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The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022, as a result of almost a decade of culminating tensions between the two countries. President of Russia Vladimir Putin authorized air strikes against multiple cities of Ukraine in the early hours of that day.
In November 2013, Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych refused to sign the European Union–Ukraine Association Agreement after pressure from Russia; instead, he accepted a $15 billion economic bailout deal from Russia. The decision sparked protests within Ukraine's capital, Kyiv. Most Ukrainian citizens disliked the implications of Russia's influence on their country's decisions and called it out as government corruption. In response to the protests, Yanukovych deployed the Berkut on protestors and eventually passed laws restricting the speech and assembly rights of Ukrainians. The laws were not effective enough, and by January 2014, protests in Kyiv spread to other major cities, and Yanukovych was removed from office in February. He then fled the country and is reported to be living in Russia.
The territory of Crimea has been fought over by both Russia and Ukraine for centuries, but it has been under Ukraine's control since 1954, when Nikita Khrushchev, Premier Soviet of the Soviet Union, authorized its transfer to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Russia took advantage of the political unrest in Ukraine in early 2014 to overtake and capture Crimea. Ukraine was unable to effectively defend its claim, due to an insufficient number of troops compared with Russia. Crimea was swiftly captured by the Russians, who forced an election on Crimea, asking whether to join Russia or revert the country's constitution to a previous state, making it a more independent nation compared with what it was at the time. Nearly 97 percent of votes cast were in favor of joining Russia, an improbably high number that sparked concerns of voter fraud.
Russia deployed 100,000 troops to Ukrainian borders in April 2021. Fearing the threat of an imminent invasion, this sparked current Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to put pressure on NATO officials to fast-track Ukraine's membership. Some troops were withdrawn from the borders later in the month, but tens of thousands remained, and in November more were added. Russia has continuously denied its plans to attack Ukraine, including in the weeks before launching the first strike.
In a speech given on February 21, 2022, Putin claimed Ukraine was actively hostile towards Russia and undermined its statehood, saying "Ukraine never had a tradition of genuine statehood" and incorrectly claimed that modern-day Ukraine was created by Russia. He also stated, "If Ukraine was to join NATO, it would serve as a direct threat to the security of Russia." Later the same day, Putin deployed Russian troops into the region of Donbas for “peacekeeping duties.” On February 22, President Zelenskyy began conscripting reservists from ages eighteen to sixty, but said there was no need for mobilization yet.
In the early hours of February 24, 2022, President Putin authorized a series of strikes against Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv and Kharkiv, marking the beginning of the war. Russian troops had crossed Ukrainian borders in three locations later in the day. Zelenskyy declared martial law, ordered mobilization, and barred males between eighteen and sixty from leaving the country. He called upon ordinary citizens to take up arms as well—stating the government would issue guns if needed and encouraged citizens to fight back in whatever ways possible. Other bombings were reported later in the day in the cities of Odessa, Dnipro, Mariupol, and Kramatorsk.
On the first day, Ukraine reported shooting down multiple Russian aircraft and helicopters, while Russia denied it. Around noon, in Ukraine's local time, around forty Ukrainian soldiers and ten civilians were reported dead. Accurate estimates of those killed on both sides cannot be definitively determined yet, but a reported 1400 Ukrainian civilians have been killed and 2000 injured as of April 2022. In late March, Ukraine reported 1300 of its soldiers dead.
On February 25, Ukraine's Defense Ministry instructed citizens to report the movement of equipment and make Molotov cocktails—breakable glass with a flammable substance inside—and provided information to civilians on how to make them. Other methods of defense have included setting up roadblocks with bags of sand, Czech hedgehogs, and landmines. The Ukravtodor, Ukraine's government division for roads and transportation, called upon citizens and the government to remove road signs to confuse Russian troops. Anti-Russian messages and expletives have been posted on signs along roads as well.
So far, Russian air strikes have targeted civilian homes, schools, hospitals, shelters, evacuation corridors, airports, military bases, and more. Russia has agreed to multiple cease-fire orders for evacuation efforts, only to violate them by firing upon evacuation corridors.
Later, evacuation efforts have proven futile as more of the country was destroyed by bombings, making travel in some areas practically impossible. As of late March 2022, an estimated 4 million Ukrainians have fled to other countries, and 6.5 million citizens have been displaced from their homes and under or seeking shelter within the country. A further 12 million are stranded or unable to leave the area they're in.
Brutality and human rights violations from Russian soldiers have been reported by citizens of Ukraine as being widespread. Citizens have been abducted and forcibly relocated within Russia, killed, tortured, and sexually assaulted by Russian soldiers. Homes and shops have been looted.
Several peace talk attempts have taken place between the countries, with Russia demanding conditions like Ukraine's neutrality, surrender of military action, and the recognition of Crimea as Russian territory and Donetsk and Lugansk as independent states. Zelenskyy refused to surrender the cities, but later expressed willingness to meet the conditions of neutrality and to not pursue becoming a member of NATO in efforts to end the war. Peace talks have been ongoing since the end of February.
The invasion of Ukraine triggered swift reactions and open condemnation of Russia from countries, companies, and people worldwide, and a mostly strong support of Ukraine. Strict consequences for Russia have been imposed internationally, one of the biggest being economic sanctions.
Economic sanctions have resulted in the value of the ruble, Russia's currency, to drop heavily: in March 2022, it had lost 40% of its value against the USD. On February 24, the start of the invasion, the United States Treasury immediately announced sanctions against major Russian banks and other financial institutions, including subsidiaries in other areas around the world. On February 26, most Russian banks were banned from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) international payment messaging system. As of April 6, 2022, over six hundred major companies have withdrawn business activities and operations from Russia.
Many efforts to send donations and supplies to Ukraine have become increasingly difficult as transportation routes are destroyed. Veterans and volunteers from other countries around the world have traveled to Ukraine to assist in the war efforts. By early March 2022, around 20,000 volunteers were reported to have joined Ukraine's armed forces. Nearly all countries are reluctant to get directly involved in the war, as doing so would likely guarantee a war between said country and Russia. Putin stated: "Whoever tries to interfere with us, and even more so, to create threats for our country, for our people should know that Russia's response will be immediate and will lead you to such consequences that you have never experienced in your history."
