. And today we hear multiple voices from the five continents condemning the attitude of the Russian government that has decided to invade this independent republic.

The violence has a great impact because planet earth is going through a new pandemic, possibly one of the strongest revealed by National Geographic and other highly prestigious publications. However, in the midst of that tragedy, the Russian government has decided to invade the independent republic of Ukraine.

Every person who analyzes reality, from the principles of Ethics, joins the multiple academic studies and collaborators immersed in social problems. The complex reality reveals the immense gap of poverty, injustice, loneliness and helplessness, and at the same time the solidarity between migrants with their multifaceted culture.

A sector of Russia in the 21st century, according to sources in that country, is worried about the emergence of a nationalism in Ukraine that is defined by its opposition to Russia. And these tensions between the two between the two nations have set off alarms in numerous foreign ministries. Fears have been fueled by the odd battle build-up of Russian soldiers along the Ukrainian border.

The Kremlin demands a commitment that Ukraine will never join NATO, establishes limitations on the troops and weapons that can be deployed in the countries that joined that alliance after the fall of the Soviet Union and demands to withdraw the military infrastructure installed in the Eastern European states after 1997. "They want to return to the existing borders in Eastern Europe during the Cold War, but reality goes further."

Ukraine indicates that the main challenge is how to build alternatives for good education, health, housing... through a commitment to its immediate environment. The miracle is possible when children become leaders of local development, sharing dreams and realities. They find the formula in their languages, in their music, songs, customs, with the support of institutions and people who share the common ideal.

Today's Ukraine is a state in Eastern Europe and, by extension, the second largest in all of Europe, washed by the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, bordering Russia, Belarus, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Moldova.

Life in Ukraine has an international image that mixes with Europe and Asia. Its capital is the city of Kiev, the official language of the country is Ukrainian, which comes from Eastern Slavic languages such as Russian or Belarusian, so the majority of the population speaks Russian fluently and its currency is the hryvnia.

In the middle of the 20th century, eastern and central Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, and Poland occupied the western lands. In 1991 the Soviet Union collapsed and Ukraine became a sovereign state. On June 28, 1996, Parliament approved the Constitution following the agreement reached between Parliament and the President the previous year, in 1995.

Ukraine is a parliamentary democracy. In 2014, the overthrow of Ukrainian President Yanukovych sparked a secession war on the Crimean peninsula, which is inhabited by a majority pro-Russian population.

The two most important religions in Ukraine are Orthodox and Roman Catholic, with more than 85% adherence of its inhabitants.

Its cuisine uses various types of fish and cheese sauces. Borscht is a traditional soup served as an appetizer. Varenyky (Вареники) is a traditional dish rooted in the cuisine of their ancestors. It is a pasta similar to ravioli, but larger. Its filling is usually potato, but there are many variations such as cheese, strawberries, cherries, mushrooms.

The international press calculates that Russia in recent months has accumulated battalions of soldiers along its border with Ukraine. In mid-January, Russia began moving troops to Belarus, a country bordering Russia and Ukraine, to prepare for joint military exercises. Putin already annexed the part of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. Ukraine's complex history is continually under threat.

Russia's military aggression in Donbas and the annexation of Crimea have galvanized public support for Ukraine's Western leanings.

The Ukrainian government has said it will apply to join the European Union in 2024, and is also expected to join NATO.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who came to power in 2019, campaigned on a platform of anti-corruption, economic renewal and peace in the Donbas region.

In September 2021, a survey of Ukrainians overwhelmingly expressed a negative attitude towards Putin, according to RBC-Ukraine. Only a minority of the Ukrainians surveyed declared to have a positive attitude towards the Russian leader. Western countries have imposed mostly symbolic sanctions against Russia for meddling in the 2020 US presidential election and for a massive cyberattack on some 18,000 people working for US companies and the US government.

Putin sees Ukraine as part of Russia's "sphere of influence," a territory, rather than an independent state. This feeling of ownership has led the Kremlin to attempt to block Ukraine's entry into the EU and NATO.

In January 2021, Russia experienced one of its biggest anti-government demonstrations in years. Tens of thousands of Russians protested in support of political opposition leader Alexei Navalny, following his arrest in Russia.

Currently, the United States has various political and financial sanctions in place against Russia, as well as potential allies and trade partners of Russia.

Military support for Ukraine and political and economic sanctions are ways in which the United States can make it clear to Moscow that there will be consequences for its meddling in an independent country, writes Tatiana Kulakevich, Professor in the School of Global Interdisciplinary Studies, affiliated with the Institute on Russia from the University of South Florida.

Faced with the possibility of an invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the NATO countries are closing ranks. They are weighing how far they should go to help Ukraine against this invasion.

Ukraine is looking for a longer and healthier life, without alcohol. They can help you make changes in your life for the rest of your life. Alcoholism is a disease that has developed over generations of people. After attending one of these online seminars or communities, you can gain the confidence you need to make a healthy lifestyle change.

The country has one of the highest rates of mortality from cardiovascular diseases. About 30 percent of men who die in Ukraine from non-communicable diseases are under 60 years of age. The causes are, on the one hand, tobacco use, little physical activity, as well as harmful use of alcohol (with more than 13 liters of alcohol consumption per capita, Ukraine ranks second in Europe).

In Ukraine, general medicine plays an important role in the prevention and early detection of non-communicable diseases. The problem has been further accentuated by the armed conflict in the east of the country.

One million children are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance in Ukraine, almost twice as many as this time last year, due to the conflict in the east of the country, which is entering its fourth year. Many families have lost their income, their social benefits and access to health care, while prices have increased considerably. “This is an invisible emergency, a crisis that most of the world has forgotten,” explains Giovanna Barberis, UNICEF representative in Ukraine. “Children in the east of the country have been living under the constant threat of unpredictable fighting and bombing for three years.