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On 24 February 2022, Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine, one of its neighbours to the southwest. It marked a major escalation between the countries, which had been in a state of conflict since 2014. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity in 2014, Russia had annexed Crimea and Russian-backed separatist forces had seized part of the Donbas in eastern Ukraine, leading to an eight-year war in the region. Some reports called the invasion the largest conventional military attack in Europe since World War II.
The invasion was preceded by Russian military build-ups around Ukraine's borders from early 2021. The US and others accused Russia of planning an invasion, but Russian officials repeatedly issued denials until 20 February 2022. During the crisis, the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, complained of certain things in Ukraine: he condemned the post-1997 enlargement of NATO as a threat to his country's security and he demanded that Ukraine be barred from ever joining the NATO military alliance, even though NATO's ballistic missile defence is not directed against Russia and cannot undermine Russia's strategic deterrence capabilities. Putin also expressed irredentist views and questioned Ukraine's right to sovereignty.
On 21 February 2022, Russia officially recognised the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics, two self-proclaimed states controlled by pro-Russian forces in the Donbas. The following day, Russia's Federation Council unanimously authorised Putin to use military force outside Russia's borders, and Russia openly sent troops into the breakaway territories. Around 05:00 EET (UTC+2) on 24 February, Putin announced a "special military operation" in eastern Ukraine; minutes later, missiles began to hit locations across Ukraine, including the capital, Kyiv. The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine said that its border posts with Russia and Belarus were attacked. Two hours later, Russian ground forces entered the country. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded by enacting martial law, severing diplomatic ties with Russia, and ordering general mobilisation.
The invasion received widespread international condemnation, including new sanctions imposed on Russia, triggering a financial crisis. Global protests took place against the invasion, while protests in Russia were met with mass arrests. Both prior to and during the invasion, various states have been providing Ukraine with foreign aid, including arms and other materiel support.
Background
Post-Soviet context and Orange Revolution
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine and Russia maintained close ties. In 1994, Ukraine agreed to abandon its nuclear arsenal by signing the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances, on the condition that Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States would provide assurances against threats or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine. Five years later, Russia was one of the signatories of the Charter for European Security, which "reaffirmed the inherent right of each and every participating State to be free to choose or change its security arrangements, including treaties of alliance, as they evolve".
In 2004, Viktor Yanukovych, then Ukrainian prime minister, was declared the winner of the Ukrainian presidential election that year despite allegations of vote-rigging by election observers. The results caused a public outcry in support of the opposition candidate, Viktor Yushchenko, and widespread peaceful protests challenged the outcome in what became known as the Orange Revolution. During the tumultuous months of the revolution, Yushchenko suddenly became gravely ill, and was soon found by multiple independent physician groups to have been poisoned by TCDD dioxin. Yushchenko strongly suspected Russian involvement in his poisoning. After the Supreme Court of Ukraine annulled the initial election result, a re-run of the second round was held, bringing Yushchenko and Yulia Tymoshenko to power and leaving Yanukovych in opposition.
In 2009, Yanukovych announced his intent to again run for president in the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election, which he won.
Euromaidan, Revolution of Dignity, and war in Donbas
The Euromaidan protests began in 2013 over the Ukrainian government's decision to suspend the signing of the European Union–Ukraine Association Agreement, instead choosing closer ties to Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union. Following weeks of protests, Yanukovych and the leaders of the Ukrainian parliamentary opposition signed a settlement agreement on 21 February 2014 that called for an early election. The following day, Yanukovych fled from Kyiv ahead of an impeachment vote that stripped him of his powers as president. Leaders of Russian-speaking Eastern Ukraine declared continuing loyalty to Yanukovych, leading to pro-Russian unrest.
The unrest was followed by the annexation of Crimea by Russia in March 2014 and the war in Donbas, which started in April 2014 with the creation of the Russia-backed quasi-states of the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics. Russian troops were involved in the conflict, although Russia formally denied this. The Minsk agreements were signed in September 2014 and February 2015 in a bid to stop the fighting, although ceasefires repeatedly failed.
In July 2021, Putin published an essay titled On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians, in which he re-affirmed his view that Russians and Ukrainians were "one people". American historian Timothy D. Snyder described Putin's ideas as imperialism. British journalist Edward Lucas described it as historical revisionism. Other observers have described the Russian leadership as having a distorted view of modern Ukraine and its history. Ukraine and other European countries neighbouring Russia accused Putin of attempting Russian irredentism and of pursuing aggressive militaristic policies.
Prelude
Russian military build-ups
From March to April 2021, Russia commenced a major military build-up near the Russo-Ukrainian border. The second phase of military build-ups took place from October 2021 to February 2022. Russian equipment marked with a white "Z" symbol, which is not a Cyrillic letter, were spotted on the sides of the equipment during the build-up. Tanks, fighting vehicles, and other equipment bearing the symbol were seen as late as 22 February 2022. Observers believed that the marking was a deconfliction measure meant to prevent friendly fire incidents.
Russian officials' denials of plans to invade
Despite the Russian military build-ups, Russian officials over months repeatedly denied that Russia had plans to invade Ukraine. On 12 November 2021, Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman for Putin, told reporters that "Russia doesn’t threaten anyone. The movement of troops on our territory shouldn’t be a cause for anyone's concern". On 28 November 2021, Peskov stated that "Russia has never hatched, is not hatching and will never hatch any plans to attack anyone ... Russia is a peaceful country, which is interested in good relations with its neighbors". On 12 December 2021, Peskov said that tensions regarding Ukraine were "being created to further demonise Russia and cast it as a potential aggressor".
On 19 January 2022, Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Russia does "not want and will not take any action of aggressive character. We will not attack, strike, invade, quote unquote, whatever Ukraine." On 12 February 2022, Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov described discussion about the "so-called planned Russian invasion" as "hysteria". On 20 February 2022, Russia's ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said that Russian forces "don't threaten anyone. ... There is no invasion. There is [sic] no such plans."
The US sought to counter Russian denials by releasing intelligence relating to Russian invasion plans including satellite photographs of buildup and movement of Russian troops and equipment near the Ukrainian border. The US also claimed the existence of a list of key Ukrainians to be killed or detained upon invasion.
Russian accusations and demands
In the leadup to the invasion, Putin and Kremlin officials engaged in a protracted series of accusations against Ukraine as well as demands against Ukraine and NATO in an attempt to generate justification for war. On 9 December 2021, Putin spoke of discrimination against Russian speakers outside Russia, saying: "I have to say that Russophobia is a first step towards genocide." On 15 February 2022, Putin told the press: "What is going on in Donbas is exactly genocide." The Russian government also condemned the language policy in Ukraine.
On 18 February, Anatoly Antonov, the Russian ambassador to the US, accused the US of condoning the forced cultural assimilation of Russians in Ukraine. In an address on 21 February, Putin said that Ukrainian society "was faced with the rise of far-right nationalism, which rapidly developed into aggressive Russophobia and neo-Nazism." Putin claimed that "Ukraine never had a tradition of genuine statehood" and was wrongly created by Soviet Russia.
Putin's claims were generally ineffective and largely dismissed by the international community. In particular, Russian claims of genocide have been widely rejected as baseless. The European Commission has also rejected the allegations as "Russian disinformation". The US embassy in Ukraine called the Russian genocide claim a "reprehensible falsehood". Ned Price, a spokesperson for the US State Department, said that Moscow was making such claims as an excuse for invading Ukraine.
According to press reports, Putin was using a "false 'Nazi' narrative", taking advantage of collaboration in German-occupied Ukraine during World War II, to justify Russia's attack on Ukraine; while there have been problems and the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion is a unit of the National Guard of Ukraine, analysts commented that Putin has largely overblown the issue, and said there is no widespread support for far-right ideology in the government, military, or electorate, and no far-right candidate won a single seat in the Verkhovna Rada, the national legislature, during the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election.
Addressing the Russian claims specifically, Ukrainian president Zelenskyy, who is Jewish, stated that his grandfather served in the Soviet Army fighting against the Nazis; three of his family members died in the Holocaust. The US Holocaust Memorial Museum condemned Putin's abuse of Holocaust history as a justification for war. Some commentators described Putin's claims as reflecting his isolation and reliance on an inner circle who were unable to give him frank advice.
During the second build-up, Russia issued demands to the US and NATO which included a legally binding promise that Ukraine would not join NATO and a reduction in NATO troops and military hardware stationed in Eastern Europe. In addition, Russia threatened an unspecified military response if NATO continued to follow an "aggressive line". These demands were largely interpreted as being non-viable. New NATO members had joined as their populations broadly preferred to move towards the safety and economic opportunities offered by NATO and the European Union, and away from Russia. The demand for a formal treaty preventing Ukraine from joining NATO was also seen as unviable, although NATO showed no desire to accede to Ukraine's requests to join.
Alleged clashes
Fighting in Donbas escalated significantly on 17 February 2022. While the daily number of attacks over the first six weeks of 2022 ranged from two to five, the Ukrainian military reported 60 attacks on 17 February. Russian state media also reported over 20 artillery attacks on separatist positions the same day. The Ukrainian government accused Russian separatists of shelling a kindergarten at Stanytsia Luhanska using artillery, injuring three civilians. The Luhansk People's Republic said that its forces had been attacked by the Ukrainian government with mortars, grenade launchers, and machine gun fire.
On 18 February, the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic ordered mandatory evacuations of civilians from their respective capital cities, although observers noted that full evacuations would take months to accomplish. Ukrainian media reported a sharp increase in artillery shelling by the Russian-led militants in Donbas as attempts to provoke the Ukrainian army. On 21 February, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) announced that Ukrainian shelling had destroyed an FSB border facility 150 metres from the Russia–Ukraine border in Rostov Oblast. The Luhansk thermal power station in the Luhansk People's Republic was also shelled by unknown forces. Ukrainian news stated that it was forced to shut down as a result.
On 21 February, the press service of the Southern Military District announced that Russian forces had in the morning that day killed a group of five saboteurs near the village of Mityakinskaya, Rostov Oblast, that had penetrated the border from Ukraine in two infantry fighting vehicles, the vehicles having been destroyed. Ukraine denied being involved in both incidents and called them a false flag. Additionally, two Ukrainian soldiers and a civilian were reported killed by shelling in the village of Zaitseve, 30 kilometres (19 mi; 16 nmi) north of Donetsk. Several analysts, including the investigative website Bellingcat, published evidence that many of the claimed attacks, explosions, and evacuations in Donbas were staged by Russia.
Escalation (21–23 February)
On 21 February, following the recognition of the Donetsk and Luhansk republics, Putin directed the deployment of Russian troops (including mechanised forces) into Donbas in what Russia referred to as a "peacekeeping mission". Russia's military said it killed five Ukrainian "saboteurs" who crossed the border into Russia, a claim strongly denied by Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba. Later that day, several independent media outlets confirmed that Russian forces were entering Donbas. The 21 February intervention in Donbas was widely condemned by the UN Security Council and did not receive any support. Kenya's ambassador Martin Kimani compared Putin's move to colonialism and said: "We must complete our recovery from the embers of dead empires in a way that does not plunge us back into new forms of domination and oppression."
On 22 February, US president Joe Biden stated that "the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine" had occurred. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau said that "further invasion" had taken place. Ukrainian foreign minister Kuleba stated: "There's no such thing as a minor, middle or major invasion. Invasion is an invasion." Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, stated that "Russian troops [had arrived] on Ukrainian soil" in what was "[not] a fully-fledged invasion". On the same day, the Federation Council unanimously authorised Putin to use military force outside Russia. In turn, Zelenskyy ordered a conscription of Ukraine's reservists, while not committing to general mobilisation at that time.
On 23 February, the Verkhovna Rada proclaimed a 30-day nationwide state of emergency, excluding the occupied territories in Donbas, which took effect at midnight. The parliament also ordered the mobilisation of all reservists of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. On the same day, Russia began to evacuate its embassy in Kyiv and also lowered the Russian flag from the top of the building. The websites of the Ukrainian parliament and government, along with banking websites, were hit by DDoS attacks.
By night on 23 February, Zelenskyy made a televised speech in which he addressed the citizens of Russia in Russian and pleaded with them to prevent war. In the speech, Zelenskyy refuted claims of the Russian government about the presence of neo-Nazis in the Ukrainian government and stated that he had no intention of attacking the Donbas region.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the leaders of the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics sent a letter to Putin appealing for military support from Russia "in repelling the aggression of the Ukrainian armed forces", with the letter claiming that Ukrainian government shelling had caused civilian deaths. In response to the appeal, Ukraine requested an urgent UN Security Council meeting. Another meeting was convened on 23–24 February. Russia, which held the presidency of the UN Security Council for February 2022 and has veto power as one of five permanent members, launched its invasion of Ukraine during the emergency meeting called to defuse the crisis. UN Secretary-General António Guterres pleaded with Putin: "Give peace a chance."
Invasion
24 February
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Shortly before 06:00 Moscow Time (UTC+3) on 24 February, Putin announced that he had made the decision to launch a "special military operation" in eastern Ukraine. In his address, Putin claimed there were no plans to occupy Ukrainian territory and that he supported the right of the peoples of Ukraine to self-determination. Putin also stated that Russia sought the "demilitarisation and denazification" of Ukraine (see § Russian accusations and demands). The Russian Ministry of Defence asked air traffic control units of Ukraine to stop flights, and the airspace over Ukraine was restricted to non-civilian air traffic, with the whole area being deemed an active conflict zone by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency.
Within minutes of Putin's announcement, explosions were reported in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odessa, and the Donbas. Ukrainian officials said that Russia had landed troops in Mariupol and Odessa and launched cruise and ballistic missiles at airfields, military headquarters, and military depots in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Dnipro. Military vehicles entered Ukraine through Senkivka, at the point where Ukraine meets Belarus and Russia, at around 6:48 am local time. A video captured Russian troops entering Ukraine from Russian-annexed Crimea.
The Kremlin planned to initially target artillery and missiles at command and control centres and then send fighter jets and helicopters to quickly gain air superiority. The Center for Naval Analyses said that Russia would create a pincer movement to encircle Kyiv and envelop Ukraine's forces in the east, with the Center for Strategic and International Studies identifying three axes of advance: from Belarus in the north, from Donetsk, and from Crimea in the south. The US said it believed that Russia intended to "decapitate" Ukraine's government and install their own, with US intelligence officials believing that Kyiv would fall within 96 hours given circumstances on the ground.
According to former Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Internal affairs, Anton Herashchenko, now serving as an official government advisor, just after 06:30 UTC+2, Russian forces were invading via land near the city of Kharkiv and large-scale amphibious landings were reported in the city of Mariupol. At 07:40, troops were also entering the country from Belarusian territory. The Ukrainian Border Force reported attacks on sites in Luhansk, Sumy, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, and Zhytomyr, as well as from Crimea. The Russian Ministry of Defence claimed no resistance by Ukrainian border forces. The Ukrainian interior ministry reported that Russian forces captured the villages of Horodyshche and Milove in Luhansk. The Ukrainian Centre for Strategic Communication reported that the Ukrainian army repelled an attack near Shchastia (near Luhansk) and retook control of the town, claiming nearly 50 casualties from the Russian side.
After being offline for an hour, the Ukrainian Defence Ministry's website was restored, and declared that it had shot down five planes and one helicopter in Luhansk. Shortly before 07:00 (UTC+2), Zelenskyy announced the introduction of martial law in Ukraine. Later, he ordered the Ukrainian Army to "inflict maximum losses" on the invaders. Zelenskyy also announced that Russia–Ukraine relations were being severed, effective immediately. Later in the day, he announced general mobilisation. Russian missiles targeted Ukrainian infrastructure, including Boryspil International Airport, Ukraine's largest airport, 29 km (18 mi) east of Kyiv. Ukraine closed its air space for civilian flights.
A military unit in Podilsk was attacked by Russian forces, resulting in six deaths and seven wounded. Nineteen more people were also reported missing. Another person was killed in the city of Mariupol. A house in Chuhuiv was damaged by Russian artillery; its occupants were injured and one boy died. Eighteen people were killed by Russian bombing in the village of Lipetske in Odesa Oblast.
At 10:00 (UTC+2), it was reported during the briefing of the Ukrainian presidential administration that Russian troops had invaded Ukraine from the north (up to 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) south of the border). Russian troops were said to be active in Kharkiv Oblast, in Chernihiv Oblast, and near Sumy. Zelenskyy's press service also reported that Ukraine had repulsed an attack in Volyn Oblast. At 10:30 (UTC+2), the Ukrainian Defence Ministry reported that Russian troops in Chernihiv Oblast had been stopped, a major battle near Kharkiv was in progress, and Mariupol and Shchastia had been fully reclaimed.
The Ukrainian military claimed that six Russian planes, two helicopters, and dozens of armoured vehicles had been destroyed. Russia denied having lost any aircraft or armoured vehicles. Ukrainian commander-in-chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi published photos of two captured Russian soldiers saying they were from the Russian 423rd Guards Yampolsky Motor Rifle Regiment (military unit 91701). Russia's 74th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade recon platoon surrendered near Chernihiv.
In the Battle of Antonov Airport, Russian airborne troops seized the Hostomel Airport in Hostomel, a suburb of Kyiv, after being transported by helicopters early in the morning; a Ukrainian counteroffensive to recapture the airport was launched later in the day. The Rapid Response Brigade of the Ukrainian National Guard stated that it had fought at the airfield, shooting down three of 34 Russian helicopters.
Belarus allowed Russian troops to invade Ukraine from the north. At 11:00 (UTC+2), Ukrainian border guards reported a border breach in Vilcha (Kyiv Oblast), and border guards in Zhytomyr Oblast were bombarded by Russian rocket launchers (presumably BM-21 Grad). A helicopter without markings reportedly bombed Slavutych border guards position from Belarus. At 11:30 (UTC+2), a second wave of Russian missile bombings targeted the cities of Kyiv, Odessa, Kharkiv, and Lviv. Heavy ground fighting was reported in the Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts.
Civil rights activists in Poland reported an increase in the crossing of migrants from Belarus to Poland. As part of the 2021–2022 Belarus–European Union border crisis, Belarus is considered by observers to be taking orders from Russia and using migrants at the Polish-Belarus border as a weapon. By 12:04 (UTC+2), Russian troops advancing from Crimea moved towards the city of Nova Kakhovka in Kherson Oblast. Later that day, Russian troops entered the city of Kherson and took control of the North Crimean Canal, which would allow them to resume water supplies for the peninsula.
At 13:00 and 13:19 (UTC+2), Ukrainian border guards and Armed Forces reported two new clashes—near Sumy ("in the direction of Konotop") and Starobilsk (Luhansk Oblast). At 13:32 (UTC+2), Valerii Zaluzhnyi reported four ballistic missiles launched from the territory of Belarus in a southwestern direction. Several stations of Kyiv Metro and Kharkiv Metro were used as bomb shelters for the local population. A local hospital in Vuhledar (Donetsk Oblast) was reported to have been bombed with four civilians dead and 10 wounded (including 6 physicians). Ukrainian border guards reported that two Russian ships, Vasily Bykov (Project 22160 patrol ship) and Moskva, attacked and tried to capture the small Snake Island near the Danube Delta.
At 16:00 (UTC+2), Zelenskyy said that fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces had erupted in the ghost cities of Chernobyl and Pripyat. By around 18:20 (UTC+2), the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant was under Russian control, as were the surrounding areas. According to the Verkhovna Rada deputy Maryana Bezuhla, Russian troops threatened to attack Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
At 16:18 (UTC+2), Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, proclaimed a curfew lasting from 22:00 to 07:00. Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, estimated that more than 100,000 Ukrainians suffered forced displacement, with thousands of these crossing into Moldova and Romania. At 22:00 (UTC+2), the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine announced that Russian forces had captured Snake Island following a naval and air bombardment of the island.
All thirteen border guards on the island were assumed to have been killed in the bombardment, after refusing to surrender to a Russian warship; a recording of the guards refusing an offer to surrender went viral on social media. President Zelenskyy announced that the presumed-dead border guards would be posthumously granted the title of Hero of Ukraine, the country's highest honor. Seventeen civilians were confirmed killed, including thirteen killed in Southern Ukraine, three in Mariupol, and one in Kharkiv. Zelenskyy stated that 137 Ukrainian citizens (both soldiers and civilians) died on the first day of the invasion.
Shortly after 23:00 (UTC+2), President Zelenskyy ordered a general mobilisation of all Ukrainian males between 18 and 60 years old; for the same reason, Ukrainian males from that age group were banned from leaving Ukraine.
25 February
By 01:24 (UTC+2), Zelenskyy had ordered the full mobilisation of the Ukrainian military for 90 days. Around 04:00 (UTC+2) local time, Kyiv was rocked with two explosions. Ukrainian government advisor Anton Herashchenko relayed via text message that those explosions were cruise and ballistic missiles being targeted at Kyiv. The Ukrainian government said that it had shot down an enemy aircraft over Kyiv, which then crashed into a residential building, setting it on fire. It was later confirmed that the aircraft was a Ukrainian Su-27.
Independent military analysts noted that Russian forces in the north of the country appeared to have been heavily engaged by the Ukrainian military. Russian units were attempting to encircle Kyiv and advance into Kharkiv but were bogged down in heavy fighting, with social media images suggesting that some Russian armoured columns had been ambushed. In contrast, Russian operations in the east and south were more effective. The best trained and equipped Russian units were positioned outside Donbas in the southeast and appeared to have maneuvered around the prepared defensive trenches and attacked in the rear of Ukrainian defensive positions. Meanwhile, Russian military forces advancing from Crimea were divided into two columns, with analysts suggesting that they may have been attempting to encircle and entrap the Ukrainian defenders at Donbas, forcing the Ukrainians to abandon their prepared defences and fight in the open.
On the morning of 25 February, Zelenskyy accused Russia of targeting civilian as well as military sites in a televised address. Ukrainian Interior Ministry representative Vadym Denysenko said that 33 civilian sites had been hit in the previous 24 hours. Ukraine's Defence Ministry stated that Russian forces had entered the district of Obolon, Kyiv, and were approximately 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) from the Verkhovna Rada building. The Defence Ministry also announced that all Ukrainian civilians were eligible to volunteer for military service regardless of their age.
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Ukrainian authorities reported that a non-critical increase in radiation, exceeding control levels, had been detected at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant after Russian troops had occupied the area, saying that this was due to the movement of heavy military vehicles lifting radioactive dust into the air. Russia claimed that it was defending the plant from nationalistic and terrorist groups, and that staff were monitoring radiation levels at the site.
The mayor of Horlivka in the Russian-backed Donetsk People's Republic reported that a munition fired by the Ukrainian military hit a local school building, killing two teachers.
Zelenskyy indicated that the Ukrainian government was not "afraid to talk about neutral status". On the same day, President Putin indicated to the president of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping that "Russia is willing to conduct high-level negotiations with Ukraine".
As Russian troops approached Kyiv, Zelenskyy asked residents to prepare Molotov cocktails to "neutralise" the enemy. Putin meanwhile called on the Ukrainian military to overthrow the government. Ukraine distributed 18,000 guns to Kyiv residents who expressed a willingness to fight and deployed the Territorial Defence Forces, the reserve component of the Ukrainian military, for the defence of Kyiv. Some Russian forces had entered northern Kyiv, but had not progressed beyond that. Russia's Spetsnaz troops infiltrated the city with the intention of "hunting" government officials.
By the evening, the Pentagon stated that Russia had not established air supremacy of Ukrainian airspace, which US analysts had predicted would happen quickly after hostilities began. Ukrainian air defence capabilities had been degraded by Russian attacks, but remained operational. Military aircraft from both nations continued to fly over Ukraine. The Pentagon also said that Russian troops were also not advancing as quickly as either US intelligence or Moscow believed they would, that Russia had not taken any population centres, and that Ukrainian command and control was still intact. The Pentagon warned that Russia had sent into Ukraine only 30 percent of the 150,000–190,000 troops it had massed at the border.
A Ukrainian missile attack was launched against the Millerovo air base in Russia. A Russian tank from a military column was filmed crushing a civilian car in northern Kyiv, veering across the road to crush it. The car driver, an elderly man, survived and was helped out by locals.
26 February
At 00:00 UTC, heavy fighting was reported to the south of Kyiv, near the city of Vasylkiv and its air base. The Ukrainian General Staff claimed that a Ukrainian Su-27 fighter had shot down a Russian Il-76 transport plane carrying paratroopers near the city. Vasylkiv mayor Natalia Balasinovich said her city had been successfully defended by Ukrainian forces and the fighting was ending.
Around 03:00, more than 48 explosions in 30 minutes were reported around Kyiv, as the Ukrainian military was reported to be fighting near the CHP-6 power station in the northern neighbourhood of Troieshchyna. BBC News reported the attack may be an attempt to cut off electricity to the city. Heavy fighting was reported near the Kyiv Zoo and the Shuliavka neighbourhood. Early on 26 February, the Ukrainian military said it had repelled a Russian attack on an army base located on Peremohy Avenue, a main road in Kyiv; it also claimed to have repelled a Russian assault on the city of Mykolaiv on the Black Sea. American officials said a Russian Il-76 transport plane had been shot down by Ukrainian forces near Bila Tserkva, about fifty miles south of Kyiv. President Zelenskyy, remaining in Kyiv, had refused US offers of evacuation, instead requesting more ammunition for Ukrainian troops.
Hundreds of casualties were reported during overnight fighting in Kyiv, where shelling destroyed an apartment building, bridges, and schools. The Russian defence ministry said it had captured Melitopol, near the Sea of Azov, although UK minister James Heappey questioned this claim. At 11:00, the Ukrainian General Staff reported that its aircraft had conducted 34 sorties in the past 24 hours, indicating that Russia had continued to, unexpectedly, fail to gain air superiority.
By the afternoon, most of the Russian forces that had amassed around Ukraine were fighting in the country. Mayor Klitschko of Kyiv imposed a curfew from 5 p.m. Saturday until 8 a.m. Monday, warning that anyone outside during that time would be considered enemy sabotage and reconnaissance groups. Internet connections were disrupted in parts of Ukraine, particularly in the south and east. In response to a request from Mykhailo Fedorov, the Vice-Prime Minister of Ukraine, Elon Musk announced that he had turned on his Starlink service in Ukraine, with "more terminals en route".
Ukrainian Interior Ministry representative Vadym Denysenko stated that Russian forces had advanced further towards Enerhodar and the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant. He stated that they were deploying Grad missiles there and warned that they may attack the plant. The Zaporizhia Regional State Administration stated that the Russian forces advancing on Enerhodar had later returned to Bolshaya Belozerka, a village located 30 kilometres (19 mi) from the city, on the same day.
A Japanese-owned cargo ship, the MV Namura Queen with 20 crew members onboard was struck by a Russian missile in the Black Sea. A Moldovan ship, MV Millennial Spirit, was also shelled by a Russian warship, causing serious injuries.
Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of the Chechen Republic, confirmed that the Kadyrovtsy, units loyal to the Chechen Republic, had been deployed into Ukraine as well.
CNN obtained footage of a Russian TOS-1 system, which carries thermobaric weapons, near the Ukrainian border. Western officials warned such weapons would cause indiscriminate violence. The Russian military had used these kind of weapons in the First Chechen War in the 1990s and other countries had also deployed them in military conflicts.
A six-year-old boy was killed and multiple others were wounded when artillery fire hit the Okhmatdyt Children's Hospital in Kyiv. The Ukrainian military claimed to have blown up a convoy of 56 tankers in Chernihiv Oblast carrying diesel for Russian forces.
By the end of the day, Russian forces had failed in their attempts to encircle and isolate Kyiv, despite mechanised and airborne attacks. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Russia had committed its operational northern reserve of 17 battalion tactical groups (BTGs) after Ukrainian forces halted the advance of 14 BTGs to the north of Kyiv. Russia temporarily abandoned attempts to seize Chernihiv and Kharkiv after attacks were repelled by determined Ukrainian resistance, and bypassed those cities to continue towards Kyiv. In the south, Russia took Berdiansk and threatened to encircle Mariupol.
The ISW said that poor planning and execution was leading to morale and logistical issues for the Russian military in northern Ukraine. US and UK officials reported that Russian forces faced shortages of gasoline and diesel, leading to tanks and armoured vehicles stalling and slowing their advance. Videos also emerged online of Russian tanks and armoured personnel carriers (APCs) stranded on the roadside. Russia continued to not use its full arsenal; the ISW said this was likely to avoid the diplomatic and public relations consequences of mass civilian casualties, as well as to avoid creating rubble that would impede the advance of its own forces.
27 February
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Overnight, a gas pipeline outside Kharkiv was reported to have been blown up by a Russian attack, while an oil depot in the village of Kriachky near Vasylkiv ignited after being hit by missiles. Heavy fighting near the Vasylkiv air base prevented firefighters from tackling the blaze. Also at night, it was reported that a group of Ukrainian Roma had seized a Russian tank in Liubymivka, close to Kakhovka, in the Kherson Oblast. Furthermore, the Presidential Office stated that Zhuliany Airport was also bombed. Russian-backed separatists in Luhansk province said that an oil terminal in the town of Rovenky was hit by a Ukrainian missile. The State Emergency Service of Ukraine rescued 80 people from a nine-story residential building in Kharkiv after Russian artillery hit the building, extensively damaging it and killing a woman.
Nova Kakhovka's mayor, Vladimir Kovalenko, confirmed that the city had been seized by Russian troops, and he accused them of destroying the settlements of Kozatske and Vesele. Russian troops also entered Kharkiv, with fighting taking place in the city streets, including in the city centre. At the same time, Russian tanks started pushing into Sumy. Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that Russian forces had completely surrounded Kherson and Berdiansk, in addition to capturing Henichesk and Kherson International Airport in Chernobaevka. By the early afternoon, Kharkiv Oblast governor Oleh Synyehubov stated that Ukrainian forces had regained full control of Kharkiv, and Ukrainian authorities said that dozens of Russian troops in the city had surrendered. Hennadiy Matsegora, the mayor of Kupiansk, later agreed to hand over control of the city to Russian forces.
Sergey Melikov, the head of the Republic of Dagestan, announced that a high-ranking Dagestani officer had been killed. The Verkhovna Rada claimed that a unit of Kadyrovtsy soldiers was defeated in Hostomel.
Putin ordered Russian nuclear forces on a high alert, a "special regime of combat duty", in response to what he called "aggressive statements" by NATO members. This statement was met with harsh criticism from NATO, the European Union (EU), and the United Nations (UN); Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg described it as being "dangerous and irresponsible", while UN official Stéphane Dujarric called the idea of a nuclear war "inconceivable".
Ukraine said that it would send a delegation to meet with a Russian delegation for talks in Gomel, Belarus. Zelenskyy's office said that they agreed to meet without preconditions. Zelenskyy also said that he talked by telephone with Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko and stated that he was promised that Belarusian troops would not be sent to Ukraine.
According to the intelligence analyst firm Rochan Consulting, Russia had been able to connect Crimea with areas in eastern Ukraine held by pro-Russian forces by besieging Mariupol and Berdiansk. Oleksiy Arestovych, an advisor to President Zelenskyy, stated that Berdiansk had been captured by Russian forces. The main Russian force from the Crimea was advancing north towards Zaporizhzhia, while a Russian force on the east bank of the Dnipro threatened Mykolaiv.
Russian forces were pushed back in Bucha and Irpin to the north-west of Kyiv. According to UK military intelligence, Russian mechanised forces had bypassed Chernihiv as they moved towards Kyiv. Luhansk Oblast governor Serhiy Haidai accused Russian forces of destroying Stanytsia Luhanska and Shchastia before capturing them, while Donetsk Oblast governor Pavlo Kyrylenko also accused them of destroying Volnovakha.
The ISW said that Russian forces in northern Ukraine had likely conducted an "operational pause" starting the previous day in order to deploy additional forces and supplies; Russian military resources not previously part of the invasion force were being moved toward Ukraine in anticipation of a more difficult conflict than initially expected.
28 February
Fighting took place around Mariupol throughout the night. On the morning of 28 February, the UK defence ministry said that most Russian ground forces remained over 30 km (19 mi) north of Kyiv, having been slowed by Ukrainian resistance at Hostomel Airport. It also said that fighting was taking place near Chernihiv and Kharkiv, and that both cities remained under Ukrainian control. Maxar Technologies released satellite images that showed a Russian column, including tanks and self-propelled artillery, traveling toward Kyiv. The firm initially stated that the convoy was approximately 27 kilometres (17 mi) long, but clarified later that day that the column was actually more than 64 kilometres (40 mi) in length.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced the capture of Enerhodar, in addition to the surroundings of Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Ukraine denied that it had lost control of the plant. Enerhodar's mayor Dmitri Orlov denied that the city and the plant had been captured.
The Times reported that the Wagner Group had been redeployed from Africa to Kyiv, with orders to assassinate Zelenskyy during the first days of the Russian invasion. Both the Ukrainian and Russian governments meanwhile accused each other of using human shields.
Arestovych claimed that more than 200 Russian military vehicles had been destroyed or damaged on the highway between Irpin and Zhytomyr by 14:00 EET. Ihor Terekhov, the mayor of Kharkiv, stated that nine civilians were killed and 37 were wounded due to Russian shelling on the city during the day. Oksana Markarova, the Ukrainian ambassador to the US, accused Russia of using a vacuum bomb.
A US official said that Belarus was preparing to send its own soldiers into Ukraine in support of the Russian invasion, despite previous agreements with Ukraine; the following day, Belarusian President Lukashenko denied this.
Talks between Ukrainian and Russian representatives in Gomel, Belarus, ended without a breakthrough.
Russia increased strikes on Ukrainian airfields and logistics centers, particularly in the west, in an apparent attempt to ground the Ukrainian air force and disrupt resupply from nations to the west. In the north, ISW called the decision to use heavy artillery in Kharkiv "a dangerous inflection." Additional Russian forces and logistics columns in southern Belarus appeared to be maneuvering to support a Kyiv assault. An analyst with the Royal United Services Institute stated that the Ukrainian regular army is no longer functioning in formations but in largely fixed defenses, and was increasingly integrated with Territorial Defense Forces and armed volunteers.
1 March
More than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed during Russian shelling of a military base in Okhtyrka, according to Dmytro Zhyvytskyi, the governor of Sumy Oblast. A Russian missile later hit the regional administration building on Freedom Square during a bombardment of Kharkiv, killing 10 people and injuring another 20.
In southern Ukraine, the city of Kherson was reported to be under attack by Russian forces.
The Ukrainian government announced it would sell war bonds to pay its armed forces.
Foreign military support to Ukraine
Under the leadership of Viktor Yanukovych, the Ukrainian military had deteriorated. It was further weakened following Yanukovych's fall and his succession by West-looking leaders. Subsequently, a number of Ukraine's allies began providing military aid to rebuild its military forces. This assisted the Ukrainian military to improve its quality, with the Ukrainian army achieving noticeable successes against Russian proxy forces in Donbas. As Russia began building up its equipment and troops on Ukraine's borders, NATO member states increased the rate of weapons delivery. US president Joe Biden used Presidential Drawdown Authorities in August and December 2021 to provide $260 million in aid. These included deliveries of FGM-148 Javelins and other anti-armour weapons, small arms, various calibres of ammunition, and other equipment.
Following the invasion, nations began making further commitments of arms deliveries. Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Greece, the Netherlands, Portugal, and the United Kingdom announced that they would send supplies, to support and defend the Ukrainian military and government. On 24 February, Poland delivered some military supplies to Ukraine, including 100 mortars, various ammunition, and over 40,000 helmets. While some of the 30 members of NATO are sending weapons, NATO as an organisation is not.
In January 2022, Germany ruled out sending weapons to Ukraine and prevented Estonia, through export controls on German-made arms, from sending former East German D-30 howitzers to Ukraine. Germany announced it was sending 5,000 helmets and a field hospital to Ukraine, to which Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko derisively responded: "What will they send next? Pillows?" On 26 February, in a reversal of its previous position, Germany approved the Netherlands' request to send 400 rocket-propelled grenades to Ukraine, as well as 500 Stinger missiles and 1,000 anti-tank weapons from its own supplies.
On 26 February, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that he had authorised $350 million in lethal military assistance, including "anti-armor and anti-aircraft systems, small arms and various caliber munitions, body armor, and related equipment". Russia claimed that US drones gave intelligence to the Ukrainian navy to help target its warships in the Black Sea, which the US denied.
On 27 February, Portugal announced that it would send H&K G3 automatic rifles and other military equipment; the Norwegian government said it would not send weapons to Ukraine, but would send other military equipment, such as helmets and other protective gear. Sweden and Denmark both decided to send 5,000 and 2,700 anti-tank weapons, respectively, to Ukraine. Denmark would also provide parts from 300 non-operational Stinger missiles, that the US would first help make operational.
On the same day, the European Union agreed to purchase weapons for Ukraine collectively. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell stated that it would purchase €450 million (US$502 million) in lethal assistance and an additional €50 million ($56 million) in non-lethal supplies. Borrell said that EU defence ministers still needed to determine the details of how to purchase the materiel and transfer it to Ukraine, but that Poland had agreed to act as a distribution hub. Borrell also stated that they intended to supply Ukraine with fighter jets that they are already able to pilot. These would not be paid for through the €450 million assistance package. Poland, Bulgaria, and Slovakia have MiG-29s and Slovakia also has Su-25s, which are fighter jets that Ukraine already flies and can be transferred without pilot training.
On the evening of 28 February, the government of Norway decided to donate up to 2,000 M72 LAW anti-tank weapons to Ukraine in addition to previously announced helmets and other protective gear. In a similarly major policy shift for a neutral country, Finland announced that it would send 2,500 assault rifles, 150,000 cartridges for the rifles, 1,500 single-shot antitank weapons and 70,000 combat-ration packages, to add to the bulletproof vests, helmets, and medical supplies already announced.
Humanitarian impact
Casualties
| Breakdown | Fatalities | Time period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| TOTAL | 644 killed | 24–25 February 2022 | UK Ministry of Defence |
| Civilians | 352 killed | 24–27 February 2022 | Ukrainian government |
| Civilians | 57 killed | 24–25 February 2022 | UK Ministry of Defence |
| UAF, NGU, and volunteer forces | 40+ killed | 24 February 2022 | Ukrainian government |
| UAF, NGU, and volunteer forces | 137 killed | 24–25 February 2022 | UK Ministry of Defence |
Refugees
Due to the continued military build-up along the Ukrainian border, many neighbouring governments and aid organisations have been preparing for a potential mass displacement event for weeks prior to the actual invasion. The Ukrainian Defence Minister estimated in December 2021 that an invasion could potentially force between three and five million people to flee their homes.
It was reported that Ukrainian border guards did not permit a number of non-Ukrainians (many of them foreign students stuck in the country) to cross the border into neighbouring safe nations, claiming that priority was being given to Ukrainian citizens to cross first. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister said there were no restrictions on foreign citizens leaving Ukraine, and that the border force had been told to allow all foreign citizens to leave.
Numbers and countries
In the first four days after the invasion, more than a half-million Ukrainians fled the country as refugees, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. About 281,000 went to Poland, almost 85,000 to Hungary, at least 36,390 to Moldova, more than 32,500 to Romania, 30,000 to Slovakia, and about 34,600 to various other countries. Citing UN estimates, Janez Lenarčič, the EU Commissioner for Crisis Management, said on 27 February that a "very rough" estimate of the ultimate total number of displaced Ukrainians would be 18 million (4 million refugees, and 7 million internally displaced persons).
On 24 February, the Government of Latvia approved a contingency plan to receive and accommodate approximately 10,000 refugees from Ukraine, and two days later the first refugees, assisted by the Latvian Samaritan Association, began arriving. Several non-governmental organizations, municipalities, schools and institutions also pledged to provide accommodation. On 27 February, around 20 volunteer professional drivers departed to Lublin with donated supplies, bringing Ukrainian refugees to Latvia on their way back.
To facilitate border crossings, Poland as well as Romania lifted COVID-19 entry rules.
The government of Hungary announced on 24 February that all persons crossing the border from Ukraine, those without a travel document and arriving from third countries would also be admitted after appropriate screening. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that Hungary is a "friendly place" for people arriving from Ukraine. Many of the Ukrainians who fled to Hungary were Transcarpathian Hungarians; none of them requested any form of protection. Men between the age of 18 and 60 were denied from leaving Ukraine.
Ukrainian refugees started crossing into Romania as well. Most of them entered through Siret in Suceava County. In the first three days after the invasion, 31,000 Ukrainians entered Romania, of which only 111 requested some form of protection. Many used the Romanian or Ukrainian passport they held, preferring not to seek asylum for the time being. Romania's Interior Ministry approved on 26 February the installation of the first mobile camp near the Siret customs.
А large group of refugees is also expected in Bulgaria. Various municipalities announced their intentions to provide accommodations for Bulgarians and Ukrainians fleeing the country on 25 February, and had begun to modify and/or build housing locations for new arrivals.
On 26 February, Slovakia announced that they would give money to people who supported Ukrainian refugees. Over the previous 24 hour period, Slovakia had received over 10,000 refugees, mostly women and children.
International organizations
On 27 February, the EU agreed to take in Ukrainian refugees for up to three years without asking them to apply for asylum. EU ministers asked Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson to prepare plans for invoking the Temporary Protection Directive, which would be the first time that the directive has ever been invoked. Most countries of the Schengen area, including Poland, Germany and Switzerland have waived passport requirements for Ukrainians fleeing the war zone.
War crimes
The invasion of Ukraine violates the Charter of the United Nations and constitutes a crime of aggression according to international criminal law; the crime of aggression can be prosecuted under universal jurisdiction. The invasion also violates the Rome Statute, which prohibits "the invasion or attack by the armed forces of a State of the territory of another State, or any military occupation, however temporary, resulting from such invasion or attack, or any annexation by the use of force of the territory of another State or part thereof"; however, Ukraine has not ratified the Rome Statute and Russia withdrew its signature from it in 2016.
On 25 February, Amnesty International said that it had collected and analysed evidence showing that Russia had violated international humanitarian law, including attacks that could amount to war crimes; it also said that Russian claims to be only using precision-guided weapons were false. Amnesty and Human Rights Watch said that Russian forces had carried out indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas and strikes on hospitals, including firing a 9M79 Tochka ballistic missile with a cluster munition warhead towards a hospital in Vuhledar, which killed four civilians and wounded ten others, including six healthcare staff. Dmytro Zhyvytskyi, the governor of Sumy Oblast, said that at least six Ukrainians, including a seven-year-old girl, had died in a Russian attack on Okhtyrka on 26 February, and that a kindergarten and orphanage had been hit. Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba called for the International Criminal Court to investigate the incident.
On 27 February, Ukraine filed a lawsuit against the Russian Federation before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for violation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 1948. On 28 February, Karim Ahmdaf Khan, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), said there was a "reasonable basis" for allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
On 28 February, a diplomatic crisis within Greece–Russia relations was sparked when the latter's air forces bombarded two villages of the Greek minority in Ukraine near Mariupol, killing 12 Greeks. Greece protested strongly, summoning the Russian ambassador. French president Emmanuel Macron and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, along with Germany and other countries, expressed their condolences to Greece. Russian authorities denied responsibility. Greek authorities stated that they had evidence of Russian involvement. In response, Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced that his country would send defensive military equipment and humanitarian aid to support Ukraine.
On 28 February, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch denounced the use of cluster munitions and thermobaric weapons by Russian invasion forces in Ukraine. The use of cluster munitions in war is prohibited by the Convention on Cluster Munitions of 2008; Russia and Ukraine, however, are not part of such convention.
On 1 March, President Zelenskyy said there was evidence that civilian areas had been targeted during a Russian artillery bombardment of Kharkiv earlier that day, and described it as a war crime.
Ramifications
Sanctions
Several countries began imposing limited sanctions on Russia when it recognised the independence of Donbas. With the commencement of attacks on 24 February, large numbers of additional countries began applying sanctions with the aim of crippling the Russian Economy. The sanctions were wide-ranging, targeting individuals, banks, businesses, monetary exchanges, bank transfers, exports and imports. On 22 February, US president Joe Biden announced restrictions against four Russian banks, including V.E.B., as well as on "corrupt billionaires" close to Putin.
The US also instituted export controls, a novel sanction focused on restricting Russian access to high-tech components, both hardware and software, made with any parts or intellectual property from the US. The sanction required that any person or company that wanted to sell technology, semiconductors, encryption software, lasers, or sensors to Russia request a licence, which by default was denied. The enforcement mechanism involved sanctions against the person or company, with the sanctions focused on the shipbuilding, aerospace, and defence industries.
The UK prime minister Boris Johnson announced that all major Russian banks would have their assets frozen and be excluded from the UK financial system, and that some export licenses to Russia would be suspended. He also introduced a deposit limit for Russian citizens in UK bank accounts, and froze the assets of over 100 additional individuals and entities. German chancellor Olaf Scholz indefinitely blocked the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in response to the Russian invasion of Donbas.
The foreign ministers of the Baltic states called for Russia to be cut off from SWIFT, the global messaging network for international payments. Other EU member states had initially been reluctant to do this, both because European lenders held most of the nearly $30 billion in foreign banks' exposure to Russia and because China had developed an alternative to SWIFT called CIPS; a weaponisation of SWIFT would provide greater impetus to the development of CIPS which, in turn, could weaken SWIFT as well as the West's control over international finance. Other leaders calling for Russia to be stopped from accessing SWIFT include Czech president Miloš Zeman, and UK prime minister Boris Johnson. Germany in particular had resisted calls for Russia to be banned from SWIFT, citing the effect it would have on payments for Russian gas and oil; on 26 February, the German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock and economy minister Robert Habeck made a joint statement backing targeted restrictions of Russia from SWIFT. Shortly thereafter, it was announced that major Russian banks would be removed from SWIFT, although there would still be limited accessibility to ensure the continued ability to pay for gas shipments. Furthermore, it was announced that the West would place sanctions on the Russian Central Bank, which holds $630bn in foreign reserves, to prevent it from liquidating assets to offset the impact of sanctions.
Faisal Islam of BBC News stated that the measures were far from normal sanctions and were "better seen as a form of economic war." The intent of the sanctions was to push Russia into a deep recession with the likelihood of bank runs and hyperinflation. Islam noted that targeting a G20 central bank in this way had never been done before. Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia and former president Dmitry Medvedev derided Western sanctions imposed on Russia, including personal sanctions, and commented that they were a sign of "political impotence" from NATO's withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying they increased government support; he threatened to nationalise foreign assets that companies held inside Russia.
On the morning of 24 February, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, announced "massive" EU sanctions to be adopted by the union. The sanctions targeted technological transfers, Russian banks, and Russian assets. Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, stated that Russia would face "unprecedented isolation" as the EU would impose the "harshest package of sanctions [which the union has] ever implemented". He also said that "these are among the darkest hours of Europe since the Second World War". President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola called for "immediate, quick, solid and swift action" and convened an extraordinary session of Parliament for 1 March.
On 25 February, the Federated States of Micronesia severed its diplomatic ties with the Russian Federation in response to the invasion.
On 26 February, the French Navy intercepted Russian cargo ship Baltic Leader in the English Channel. The ship was suspected of belonging to a company targeted by the sanctions. The ship was escorted to the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer and was being investigated.
The UK banned the Russian airline and flag carrier Aeroflot as well as Russian private jets from UK airspace. On 25 February, Poland, Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic announced that they would close their airspace to Russian airlines; Estonia followed suit the next day. In response, Russia banned British airplanes from its airspace. S7 Airlines, Russia's largest domestic carrier, announced that it was cancelling all flights to Europe, and US carrier Delta Air Lines announced that it was suspending ties with Aeroflot.
Russia further banned from its airspace all flights from carriers in Bulgaria, Poland, and the Czech Republic. Estonia, Romania, Lithuania, and Latvia announced they would also ban Russian airlines from their airspace. Germany also banned Russian aircraft from its airspace. On 27 February, the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it had closed Portuguese airspace to Russian planes. The same day, the EU announced that it would close its airspace to Russian aircraft.
On 26 February, two Chinese state banks—the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, which is the largest bank in the world, and the Bank of China, which is the country's biggest currency trader—were limiting financing to purchase Russian raw materials, which was limiting Russian access to foreign currency; this was being done out of apparent fear that this funding would be seen as support for the invasion and draw Western sanctions. On 27 February, Ignazio Cassis, the president of the Swiss Confederation, announced that the Swiss government was very likely to sanction Russia and to freeze all Russian assets in the country. On February 28, Switzerland froze a number of Russian assets and joined EU sanctions. According to Cassis, the decision was unprecedented but consistent with Swiss neutrality.
On 28 February, Singapore became the first Southeast Asian country to impose sanctions on Russia by restricting banks and transactions linked to Russia; the move was described by the South China Morning Post as being "almost unprecedented". The same day, South Korea announced it would participate in the SWIFT ban against Russia, as well as announcing an export ban on strategic materials covered by the "Big 4" treaties to which Korea belongs—the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the Wassenaar Arrangement, the Australia Group, and the Missile Technology Control Regime; in addition, 57 non-strategic materials, including semiconductors, IT equipment, sensors, lasers, maritime equipment, and aerospace equipment, were planned to be included in the export ban "soon".
On 28 February, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that Turkey would limit Russian access to the Black Sea. On February 28, Japan also announced its central bank would join sanctions, limiting transactions with Russia's central bank, as well as by imposing sanctions on Belarusian organizations and individuals, including president Aleksandr Lukashenko, adding that the country had "evident involvement in the invasion" of Ukraine.
Economic impact
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In Russia, the economic sanctions had an immediate effect. The Russian stock market crashed, falling 39%, as measured by the RTS Index, on the first day of the invasion, with similar falls in the following days. The Russian ruble fell to record lows, as Russians rushed to exchange money. Stock exchanges in Moscow and St Petersburg were suspended. On 26 February, S&P Global Ratings downgraded the Russian government credit rating to "junk," potentially forcing funds that require investment-grade bonds to dump Russian debt.
The Central Bank of Russia announced its first market interventions since the 2014 annexation of Crimea to stabilise the market. It also raised interest rates to 20% and banned foreigners from selling local securities. According to a former deputy chairman of the Russian central bank, the sanctions put Russia's sovereign wealth fund at risk of disappearing. On 28 February, with the value of the Russian ruble and the share prices for Russian equities falling on major exchanges, Moscow's MOEX exchange was closed for the day. As of 28 February, the price of Russia's credit default swaps signaled about a 56% chance of default.
In Ukraine, the National Bank suspended currency markets, announcing that it would fix the official exchange rate. The central bank also limited cash withdrawals to 100,000 hryvnia per day and prohibited withdrawal in foreign currencies by members of the general public. The PFTS Stock Exchange stated on 24 February that trading was suspended due to the emergency events. As a result of the invasion, Brent oil prices rose above $100 a barrel for the first time since 2014.
Wheat prices surged to their highest prices since 2008 in response to the attack. At the time of the invasion Ukraine was the fourth-largest exporter of corn and wheat and the world's largest exporter of sunflower oil, with Russia and Ukraine together exporting 29% of the world's wheat supply and 75% of world sunflower oil exports. The benchmark Chicago Board of Trade March wheat futures contract reached its highest price since 2012 on 25 February, with the prices of corn and soybean also spiking. The American Bakers Association president warned that the price of anything made with grain would begin rising as all the grain markets are interrelated.
The chief agricultural economist for Wells Fargo stated that Ukraine would likely be severely limited in its ability to plant crops in spring 2022 and lose an agricultural year, while an embargo on Russian crops would create more inflation of food prices. Recovering crop production capabilities may take years, even after fighting has stopped. Surging wheat prices resulting from the conflict have strained countries such as Egypt, which are highly dependent upon Russian and Ukrainian wheat exports, and have provoked fears of social unrest. On 24 February, China announced that it would drop all restrictions on Russian wheat, in what the South China Morning Post called a potential "lifeline" for the Russian economy.
Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, warned that the conflict posed a substantial economic risk for the region and internationally and added that the Fund could help other countries impacted by the conflict, complementary to a $2.2 billion loan package being prepared to assist Ukraine. David Malpass, the president of the World Bank Group, said that the conflict would have far-reaching economic and social effects and reported that the bank was preparing options for significant economic and fiscal support to Ukrainians and the region.
On 27 February, BP, one of the world's seven largest oil and gas companies and the single largest foreign investor in Russia, announced it was divesting from Rosneft. The Rosneft interest comprises about half of BP's oil and gas reserves and a third of its production. The divestment may cost the company up to $25 billion and analysts noted that it was unlikely that BP would be able to recover anywhere near the value of Rosneft. The same day, the Government Pension Fund of Norway, the world's largest sovereign wealth fund, announced that it would divest itself from its Russian assets. The fund owned about 25 billion Norwegian krone ($2.83 billion) in Russian company shares and government bonds. The next day, Shell plc also announced that it would be pulling its investments in Russia.
Media depictions
Throughout the invasion, messages, videos and photos were widely shared across social media and news sites and by friends and family of Ukrainian and Russian citizens. While many were authentic, first-hand images of the conflict, others were images and videos of past conflicts and events or were otherwise misleading. Some of these were created to spread disinformation or propaganda.
Facebook allowed Ukrainian users to lock their pages after the US warned that Russia was creating kill lists of Ukrainians. Twitter paused post recommendations for unfollowed accounts in Russia and Ukraine, and temporarily halted the operations of its advertising platform within the two countries.
Censorship and propaganda
The Russian censorship apparatus Roskomnadzor ordered the country's media to only employ information from Russian state sources or face fines and blocks, accusing a number of independent media outlets of spreading "unreliable socially significant untrue information" about the shelling of Ukrainian cities by the Russian army and civilian deaths. The Russian government ordered media organizations to delete stories that describe the Russian invasion of Ukraine as an "assault", "invasion", or a "declaration of war". Roskomnadzor launched an investigation against the Novaya Gazeta, Echo of Moscow, inoSMI, MediaZona, New Times, Dozhd (TV Rain), and other Russian media outlets for publishing "inaccurate information about the shelling of Ukrainian cities and civilian casualties in Ukraine as a result of the actions of the Russian Army." Russian state-controlled media, such as Russia-1 and Channel One, and pro-Kremlin TV pundits like Vladimir Solovyov mostly followed Putin's narrative on the war. RT, a Russian state-controlled television network, was banned in Poland and suspended by television service providers in Australia, Canada, and Gibraltar.
On 25 February, Russia announced that it was limiting access to Facebook; Russia's Foreign Ministry and the Prosecutor General's office announced that Facebook violates the rights of citizens of the Russian Federation. The company stated it had refused a Russian demand to stop fact-checking the posts made by four state-owned media organisations: Zvezda, RIA Novosti, Lenta.ru, and Gazeta.Ru. On 26 February, Facebook announced that it would ban Russian state media from advertising and monetising content on its platform. Russia restricted access to Twitter later that day. Facebook uncovered a Russian disinformation campaign using fake accounts, and attempts to hack the accounts of high-profile Ukrainians, which could be used to spread misinformation to large numbers of followers.
Many Chinese users of the social-media platform Weibo pushed pro-Russian sentiments and statements with a translation of Putin's 24 February speech going viral and the connected hashtag receiving 1.1 billion views in 24-hours. Other users have pointed the blame for the conflict at the United States, comments that were echoed by the state broadcaster China Central Television.
Reactions
United Nations
UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged Russia to immediately end aggression in Ukraine, while the French and US ambassadors announced that they would present a resolution to the UN Security Council on 25 February 2022. The UK, the US, Canada, and the EU labelled the attack as unprovoked and unjustified, and promised harsh sanctions on Russian individuals, businesses, and assets. On 25 February, Russia vetoed a Security Council draft resolution "deploring, in the strongest terms, the Russian Federation's aggression", as expected. Eleven countries voted in favour, and three abstained, among them China, India, and the United Arab Emirates. On 27 February, the UN Security Council voted to hold an emergency special session of the UN General Assembly to vote on a similar resolution. The eleventh ever special session was convened on 28 February, with speeches by members expected to last several days.
NATO
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, NATO had declined; without a common enemy, cohesion among members of the group declined, and many member states had reduced their defence spending and drawn down their forces along the border with Russia. NATO had attempted to improve the situation by setting a defence spending target of 2% of GDP for each of its members; however, most member states had not met the target as of 2022. The invasion of Ukraine had an immediate effect on this situation with NATO states boosting their defence budgets and sending personnel and equipment to the border.
Poland, Romania, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia triggered NATO security consultations under Article 4. The Estonian government issued a statement by Prime Minister Kaja Kallas saying: "Russia's widespread aggression is a threat to the entire world and to all NATO countries, and NATO consultations on strengthening the security of the Allies must be initiated to implement additional measures for ensuring the defence of NATO Allies. The most effective response to Russia's aggression is unity." Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary general of NATO, vowed at a press conference in Brussels to send NATO troops to Poland in a matter of days following the Russian invasion. On 24 February, Stoltenberg announced new plans that "will enable us to deploy capabilities and forces, including the NATO Response Force, to where they are needed". Following the invasion, NATO announced plans to increase military deployments in the Baltics, Romania, and Poland.
After the 25 February UN Security Council meeting, Stoltenberg announced that parts of the NATO Response Force would be deployed, for the first time ever, to NATO members along the Eastern border. He stated that forces would include elements of the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF), currently led by France. Stoltenberg further stated that some NATO members are supplying weapons to Ukraine, including those for air defence. The US had announced on 24 February that it would be deploying 7,000 troops to join the 5,000 already in Europe. NATO forces include the USS Harry S. Truman's Carrier Strike Group 8, which entered the Mediterranean Sea the previous week as part of a planned exercise. The carrier strike group was placed under NATO command, the first time this had occurred since the Cold War.
On 27 February, German chancellor Olaf Scholz announced 100 billion euros (US$113 billion) in new military spending, stating: "With the invasion of Ukraine, we are in a new era." Defense spending is set to rise to at least the target 2% of GDP expected of NATO members by 2024.
During the Cold War, Finland and Sweden had remained neutral buffer states between NATO and the Soviet Union. To retain their neutral status, both states minimized their cooperation with NATO. Following the Fall of Communism, both states increased their cooperation with NATO, while stoutly retaining their neutral status. Throughout the Cold War and the post-Communism era, majorities in both countries opposed joining NATO; however, with the increasing threat of Russia in the second decade of the 21st century, support for joining had begun to climb. As Russia began to build forces on Ukraine's border in the leadup to their invasion, both countries increased their cooperation with NATO. On 25 February, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova threatened Finland and Sweden with "military and political consequences" if they attempted to join NATO, despite their ongoing commitment to neutrality. Both countries had attended the emergency NATO summit as members of NATO's Partnership for Peace and both had condemned the invasion and had provided assistance to Ukraine. The previous day, Prime Minister Sanna Marin commented on Finland's potential membership after the invasion, saying: "It is also now clear that the debate on NATO membership in Finland will change", while noting that a Finnish application to NATO would require widespread political and public support. Shortly after the threat, a plane carrying Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of Russia's State Duma, was denied permission to cross both Swedish and Finnish airspace.
European Union
On 27 February, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announced that the EU would ban Russian state-owned media outlets RT and Sputnik in response to disinformation and their coverage of the conflict in Ukraine. She also said that the EU would finance the purchase and delivery of military equipment to Ukraine and proposed a ban on Russian aircraft using EU airspace.
On 28 February, President Zelensky asked to join the EU under a new fast track procedure. Photographs reported to be of Zelensky signing an application for membership were later shared.
Other countries and international organisations
The Czech Republic, Latvia, and Lithuania stopped issuing visas to Russian citizens. Micronesia severed diplomatic relations with Russia following the invasion. Following its intervention in protests against the government earlier in 2022, Moscow requested that Kazakhstan send troops to assist in the offensive, but Kazakhstan refused, reiterating that it did not recognise the Donetsk and Luhansk separatists.
In a call with Putin, Xi Jinping, the Chinese paramount leader and general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, said China supported efforts to resolve the dispute through dialogue; Putin stated he was open to holding high-level talks with Ukraine. In a statement released on 25 February, China said that Ukraine's territory and sovereignty should be respected and urged talks between Ukraine and Russia as soon as possible. Shortly after, Wang Yi, the Chinese foreign minister and state councilor, stated that China had a clear position respecting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all countries, including Ukraine. Indian prime minister Narendra Modi appealed for an immediate cessation of violence in Ukraine, though he refrained from taking a stand on the issue and did not condemn the Russian invasion. India was reportedly preparing a mechanism to trade with Russia using rupees to avoid the impact of Western sanctions.
Serbia was among the few European countries that opposed sanctions on Russia. Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić said that his country supported Ukraine's sovereignty but that he would look after Serbia's own interests. Vučić also stated that he would condemn Russia's recognition of the independence of separatist regions in eastern Ukraine only if Zelenskyy condemned the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia on public television. While there was no agreement on sanctions on Russia, Serbia nevertheless expressed regrets over the events, describing both Russia and Ukraine as friendly states and underlining full support for the territorial integrity of Ukraine. His initial weak response was criticised by multiple commentators in the country and the region, while some local media outlets sided with Russia. The Serbian organization Women in Black organised anti-war demonstrations in Belgrade, and the Serbian Orthodox Church organised a collection of humanitarian aid.
Pope Francis expressed his "deepest sorrow" in a phone call to Zelenskyy, who thanked the Pope for his support. The Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew I, regarded as the primus inter pares (first among equals) in the Eastern Orthodox Church and spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians, called for an end to the war. Bartholomew called the war abominable and voiced solidarity and support with the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow released a statement noting "the suffering of people", calling on all parties "to do everything possible to avoid civilian casualties" while asking the Moscow Patriarchate to pray for "the rapid restoration of peace". Metropolitan Onufriy, head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate, said the war had no justification.
Tsai Ing-wen, the president of Taiwan, said that Taiwan condemned the infringement of Ukrainian sovereignty and called for peaceful resolution. Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement on 25 February condemning Russia and announcing sanctions. These would likely affect semi-conductors, as Taiwan produces much of the global supply. On 26 February, Vadim Krasnoselski, the president of the unrecognised state of Transnistria, affirmed that Transnistria, as a peaceful state, had no offensive plans, referencing Transnistria's large population of Ukrainians and how Ukrainian language is taught in its schools. Also on 26 February, the Council of Europe suspended Russian participation in the Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly. Council Secretary-General Marija Pejčinović Burić called the invasion a "flagrant violation" and stated: "This is a dark hour for Europe and everything it stands for."
On 27 February, Belarus held a constitutional referendum which theoretically allowed the country to access nuclear weapons since their renouncement after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The result was likely influenced by President Lukashenko's recent decisions.
Entertainment organisations
UEFA, the European governing body for football, decided to relocate the Champions League final from Saint Petersburg to Saint-Denis, France, after a meeting of the body's executive committee. The national football teams of Poland, the Czech Republic and Sweden refused to play any matches with Russia. Formula One called off the Russian Grand Prix for this year in the wake of the crisis, with world champions Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen calling it "wrong" to race in the country. The International Olympic Committee called upon international sporting federations to either move or cancel any sports events planned in Russia or Belarus. It recommended that Belarusian and Russian nationals be allowed to compete only as neutral athletes or teams.
The Union Cycliste Internationale and the International Gymnastics Federation were among those to act accordingly. The International Judo Federation suspended President Putin's status as "Honorary President and Ambassador of the International Judo Federation". On 28 February, FIFA, joined by UEFA, suspended Russian teams from playing international football. Further, the National Hockey League announced that is was suspending all Russian business relationships, pausing Russian language websites, and would not host future competitions in Russia. The International Ice Hockey Federation suspended all Russian and Belarusian national and club teams from its competitions and withdrew hosting rights for the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship that were to be held in Russia.
Finland-based Jokerit and Latvia-based Dinamo Riga announced separately that the two ice hockey teams would withdraw from Russia's top-tier Kontinental Hockey League. The European Broadcasting Union excluded Russia from participating in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, with the organisers saying that its inclusion could "bring the competition into disrepute".
Disney, Warner Bros and Sony Pictures announced to pause all their theatrical releases in Russia, citing the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine caused by Moscow.
Technology companies and hackers
On February 27, Google temporarily disabled traffic conditions on Google Maps to protect civilians and military operations in the conflict zone.
The hacking collective Anonymous conducted DDoS attacks on the RT website, as well as on the website of the Russian Ministry of Defence.
On 1 March 2022, YouTube announced that it would block Russian state-linked channels, including those of RT and Sputnik, across Europe, to prevent Russian disinformation.
Protests
In Russia
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Almost 2,000 Russians in 60 cities across Russia were detained by police on 24 February for protesting against the invasion, according to OVD-Info; by 27 February, it reported that more than 5,900 protestors had been detained overall. Russia's interior ministry justified these arrests due to the "coronavirus restrictions, including on public events" that continue to be in place. Russian authorities warned Russians of legal repercussions for joining anti-war protests. Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitry Muratov announced that the Novaya Gazeta newspaper would publish its next edition in both Ukrainian and Russian. Muratov, journalist Mikhail Zygar, director Vladimir Mirzoyev, and others signed a document stating that Ukraine was not a threat to Russia and calling for Russian citizens to denounce the war.
Elena Chernenko, a journalist at Kommersant, circulated a critical open letter signed by 170 journalists and academics. Mikhail Fridman, one of Russian oligarchs, said that the war would "damage two nations who have been brothers for hundreds of years" and called for the "bloodshed to end". Three Communist members of parliament, who had supported the resolution recognizing the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics believing it was a peacekeeping mission and not a full-scale invasion, were the sole members of the State Duma to speak out against the war. State Duma deputy Mikhail Matveev voted in favour of the recognition of the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics but later condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine. State Duma deputy Oleg Smolin said he was "shocked" by the invasion.
More than 10,000 technology workers, 6,000 medical workers, 3,400 architects, 2,000 actors, directors, and other creative figures, and 1,500 teachers signed petitions calling for Putin's government to stop the war. Russian human rights activist Lev Ponomaryov started a petition to protest the invasion, garnering more than 750,000 signatures by 26 February. The founders of the Immortal Regiment commemoration movement, in which ordinary Russians annually march with photographs of veteran family members to mark World War II's Victory Day on 9 May, called on Putin to cease fire, describing the use of force as inhuman.
Outside Russia
Protests in support of Ukraine have broken out in cities worldwide. In the Czech Republic, some 80,000 people protested in Wenceslas Square in Prague. On 27 February, more than 100,000 gathered in Berlin to protest against Russia's invasion of Ukraine. During a constitutional referendum vote, Belarusian protestors in Minsk chanted "No to War" at polling stations. On 28 February, instead of the traditional Cologne Carnival parade Rose Monday procession, which had been cancelled due to COVID-19 a few days earlier, more than 250,000 (instead of the anticipated 30,000) gathered in Cologne in a peace march to protest against the Russian invasion.
A boycott movement against Russian and Belarusian products spread in some countries, most notably in the Baltic states. In Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia most supermarkets removed Russian and Belarusian products such as food, drinks, magazines, and newspapers, with Coop, Rimi, Maxima, and Barbora being the most notable supermarket chains to have joined the boycott. In Canada, the liquor control boards of several provinces, including Liquor Control Board of Ontario, Société des alcools du Québec, Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Corporation, Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries Corporation, and Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation, were ordered to remove Russian alcohol products from its retail stores.
In Canada, the government of British Columbia ceased the import of Russian liquor products, and the Liquor Control Board of Ontario announced the removal of Russian liquor from all 679 liquor retailers within its jurisdiction. In the US, politicians in Ohio, New Hampshire, and Utah placed legal restrictions on the sale of Russian liquor, and many bars, restaurants, and liquor retailers have removed Russian brands from their selections voluntarily, with some supporting Ukrainian liquors in a further show of solidarity with Ukraine. Following protests, both the Finnish and Swedish alcohol monopolies, Alko and Systembolaget, stopped the sale of Russian alcoholic beverages. In addition, the two main retailers in Finland, S-Group and Kesko, removed Russian goods from their shelves.
