Russo-Ukrainian War

The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's <a href="/facts/Revolution_of_Dignity/p48oSXW9">Revolution of Dignity</a>, Russia <a href="/facts/Russian_occupation_of_Crimea/kE7cHvoQ">occupied</a> and <a href="/facts/Annexation_of_Crimea_by_the_Russian_Federation/8r8zGRyf">annexed Crimea</a> from Ukraine. It then supported <a href="/facts/Russian_separatist_forces_in_Ukraine/3sz53no3">Russian paramilitaries</a> who began a <a href="/facts/War_in_Donbas/h8WDdxa4">war in the eastern Donbas region</a> against Ukraine's military. In 2018, Ukraine declared the region to be <a href="/facts/Russian-occupied_territories_of_Ukraine/VEVwzA5o">occupied by Russia</a>. These first eight years of conflict also included <a href="/facts/List_of_Black_Sea_incidents_involving_Russia_and_Ukraine/YulekL9h">naval incidents</a> and <a href="/facts/Russo-Ukrainian_cyberwarfare/XRvqQoWs">cyberwarfare</a>. In February 2022, Russia launched a <a href="/facts/Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine/kE7cHvoQ">full-scale invasion of Ukraine</a> and began occupying more of the country, starting the biggest conflict in Europe since <a href="/facts/World_War_II/2efV5L1U">World War II</a>. The war has resulted in a <a href="/facts/Ukrainian_refugee_crisis/9dWAVw8R">refugee crisis</a> and hundreds of thousands of deaths.
In early 2014, the <a href="/facts/Euromaidan/m41YETnk">Euromaidan</a> protests led to the Revolution of Dignity and the ousting of Ukraine's pro-Russian president <a href="/facts/Viktor_Yanukovych/LNrIwXwx">Viktor Yanukovych</a>. Shortly after, <a href="/facts/2014_pro-Russian_unrest_in_Ukraine/maR0wq73">pro-Russian protests</a> began in parts of southeastern Ukraine, while <a href="/facts/Little_green_men_(Russo-Ukrainian_War)/6YSdPT1S">unmarked</a> Russian troops occupied <a href="/facts/Crimea/GkM1qNVC">Crimea</a>. Russia soon annexed Crimea after a <a href="/facts/2014_Crimean_status_referendum/hMFCAXwM">highly disputed referendum</a>. In April 2014, Russian-backed militants <a href="/facts/War_in_Donbas/h8WDdxa4">seized towns and cities</a> in Ukraine's eastern <a href="/facts/Donbas/R0SRLmoj">Donbas</a> region and proclaimed the <a href="/facts/Donetsk_People%2527s_Republic/zVB41kKB">Donetsk People's Republic</a> (DPR) and the <a href="/facts/Luhansk_People%2527s_Republic/yq9VSTMm">Luhansk People's Republic</a> (LPR) as independent states, starting the <a href="/facts/Donbas_war/h8WDdxa4">Donbas war</a>. Russia covertly supported the separatists with its own troops, tanks and artillery, preventing Ukraine from fully retaking the territory. The <a href="/facts/International_Criminal_Court_investigation_in_Ukraine/0zALd65t">International Criminal Court</a> judged that the war was both a national and international armed conflict involving Russia, and the <a href="/facts/European_Court_of_Human_Rights/rKo4SK5m">European Court of Human Rights</a> judged that Russia controlled the DPR and LPR from 2014 onward. In February 2015, Russia and Ukraine signed the <a href="/facts/Minsk_agreements/FKxXoaAq">Minsk II</a> agreements, but they were never fully implemented in the following years. The Donbas war became a static conflict likened to <a href="/facts/Trench_warfare/GXDoLeRJ">trench warfare</a>; ceasefires were repeatedly broken but the frontlines did not move.
Beginning in 2021, there was a massive <a href="/facts/Prelude_to_the_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine/2kWtsxoS">Russian military buildup</a> near Ukraine's borders, including within neighbouring <a href="/facts/Belarus/vweHwgob">Belarus</a>. Russian officials repeatedly denied plans to attack Ukraine. Russia's president <a href="/facts/Vladimir_Putin/DcQdxqbj">Vladimir Putin</a> voiced <a href="/facts/Russian_irredentism/b0QI83r6">expansionist views</a> and challenged Ukraine's <a href="/facts/Right_to_exist/zCCfLvlu">right to exist</a>. He demanded that Ukraine be <a href="/facts/Ukraine%25E2%2580%2593NATO_relations/YHujoRv3">barred from ever joining</a> the <a href="/facts/NATO/dCeTddMY">NATO</a> military alliance. In early 2022, Russia <a href="/facts/International_recognition_of_the_Donetsk_People%2527s_Republic_and_the_Luhansk_People%2527s_Republic/nh1AnoLU">recognized the DPR and LPR</a> as independent states. While Russian troops surrounded Ukraine, <a href="/facts/Russian_separatist_forces_in_Ukraine/3sz53no3">its proxies</a> stepped up attacks on Ukrainian forces in the Donbas.
On 24 February 2022, Putin <a href="/facts/On_conducting_a_special_military_operation/jPBHtpWN">announced</a> a "<a href="/facts/Special_military_operation/87e2jpDm">special military operation</a>" to "demilitarize and denazify" Ukraine, claiming Russia had no plans to occupy the country. The Russian invasion that followed was <a href="/facts/Government_and_intergovernmental_reactions_to_the_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine/FuCK0qSM">internationally condemned</a>; many countries <a href="/facts/International_sanctions_during_the_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine/ax1parPP">imposed sanctions</a> against Russia, and sent <a href="/facts/List_of_humanitarian_aid_to_Ukraine_during_the_Russo-Ukrainian_War/DzhRdXSP">humanitarian</a> and <a href="/facts/List_of_military_aid_to_Ukraine_during_the_Russo-Ukrainian_War/uMeDkHSE">military aid to Ukraine</a>. In the face of fierce resistance, Russia abandoned an <a href="/facts/Northern_front_of_the_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine/LCL2VWss">attempt to take Kyiv</a> in early April. In August, Ukrainian forces began liberating territories in the <a href="/facts/2022_Kharkiv_counteroffensive/7QBUkwIs">north-east</a> and <a href="/facts/2022_Kherson_counteroffensive/xr4Jnhf0">south</a>. In September, Russia declared the <a href="/facts/Russian_annexation_of_Donetsk%2c_Kherson%2c_Luhansk_and_Zaporizhzhia_oblasts/oRvCyWz9">annexation</a> of four partially-occupied provinces, which was <a href="/facts/United_Nations_General_Assembly_Resolution_ES-11%2f4/hamzYRgK">internationally condemned</a>. Since then, Russian offensives and Ukrainian counteroffensives have gained only small amounts of territory. The invasion has also led to <a href="/facts/Attacks_in_Russia_during_the_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine/XlddlcYy">attacks in Russia</a> by Ukrainian and Ukrainian-backed forces, among them a cross-border <a href="/facts/Kursk_offensive_(2024%25E2%2580%2593present)/NLoUDvNj">offensive into Russia's Kursk region</a> in August 2024. Russia has repeatedly carried out deliberate and indiscriminate <a href="/facts/Attacks_on_civilians_in_the_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine/N4duDGWG">attacks on civilians</a> far from the frontline. The <a href="/facts/International_Criminal_Court/z0VwbKkz">International Criminal Court</a> (ICC) opened <a href="/facts/International_Criminal_Court_investigation_in_Ukraine/0zALd65t">an investigation</a> into <a href="/facts/War_crimes_in_the_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine/UF9ts5mK">war crimes</a> and issued <a href="/facts/International_Criminal_Court_arrest_warrants_for_Russian_leaders/kafW6HPD">arrest warrants for Putin and several other Russian officials</a>.

Russo-Ukrainian War open-in-new

Russo-Ukrainian War