Will Putin let Ukraine go?

After the fall of Moscow ally Viktor Yanukovych, it's Russia's move

Putin map
(Image credit: (AP Photo/RIA-Novosti, Mikhail Metzel, Presidential Press Service))

The fall of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was swift and sudden, culminating in a series of front-page events on Friday and Saturday. The end result is that Ukraine's government is now sliding into Western Europe's orbit and away from Russia. That's a problem for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who, like many Russians, considers Ukraine an integral part of Russia's sphere of influence, with a shared history, culture, and, in many parts of Ukraine, language.

The fear that Putin will send troops into Ukraine — as he did in Georgia in 2008, ostensibly to protect ethnic Russians — is "so palpable," says Steven Lee Myers in The New York Times, that U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice warned Russia that responding with force "would be a grave mistake."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.