Power and Sovereignty

• The international community condemned Russia's actions and imposed economic sanctions on the country.
• The aim of the economic sanctions is to reduce the Kremlin's ability to finance the war
• Russia doesn't recognise the sovereignty of Ukraine and Putin claims that true sovereignty of Ukraine is only possible in partnership with Russia
• Military Power is heavily relied on in the conflict 41% of Russia's GDP is spent on the military
• The conflict initially started with a Russian invasion
• Use of drones in the conflict e.g Kremlin Drone attack on 3 March 2023
• Putin was only able to run again in the 2024 presidential election due to his 2020 constitutional ammendments
• in the 2024 election there were 1.4 million invalid or blank ballots and many reports of irregularities, ballot scuffing and coercion
• In the 2024 election, Putin won 88% of the vote but turnout was low at 65%, this could be because people are afraid to speak out against him as he has been known to imprison opposition leaders