Russia Vs Ukraine, UK To Send Warships To Black Sea – Free PDF Download

What has happened?

• British warships will sail for the Black Sea in May amid rising tensions between Ukraine and Russia, the Sunday Times newspaper reported.
• The deployment is aimed at showing solidarity with Ukraine and Britain’s NATO allies.

• One Type 45 destroyer armed with anti-aircraft missiles and an anti-submarine Type 23 frigate will leave the Royal Navy’s carrier task group in the Mediterranean and head through the Bosphorus into the Black Sea.
• RAF F-35B Lightning stealth jets and Merlin submarine-hunting helicopters will stand ready on the task group’s flag ship, the carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, to support the warships in the Black Sea.

But why?

• Tensions between Moscow and Kyiv have been rising amid a build-up of Russian troops along the border and clashes in eastern Ukraine between the army and pro-Russian separatists.
• Officials at the UK Ministry of Defence told that the UK government was working closely with Ukraine to monitor the situation and continued to call on Russia to de-escalate.

So, what is Russia-Ukraine conflict?

• Since the collapse of communism in 1991, Russian troops have intervened in conflicts in several areas of the former Soviet Union.
• In April 2014, just after Russia’s annexation of Crimea, pro-Russian separatists seized a large swathe of eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
• Earlier, months of pro-Western demonstrations in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv had forced out a pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych.

• In 2014 there was a Russian plan to split Ukraine and create an entity called “Novorossiya” (New Russia) – a plan foiled by Ukraine’s armed forces.
• The conflict zone, known as Donbas, is mainly Russian-speaking and now many of its residents have Russian passports.
• President Putin says Russia will defend Russian citizens abroad, if they are seen to be at risk.

Minsk peace deal

• There was large-scale combat in 2014, before a ceasefire in 2015.
• There have been some prisoner exchanges since then.
• More than 13,000 people have been killed in the conflict.
• Ukraine says 26 of its troops have died in Donbas so far this year, compared to 50 in all of 2020.
• The separatists say more than 20 of theirs have died this year.

Why is Russia threatening Ukraine again now?

• In February, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky imposed sanctions on Viktor Medvedchuk, a powerful Ukrainian oligarch and friend of President Putin.
• Ukraine also banned broadcasts by three pro-Russian TV stations.
• The Minsk peace deal agreed in 2015 remains far from being fulfilled.
• For example, there are still no arrangements for independently monitored elections in the separatist regions.
• Some speculate that Mr Putin also wants to test US President Joe Biden, who has taken a tougher stance on Russia than his predecessor, Donald Trump, had.
• Mr Putin faces parliamentary elections in September and a continuing mass movement supporting his jailed arch-critic Alexei Navalny.
• So the Kremlin “defending” embattled Russians in Ukraine could go down well with many voters.
• Navalny might also be marginalised if the Kremlin whipped up patriotic fervour over Ukraine.

Is Ukraine protected by Nato?

• Not by treaty, as Ukraine is not a member.
• But Nato has close ties with Ukraine, which has received Western arms including US Javelin anti-tank missiles.
• So Russia knows that it risks provoking more Western military help for Ukraine.
• President Zelensky has urged NATO to speed up Ukrainian membership.
• But the conflict makes it difficult for Nato to accept Ukraine under the 30-nation alliance’s current terms.

Q) Which among them best describes the Mediterranean climate?

1. Year round rainfall
2. Warm, temperate summers and rainy winters
3. Arid summers and winters
4. Not possible to give an exact description

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