Olexiy Haran, Professor of politics from Kiev-Mohyla University in Ukraine, has watched Ukraine go through three revolutions: its 1991 succession from the Soviet Union, the 2004 Orange Revolution and last year’s Euromaidan. He says Putin’s denials are “typical Soviet propaganda.” Professor Haran says the war is essentially an attack on the democratic and European values that Ukraine has come to embrace since its independence.“Putin is afraid of democracy in Ukraine. He doesn’t need (the territory) per se but what he needs is to destabilise Ukraine’s democracy, to discredit it and then to take control of Ukraine. (The Kremlin) would like to redraw the lines of Europe using force. This is a threat to security not just for Ukraine, for all of Europe.”
