Russian invasion of Ukraine

"Russian invasion of Ukraine" redirects here. For previous invasions, see List of invasions and occupations of Ukraine.

Russian invasion of Ukraine
Part of the Russo-Ukrainian War (outline)
Map of Ukraine as of 14 May 2024 (details):   Continuously controlled by Ukraine   Occupied by Russia   Regained from Russia
Date 24 February 2022 – present (2 years, 2 months, 3 weeks and 1 day) Location Ukraine, Russia, Black Sea Status Ongoing (list of engagements · territorial control · timeline of events)
Belligerents
Russia Donetsk PR Luhansk PR Supported by: Belarus	Ukraine
Commanders and leaders
Vladimir Putin Aleksandr Dvornikov Gennady Zhidko Sergey Surovikin Valery Gerasimov	Volodymyr Zelenskyy Oleksandr Syrskyi Valerii Zaluzhnyi
Units involved
Order of battle	Order of battle
Strength
Pre-invasion at border: 169,000–190,000 Pre-invasion total: 900,000 military 554,000 paramilitary In February 2023: 300,000+ active personnel in Ukraine	Pre-invasion total: 196,600 military 102,000 paramilitary July 2022 total: up to 700,000 September 2023 total: over 800,000
Casualties and losses
Reports vary widely, see § Casualties for details.

Russia began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, in an escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War that began in 2014. The invasion is the largest conventional military attack in Europe since World War II.

After the Ukrainian Revolution of Dignity in 2014, Russia annexed Crimea, and Russian-backed separatist forces seized part of the south-eastern Ukrainian region of the Donbas, launching an ongoing war in the region. In March 2021, Russia began assembling military forces along the Russia–Ukraine border, creating the 2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis. By early 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin was espousing Russian irredentist views, questioning Ukraine's right to statehood, accusing NATO of threatening Russia, and demanding that Ukraine be permanently barred from joining the alliance. Putin also began to float various purported casus belli; for example, he baselessly accused Ukraine of committing genocide against its Russian-speakers. The United States and others accused Russia of planning to invade Ukraine, and Russian officials repeatedly issued denials as late as 20 February 2022.

On 21 February 2022, Putin recognised the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic, two self-proclaimed states controlled by pro-Russian separatists in Donbas. The next day, the Russian Federation Council unanimously authorised use of military force, and Russian soldiers entered both territories. On 24 February, about 05:00 EET (UTC+2), Putin announced a "special military operation", allegedly to demilitarise and denazify Ukraine. Minutes later, missiles struck places across Ukraine, including Kyiv, the national capital. The Ukrainian Border Guard reported attacks on posts bordering Russia and Belarus. Shortly afterwards, Russian Ground Forces entered Ukraine, prompting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to enact martial law and general mobilisation.

The invasion received widespread international condemnation, including new sanctions imposed on Russia, triggering a Russian financial crisis. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, a refugee crisis across Europe was created, with more than one million Ukrainians fleeing the country during the first week of the invasion. Global protests are taking place; protests in Russia are being met with mass arrests, and the Russian government increased its repression of independent media. Some companies have started to boycott Russia and Belarus. Various countries have given humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine. Citing new sanctions and "aggressive statements", Putin placed Russia's nuclear forces on higher alert, which raised tensions between the West and Russia, and increased fears of a nuclear war.

Background

Main articles: Historical background of the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine and Russo-Ukrainian War

Post-Soviet context and Orange Revolution

Further information: Orange Revolution

See also: Colour revolution, Russia–Ukraine relations, and Ukraine–European Union relations

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union (USSR) in 1991, Ukraine and Russia maintained close ties. In 1994, Ukraine agreed to accede to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons as a non-nuclear-weapon State. Former Soviet nuclear weapons in Ukraine were removed to Russia and dismantled. In return, Russia, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (US) provided assurances against threats or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine through the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances. In 1999, 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 the years after the dissolution of the USSR, several former Eastern Bloc countries joined NATO, which Russian leaders described as a violation of Western powers' assurances that NATO would not expand eastward.

The 2004 Ukrainian presidential election was controversial. In November, then-prime minister Viktor Yanukovych was declared winner, 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 was poisoned by TCDD dioxin; he strongly suspected Russian involvement in his poisoning. After the Supreme Court of Ukraine annulled the initial election result, a second round re-run was held, bringing to power Yushchenko as president and Yulia Tymoshenko as prime minister and leaving Yanukovych in opposition. In June 2009, Yanukovych announced his intent to again run for president in the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election, which he subsequently won.

The Orange Revolution is often grouped together with other early-21st century protest movements, particularly within the former USSR, known as colour revolutions. According to Anthony Cordesman, Russian military officers viewed such colour revolutions as an attempt by the US and European states to destabilise neighbouring states and undermine Russia's national security. Vladimir Putin accused organisers of the 2011–2013 Russian protests of being former advisors to Yushchenko, and described the protests as an attempt to transfer the Orange Revolution to Russia. Rallies in favour of Putin during this period were called "anti-Orange protests".

Euromaidan, Revolution of Dignity, and war in Donbas

Main articles: Euromaidan, Revolution of Dignity, and War in Donbas

See also: 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Agreement on settlement of political crisis in Ukraine, and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation

Euromaidan protests in Kyiv, December 2013

The Euromaidan protests began in November 2013 following the Yanukovych government's decision to suspend the signing of the European Union–Ukraine Association Agreement, instead opting for closer ties to Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union. After weeks of protests, on 21 February 2014, Yanukovych and parliamentary opposition leaders signed a settlement agreement calling for an early election. The following day, ahead of an impeachment vote to remove him as president of Ukraine, Yanukovych fled Kyiv for Russia. Leaders in 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 formation of two Russia-backed separatist quasi-states in Donetsk and Luhansk. 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. A dispute emerged over the role of Russia; Normandy Format members Ukraine, Germany and France understood Minsk as an agreement between Ukraine and Russia, whereas Russia insisted its role was that of a neutral mediator, pressing Ukraine to negotiate directly with representatives of the two separatist republics. In 2021, Putin refused offers from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for high-level talks, and the Russian government subsequently endorsed an article by former president Dmitri Medvedev arguing it was pointless to deal with Ukraine while it remained a "vassal" of the US.

The annexation of Crimea led to a new wave of Russian nationalism, with large parts of the Russian far-right movement aspiring to annex more land from Ukraine, including the unrecognized Novorossiya. Analyst Vladimir Socor argued that Putin's 2014 speech after the annexation of Crimea was a de facto "manifesto of Greater-Russia Irredentism". 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, while 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 irredentism and of pursuing aggressive militaristic policies.

Prelude

See also: Belarusian involvement in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

Growth of tension

Further information: 2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis

US paratroopers of 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment depart Italy's Aviano Air Base for Latvia, 23 February 2022. Thousands of US troops were deployed to Eastern Europe amid Russia's military build-up.

From March to April 2021, Russia commenced a major military build-up near the Russo-Ukrainian border, followed by a second build-up between October 2021 to February 2022. In Russia and Belarus, equipment and vehicles were spotted marked with a white Z symbol (a non-cyrillic letter) moving towards the border. The mark is believed to be a deconfliction measure meant to prevent friendly fire.

Despite its military build-up, the Russian government repeatedly denied plans to invade Ukraine. On 12 November 2021, Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that "Russia doesn't threaten anyone". On 12 December, he said that attempts were being made to "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, Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov described warnings of an invasion as "hysteria". On 20 February, 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."

In early December 2021, following Russian denials, the US released intelligence of Russian invasion plans, including satellite photographs showing Russian troops and equipment near the Ukrainian border. The intelligence reported the existence of a Russian list of key sites and individuals to be killed or neutralized upon invasion. The US continued to release reports that accurately predicted the invasion plans. On 31 January 2022, as chairman of the Russian Officers' Assembly, retired Colonel-General Leonid Ivashov accused Putin and the leadership of Russia of preparing a war against Ukraine and called on them to resign.

Russian accusations and demands

See also: Disinformation in the 2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis, Humanitarian situation during the war in Donbas, and Russian opposition to Ukrainian NATO membership

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at a conference on 10 January 2022 regarding a potential Russian invasion

In the months preceding the invasion, Russian officials accused Ukraine of inciting tensions, Russophobia and repression of Russian speakers, while also making multiple security demands of Ukraine, NATO, and non-NATO EU allies. These actions were described by commentators and Western officials as attempts to justify war. On 9 December 2021, Putin spoke of discrimination against Russian speakers outside Russia, saying 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. Putin's claims were dismissed by the international community, and Russian claims of genocide have been widely rejected as baseless. The European Commission has also rejected the allegations as "Russian disinformation", and the US embassy in Ukraine called the Russian genocide claim a "reprehensible falsehood".

Putin pushed a false narrative accusing Ukrainian society and government of being dominated by neo-Nazism, invoking the history of collaboration in German-occupied Ukraine and echoing an antisemitic narrative which casts Russian Christians, rather than Jews, as the victims of Nazi Germany. While Ukraine has a far-right fringe, including the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion and Right Sector, analysts have described Putin's rhetoric as greatly exaggerating the influence of far-right groups within Ukraine; there is no widespread support for the ideology in the government, military, or electorate. 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 and Yad Vashem condemned Putin's abuse of Holocaust history. Additionally, Putin questioned the legitimacy of the Ukrainian state, saying that "Ukraine never had a tradition of genuine statehood", and that it was wrongly created by Soviet Russia.

Putin and his long-time confidant Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu

During the second build-up, Russia issued demands to the US and NATO, including a legally binding promise that Ukraine would not join NATO, as well as 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 EU, and away from Russia. The demand for a formal treaty preventing Ukraine from joining NATO was also seen as unviable by Western officials on the basis that it would contravene the treaty's "open door" policy, although NATO showed no desire to accede to Ukraine's requests to join.

Alleged clashes

Further information: Timeline of the war in Donbas (2022)

Fighting in Donbas escalated significantly from 17 February 2022 onwards. While the daily number of attacks over the first six weeks of 2022 ranged between two and five, the Ukrainian military reported 60 attacks on 17 February alone. Russian state media reported over 20 artillery attacks on separatist positions on the same day. The Ukrainian government accused Russian separatists of shelling a kindergarten at Stanytsia Luhanska with artillery, injuring three. The Luhansk People's Republic stated that its forces had been attacked by mortars, grenade launchers, and machine gun fire from Ukrainian forces.

On 18 February, the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics ordered mandatory emergency 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 power station 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 operation. 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)

Putin's address to the nation on 21 February (English subtitles available)

On 21 February at 22:35 (UTC+3), Putin announced that the Russian government would formally recognize the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics. The same evening, Putin directed the deployment of Russian troops, including mechanised forces, into Donbas in what Russia referred to as a "peacekeeping mission". Later in the night, several independent media outlets confirmed that Russian forces were entering Donbas. The 21 February intervention in Donbas was condemned by several members of the UN Security Council; none voiced support for it. 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, U.S. President Joe Biden said that "the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine" had occurred. Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary general of NATO, and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau said that "further invasion" had taken place. Dmytro Kuleba, the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs, said: "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, said, "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.

"Mixed Feelings on the Russian Side of the Ukraine Border Over Potential War", a video news report from Voice of America, 23 February 2022

On 23 February, the Verkhovna Rada, the parliament of Ukraine, 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, widely attributed to Russian-backed hackers.

On the night of 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, which subsequently convened at 21:30 (UTC−5). UN Secretary-General António Guterres opened the meeting by pleading to Putin: "Give peace a chance." Half an hour into the emergency meeting, Russia announced the invasion; this was half an hour before Sergiy Kyslytsya, the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations (UN), was to speak, and who subsequently called on the Russian representative Vassily Nebenzia to "do everything possible to stop the war". Chairing the meeting, Nebenzia refused.

Invasion

Further information: List of military engagements during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and Timeline of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

Animated map of the invasion

On 24 February, shortly before 06:00 Moscow Time (UTC+3), Putin announced that he had made the decision to launch a "special military operation" in eastern Ukraine. In his address, Putin stated there were no plans to occupy Ukrainian territory and that he supported the right of the peoples of Ukraine to self-determination. He said the purpose of the "operation" was to "protect the people" in the predominantly Russian-speaking region of Donbas who, according to Putin, "for eight years now, have been facing humiliation and genocide perpetrated by the Kyiv regime". Putin also stated that Russia sought the "demilitarisation and denazification" of Ukraine. Within minutes of Putin's announcement, explosions were reported in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odessa, and the Donbas.

Immediately following the attack, Zelenskyy announced the introduction of martial law in Ukraine; the same evening, he ordered a general mobilisation of all Ukrainian males between 18 and 60 years old. Russian troops entered Ukraine from four main directions: north from Belarus, heading towards Kyiv; northeast from Russia, heading towards Kharkiv; east from the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR); and south from the annexed region of Crimea.

Northern front

Main article: Kyiv offensive (2022)

Military control around Kyiv as of 5 March 2022

The effort to take Kyiv included a main effort striking south from Belarus along the west bank of the Dnipro River, with the apparent attempt to encircle Kyiv from the west. It is supported by two separate axes of attack from Russia along the east bank of the Dnipro: the western at Chernihiv and the eastern at Sumy. The eastern axes of attack apparently intend to encircle Kyiv from the northeast and east.

In the Battle of Chernobyl, Russians took control of the ghost towns of Chernobyl and Pripyat; their advance was hindered by strong resistance from Ukrainian troops. Following their breakthrough in Chernobyl, the Russian advance was held at the Battle of Ivankiv, a northern suburb of Kyiv. Russian Airborne Forces attempted to seize two airfields around Kyiv in the Battle of Antonov Airport, and then at the Battle of Vasylkiv over Vasylkiv Air Base south of Kyiv on 26 February. These initial days appeared to be an attempt by Russia to seize Kyiv rapidly, with Spetsnaz infiltrated into the city, supported by airborne operations and a rapid mechanized advance from the north, but it was unsuccessful.

By early March, Russian advances along the west side of the Dnipro were limited, suffering setbacks in the face of Ukrainian defense. As of 5 March, a large Russian convoy, reportedly 64 kilometres (40 mi) in length, had made little progress toward Kyiv. Advances along the Chernihiv axis had largely halted as the siege of Chernihiv began. Russia had made the most advances along the Sumy axis on the east; Russians won the Battle of Konotop, while the Battle of Sumy was ongoing. Russian forces, moving along highways from Sumy over flat, open land that was poor defensive ground, had reached Brovary, an eastern suburb of Kyiv.

Eastern front

Main article: Eastern Ukraine offensive

Russian bombardment on the outskirts of Kharkiv, 1 March

In the northeast, Russian troops tried to capture Kharkiv and Sumy, which are both located less than 35 kilometres (22 mi) from the Russian border. According to the Ukrainian army, the Battle of Konotop was lost on 25 February. In the Battle of Kharkiv, Russian tanks were met with strong resistance. On 28 February, the city was targeted by various missile attacks that claimed several lives. The battle was described by a Ukrainian presidential adviser as the "Stalingrad of the 21st century". In the Battle of Sumy, despite little initial resistance, Ukrainian soldiers and militia began engaging the Russian forces within the city, resulting in heavy urban warfare.

On the morning of 25 February, Russian Armed Forces advanced from DPR territory in the east towards Mariupol and encountered Ukrainian forces near the village of Pavlopil, where they were defeated. The Russian Navy reportedly began an amphibious assault on the Sea of Azov coastline 70 kilometres (43 mi) west of Mariupol on the evening of 25 February. A US defence official stated that the Russians were potentially deploying thousands of Russian Naval Infantry from this beachhead. On 1 March, Denis Pushilin, the head of the DPR, announced that DPR forces had almost completely surrounded the nearby city of Volnovakha and they would soon do the same to Mariupol.

Southern front

Main article: Kherson offensive

On 24 February, Russian troops took control of the North Crimean Canal, allowing Crimea to obtain water supplies for the peninsula, which it had been cut off from since 2014. The siege of Mariupol began as the attack also moved east towards Mariupol, and linking the front with the Donbas separatist regions. On 1 March, Russian forces started preparing to resume their attack on Melitopol and other cities, starting the Battle of Melitopol. Ivan Fedorov, the mayor of Melitopol, later stated that the Russians had occupied the city.

Other Russian forces advanced north from Crimea on 26 February, with Russia's 22nd Army Corps approaching the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. On 3 March, they began the siege of Enerhodar in an attempt to take control of the nuclear power plant. A fire developed during the gun-battle. The International Atomic Energy Agency stated that essential equipment had not been damaged. By 4 March, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant had been captured by Russian forces, but while fires were reported, there was no radiation leak.

A third axis of attack out of Crimea moved northwest, where Russian forces captured bridges over the Dnieper River. On 2 March, Russian troops won the Battle of Kherson, the first major city taken in the invasion. Russia troops then advanced to Mykolaiv, which stands between Kherson and Odesa. On 4 March, Ukrainian defenders repelled an attack in the Battle of Mykolaiv and recaptured Kulbakino Air Base.

Air and naval engagements

On 24 February, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine announced about 18:00 local time that an attack on Snake Island by Russian Navy ships had begun. The cruiser Moskva and patrol boat Vasily Bykov bombarded the island with their deck guns. When the Russian warship identified itself and instructed the Ukrainian soldiers stationed on the island to surrender, their response was "Russian warship, go fuck yourself!" After the bombardment, a detachment of Russian soldiers landed and took control of Snake Island.

On 25 February, the Millerovo air base attack began when Ukrainian military forces used OTR-21 Tochka missiles, destroying Russian Air Force planes, and setting the airbase on fire according to some Ukrainian officials. In the Zhytomyr Airport attack on 27 February, it was reported that Russia used 9K720 Iskander missile systems, located in Belarus, to attack the civilian Zhytomyr Airport. Russia lost several aircraft on 5 March, including a Su-30SM Flanker, two Su-34 Fullbacks, two Su-25 Frogfoots, two Mi-24/Mi-35 Hind, two Mi-8 Hip helicopters, and an Orlan unmanned aircraft.

On 3 March, a photograph appeared showing the Ukrainian frigate Hetman Sahaidachny, flagship of the Ukrainian navy, partially sunk in port. The next day, the Ukrainian defence minister confirmed that Hetman Sahaidachny had been scuttled in Mykolaiv to prevent its capture by the Russian forces.

Foreign military support to Ukraine

See also: List of foreign aid to Ukraine during the Russo-Ukrainian War

  Russia

  Ukraine

  Countries that have supplied Ukraine with military equipment during the 2022 invasion

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 Western countries (including UK, USA, France, Germany, Baltic countries, Poland, Australia, Canada, and Turkey) and organizations (NATO and EU) began providing military aid to rebuild its military forces. Notably, the Ukrainian armed forces have been acquiring Turkey's Bayraktar TB2 unmanned combat aerial vehicles since 2019, which was first used in October 2021 to target a Russian separatist artillery position 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 US$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 UK 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 agreed to send weapons, NATO as an organisation did 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 27 February, the EU 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 had MiG-29s and Slovakia also had Su-25s, which were fighter jets that Ukraine already flew and could be transferred without pilot training. On 1 March, Poland, Slovakia, and Bulgaria confirmed they would not provide fighter jets to Ukraine, but on March 6 the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken indicated that NATO members were continuing to discuss a Polish fighter aircraft transfer.

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 stated 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. Sweden and Denmark both decided to send 5,000 and 2,700 anti-tank weapons, respectively, to Ukraine. Denmark also provided parts from 300 non-operational Stinger missiles, that the US would first help make operational. Turkey also provided TB2 drones.

The Norwegian government, after initially saying it would not send weapons to Ukraine but would send other military equipment like helmets and protective gear, announced on 28 February that it would also donate up to 2,000 M72 LAW anti-tank weapons to Ukraine. In a similarly major policy shift for a neutral country, Finland announced that it would send 2,500 assault rifles together with 150,000 rounds, 1,500 single-shot anti-tank weapons and 70,000 combat-ration packages, to add to the bulletproof vests, helmets, and medical supplies already announced.

Humanitarian impact

  Russia

  Ukraine

  Countries sending any aid, including humanitarian aid to Ukraine

Casualties

Further information: Casualties of the Russo-Ukrainian War

Excluding the Russian soldiers, at least 21 people from seven countries besides Ukraine died because of the war. Below is a list of the nationalities of the foreign victims.

Foreign casualties of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

Country	Deaths	Reference(s)
Greece	12
Azerbaijan	4
India	1
Algeria	1
Bangladesh	1
Iraq	1
Israel	1

Refugees

Main article: Ukrainian refugee crisis

Polish firefighter with a Ukrainian child in his arms

Because of the continued military build-up in Russia along the Ukrainian border, many neighbouring governments and aid organisations had been preparing for a mass displacement event in the weeks before the invasion. In December 2021, the Ukrainian Defence Minister estimated that an invasion could force three million to five million people to flee their homes.

Numbers and countries

Polish volunteers assist refugees in Przemyśl train station

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than half a million Ukrainians fled the country in the first four days after the invasion; 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 other countries. In the first week, a million refugees had fled from Ukraine; most were women and children, because male Ukrainian nationals aged 18 to 60 were denied exit from Ukraine.

On 24 February, the government of Latvia approved a plan to receive and accommodate about 10,000 refugees from Ukraine; two days later, the first refugees, helped by the Latvian Samaritan Association, began arriving. Several non-governmental organisations, municipalities, schools, and institutions also promised accommodation. On 27 February, about 20 volunteer professional drivers departed to Lublin, Poland, with donated supplies, bringing Ukrainian refugees to Latvia on their way back. To facilitate border-crossing, Poland and Romania lifted COVID-19 entry restrictions.

Refugees care for each other near Polish-border train station in Przemyśl

The government of Hungary announced that all persons crossing the border from Ukraine, persons without travel documents, and persons arriving from third countries would 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 protection by 25 February.

Most Ukrainian refugees in Romania entered through Siret, in Suceava County. In the first three days after the invasion, 31,000 Ukrainians entered Romania, of whom 111 requested protection. Many used the Romanian and Ukrainian passports they held, preferring not to seek asylum yet. On 26 February, the Romanian interior ministry approved the installation of the first mobile camp, near the Siret customs.

Refugees at Przemyśl train station in Poland

Because many refugees were expected in Bulgaria, various municipalities announced their intent to accommodate Bulgarians and Ukrainians fleeing the country, and began to modify and build housing for new arrivals.

By 25 February, Slovakia had received over 10,000 Ukrainian refugees, mostly women and children. On 26 February, Slovakia announced that it would give money to people who supported the refugees.

Discrimination and racism

Reports of discrimination when trying to leave Ukraine have come from (among others) Indian, African, and Arab students and nationals, which has been condemned by the UNHCR. Claims have been made that Ukrainian citizens were being prioritized for exit. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister responded that there were no restrictions on foreign citizens leaving Ukraine, and that the border force were again instructed to allow all foreign citizens to leave, with Ukrainian authorities setting up a telephone hotline to assist anyone facing discrimination when attempting to leave the country.

International organisations

On 3 March 2022, EU ministers agreed to invoke the Temporary Protection Directive for the first time in history, so that refugees from Ukraine can stay in the EU for at least one year without applying for asylum. Most countries of the Schengen Area, including Germany, Poland, and Switzerland, have waived passport requirements for Ukrainians fleeing the war zone.

War crimes

Main article: War crimes during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

See also: Russian war crimes § Ukraine

The invasion of Ukraine was considered to have violated the UN Charter and constituted a crime of aggression according to international criminal law, raising the possibility that the crime of aggression could be prosecuted under universal jurisdiction. The invasion also violated 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". Ukraine had not ratified the Rome Statute and Russia withdrew its signature from it in 2016.

On 25 February, Amnesty International (AI) 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. AI and Human Rights Watch (HRW) 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 during the Battle of Okhtyrka on 26 February, and that a kindergarten and orphanage had been hit.

On 27 February, Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba called for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the Okhtyrka kindergarten bombing. The same day, Ukraine filed a lawsuit against Russia before the International Court of Justice, accusing Russia of violating the Genocide Convention by falsely claiming genocide as a pretext for military operations against Ukraine. On 28 February, Karim Ahmad Khan, the chief prosecutor of the ICC, said there was a "reasonable basis" for allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity following the ICC's preliminary examination of the case. Thirty-nine states officially referred the situation in Ukraine to the ICC. On 3 March, Khan announced that evidence was being collected of alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide committed by individuals of all sides during the invasion and that a full investigation would be opened.

On 28 February, AI and HRW 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, though Russia and Ukraine are not part of this convention. Both the Ukrainian and Russian governments have accused each other of using human shields. 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.

On 3 March, The Times reported that three attempts to assassinate Zelenskyy had been prevented due to tips from Russian FSB employees who opposed the invasion. Two of the attempts were carried out by the Wagner Group, a Russian paramilitary force, and one by the Kadyrovtsy, the personal guard of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. Yevgeny Ptashnik, commander of the Territorial Defense Forces guarding the government quarter in Kyiv, however stated that he did not believe any such attempts had been made and added that Putin wanted to capture Zelenskyy alive.

Media depictions

See also: Disinformation in the 2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis and Media portrayal of the Ukrainian crisis

Throughout the invasion, messages, videos, photos, and audio recordings 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.

Some observers have criticized Western media's portrayal of Ukraine's suffering as somehow different from the suffering in wars in countries like Ethiopia, Libya, Palestine, Syria, and Yemen.

Censorship and propaganda

See also: Media freedom in Russia and Putinism

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 organisations 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".

Pro-Kremlin TV and radio host Vladimir Solovyov voiced support for his country's invasion of Ukraine.

Russian state-controlled media, such as Russia-24, Russia-1 and Channel One, and pro-Kremlin TV pundits like Vladimir Solovyov mostly followed the government'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. Many RT journalists resigned from RT following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. On 25 February, the hacking collective Anonymous conducted distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on the RT website, as well as on the website of the Russian Ministry of Defence.

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 was violating the rights of Russian citizens. 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.

On 28 February, Russian teachers received detailed instructions on how to talk to students about the invasion of Ukraine. The Mayakovsky Theatre in Moscow received a government email "to refrain from any comments on the course of military actions in Ukraine", warning that any negative comments would be "regarded as treason against the Motherland". According to a poll by the Kremlin-funded Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM), published on 28 February, 68% of surveyed Russians supported a "special operation in Ukraine", 22% opposed it, and 10% found it difficult to answer. Some observers noted what they described as a "generational struggle" among Russians over perception of the war, with younger Russians generally opposed to the war and older Russians more likely to accept the narrative presented by state-controlled media.

Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, who is part of Putin's inner circle, said that "the purpose of the operation is to protect people living in Ukraine".

On 1 March, YouTube announced that it would block Russian state-linked channels, including those of RT and Sputnik, across Europe, to prevent Russian disinformation. The same day, Roskomnadzor made demands for TikTok to stop including military-related content in recommended posts to minors, claiming much of the content was anti-Russian. Russian authorities also blocked access to Echo of Moscow and Dozhd, Russia's last independent TV station, claiming that they were spreading "deliberately false information about the actions of Russian military personnel", as well as "information calling for extremist activity" and "violence". Additionally, Roskomnadzor threatened to block access to the Russian Wikipedia in Russia over its article on the invasion (Вторжение России на Украину (2022)), claiming that the article contains "illegally distributed information", including "reports about numerous casualties among service personnel of the Russian Federation and also the civilian population of Ukraine, including children".

On 3 March, the board of directors of Echo of Moscow voted to close the station down. On the same day, Natalya Sindeyeva, CEO of Dozhd, announced the suspension of broadcasting for an indefinite period due to coming legislative changes which would make it impossible to objectively cover an event.

On 4 March, Roskomnadzor blocked access to several foreign media outlets, including BBC News Russian, Voice of America, RFE/RL, Deutsche Welle and Meduza, as well as Facebook and Twitter. Editors of the online publication Znak.com announced the suspension of its activities due to restrictions on media. President Putin also signed into law a bill introducing prison sentences of up to 15 years for those who publish "knowingly false information" about the Russian military and its operations, leading to some media outlets to stop reporting on Ukraine; he also signed into law a bill that would allow fines or prison sentences of up to three years for those calling for sanctions. The Cyberspace Administration of China favoured pro-war posts over those sympathetic to Ukraine in their censorship of social media, deleting the accounts and posts from both perspectives. Chinese Premier League rights holders stated they would not broadcast the league's matches on the weekend because of the league's planned shows of support for Ukraine.

Sanctions and ramifications

Sanctions

Further information: International sanctions during the Russo-Ukrainian War, List of people sanctioned during the Russo-Ukrainian War, and List of companies that applied sanctions during the Russo-Ukrainian War

See also: Russia–Ukraine gas disputes, South Stream, and TurkStream

US President Joe Biden's statements and a short question and answer session on 24 February 2022

Western countries and others began imposing limited sanctions on Russia when it recognised the independence of Donbas. With the commencement of attacks on 24 February, a large number of other 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.

Nord Stream, a natural gas pipeline, runs under the Baltic Sea, bypassing Ukraine. Germany imports 50% to 75% of its natural gas from Russia. Nord Stream 2 would have doubled annual capacity of Nord Stream to 110 billion m³ (3.9 trillion cu ft).

The sanctions included major Russia banks to be cut off from SWIFT, the global messaging network for international payments. Although there would still be limited accessibility to ensure the continued ability to pay for gas shipments. Sanctions included asset freezes on the Russian Central Bank, which holds $630 billion in foreign-exchange reserves, to prevent it from offsetting the impact of sanctions and implicated the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. By 1 March, the total amount of Russian assets being frozen by sanctions amounted to $1 trillion.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said that the EU "will bring about the collapse" of the economy of Russia.

Several countries that are historically neutral, such as Switzerland and Singapore, have agreed to sanctions. Some countries also applied sanctions to Belarusian organisations and individuals, such as president Alexander Lukashenko, because of Belarus' involvement in the invasion.

Following sanctions and criticisms of their relations with Russian business, a boycott movement began and many companies and organisations chose to exit Russian or Belarusian markets voluntarily. The boycotts impacted many consumer goods, entertainment, education, technology, and sporting organisations.

The US 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.

Airspace

  Russia

  Ukraine

  Countries that have banned Russian aircraft from their airspace in response to the invasion

On 25 February, the UK banned the Russian airline and flag carrier Aeroflot, as well as Russian private jets, from UK airspace. The same day, 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 aeroplanes 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.

Economic impact

Further information: 2021–2022 global energy crisis, 2022 Russian financial crisis, and Russia in the European energy sector

Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, warned that the conflict posed a substantial economic risk for the region and internationally. She 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.

Despite unprecedented international sanctions against Russia, payments for energy raw materials were largely spared from these measures, as were food supplies because of the potential impact on world food prices. Russia and Ukraine are major producers of wheat that is exported through the Bosporus to Mediterranean and North African countries. The expulsion of some Russian banks from SWIFT is expected to affect the country's exports. Due to the fact that Russia is the largest trading and economic partner for post-Soviet states in Central Asia and a major destination for millions of CIS's migrant workers, Central Asia has been particularly hard hit by sanctions against Russia.

Russia

Volodymyr Zelenskyy meeting with Boris Johnson on 1 February 2022

Economic sanctions affected Russia since the first day of the invasion, with the stock market falling 39% (RTS Index), with similar falls in the following days. The Russian ruble also fell to record lows, as Russians rushed to exchange money. Stock exchanges in Moscow and St. Petersburg were suspended until at least 9 March, making it the longest closure in Russia's history. On 26 February, S&P Global Ratings downgraded the Russian government credit rating to "junk", causing funds that require investment-grade bonds to dump Russian debt, making further borrowing very difficult for Russia.

The Central Bank of Russia announced its first market interventions since the 2014 annexation of Crimea to stabilise the market. It 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 the Russian National 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 signalled about a 56% chance of default.

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 comprised about half of BP's oil and gas reserves and a third of its production. The divestment was thought likely to 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. On 1 March, the Italian energy company Eni announced that it would cancel its investments into the Blue Stream pipeline. The same day, the world's largest shipping companies Maersk and Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) suspended all container shipments to Russia, excluding foodstuffs, medical, and humanitarian supplies.

Ukraine

The National Bank of Ukraine 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 Ukraine Stock Exchange stated on 24 February that trading was suspended due to the emergency events.

Commodities

Russia is the world's largest exporter of grains, natural gas, and fertilisers and among the world's largest suppliers of crude oil and metals including palladium, platinum, gold, cobalt, nickel, and aluminium. As a result of the invasion, Brent oil prices rose above $100 a barrel for the first time since 2014. Some buyers are voluntarily boycotting Russian oil and natural gas. In March 2022, natural gas prices in Europe reached all-time highs. The invasion threatened the energy supply from Russia to Europe, causing European countries to seek to diversify their energy supply routes. Supply chain chaos due to Russia's key role in energy and commodity trade could fuel global inflation.

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. 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. On 25 February, the benchmark Chicago Board of Trade March wheat futures contract reached its highest price since 2012, with the prices of corn and soybean also spiking.

Reactions

Further information: Reactions to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

See also: Reactions to the 2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis

International organisations

United Nations

Further information: Eleventh emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly and United Nations General Assembly Resolution ES-11/1

See also: List of vetoed United Nations Security Council resolutions and United Nations Security Council veto power

UN General Assembly Resolution ES-11/1 vote condemning the invasion of Ukraine and demanding a complete withdrawal of Russian troops

  In favour

  Against

  Abstained

  Absent

  Non-member

On 23 February, UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged Russia to immediately end aggression in Ukraine ending his call with the words: "So, if indeed an operation is being prepared, I have only one thing to say from the bottom of my heart: President [Vladimir] Putin, stop your troops from attacking Ukraine. Give peace a chance. Too many people have already died."

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 UN 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 session was convened on 28 February, with speeches by members expected to last several days. During a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council on 1 March, over 100 diplomats walked out in protest over a speech by Sergei Lavrov.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet called for an immediate halt to Russia's military action against Ukraine. On 2 March, the UN General Assembly voted 141–5 to demand Russia stop the war and withdraw all of its military forces; 35 countries abstained, including Algeria, Bangladesh, China, India, Pakistan and South Africa, while Belarus, Eritrea, North Korea, and Syria were Russia's sole supporters. Russia's UN representative said that the adoption of the resolution could fuel further violence.

NATO

US F-35s arrive in Ämari Air Base in Estonia on 27 February.

Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia 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." 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, Poland, and Romania.

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." German 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 USSR. To retain their neutral status, both states minimised 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. A public petition asking the Parliament of Finland to hold a referendum to join NATO reached the required 50,000 signatures, prompting a parliamentary discussion on 1 March. Finnish public opinion on joining NATO shifted after the invasion, with 53% in favour in the most recent poll compared to 30% in January.

European Union

Further information: Foreign military support to Ukraine in above section

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.

Countries' responses

International reaction to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

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  Countries that have condemned the invasion

  Countries that have maintained a neutral stance

  Countries that have blamed the invasion on NATO provocation

  Unknown

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  Russia

  Ukraine

Ukrainian flag on the Polish Embassy in Sarajevo

• China – China's propaganda blamed the US and NATO for the current situation in Ukraine, but China's official response has been one of neutrality. On 2 March, The New York Times reported that China had requested that Russia delay the invasion until after the completion of the Beijing Winter Olympics.
• France – Emmanuel Macron of France has worked to maintain communication with Vladimir Putin, positioning France at the center of diplomacy in Europe. Macron has also played a central role in the EU and NATO response to the invasion.
• Germany – Before the invasion, Germany had maintained a policy (instituted at the end of World War II) of not aiding warring countries with lethal aid. In response to the invasion, Germany terminated Nordstream 2, provided extensive arms shipments to Ukraine, and allowed third countries to provide German weapons to Ukraine. Germany also increased defense expenditures by approximately $100 Billion, and announced it would more rapidly increase its military expenditures to be more than two percent of its gross domestic product as required by NATO. This dramatic change in policy has been called a new epoch in German policy by The Economist.
• India – 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.
• Kazakhstan – Russia requested that Kazakhstan send its troops to assist in the offensive, to which Kazakhstan refused, responding that it did not recognise the Donetsk and Luhansk separatists and as such could not help with the invasion.

Other reactions

Religious leaders

• Pope Francis expressed his "deepest sorrow" in a phone call to Zelenskyy, who thanked the Pope for his support.
• The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I called for an end to the war. Bartholomew called the war abominable and voiced solidarity and support with the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
• On 24 February, 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.
• Justin Welby, Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, said "What is happening in Ukraine at the moment burns a hole in your soul". He called on people to go "shoulder to shoulder" and stand up "against what is wrong" in the Ukraine crisis.

Protests

Main article: Protests against the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

In Russia

Main article: 2022 anti-war protests in Russia

See also: Freedom of assembly in Russia

Protesters in Moscow, 24 February 2022

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, a Russian oligarch, 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 recognising 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 30,000 technology workers; 6,000 medical workers; 3,400 architects; 4,300 teachers; 17,000 artists; 5,000 scientists; 1,200 students, faculty and staff of Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO); and 2,000 actors, directors, and other creative figures 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.

On 3 March, the multinational oil company Lukoil, the second largest company in Russia after Gazprom, called for a ceasefire and diplomatic means to solve the conflict.

Outside Russia

See also: 2022 boycott of Russia and Belarus

The Brandenburg Gate lit up in the colours of the Ukrainian flag during a solidarity protest in Berlin, Germany, 24 February 2022. The monument is visible from the nearby Russian Embassy.

Protests in support of Ukraine were 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. During the 2022 Belarusian constitutional referendum, protestors in Minsk chanted "No to War" at polling stations. On 28 February, instead of the traditional Cologne Carnival parade Cologne Rose Monday procession (which had been cancelled a few days earlier due to COVID-19) more than 250,000 (instead of the anticipated 30,000) gathered in Cologne in a peace march to protest against the Russian invasion; many protesters used the slogan "Glory to Ukraine".

There were also reported cases of discrimination against the Russian diaspora.

See also

• Bosnian War – 1992–1995 armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina
• List of interstate wars since 1945
• Military history of the Russian Federation
• Post-Soviet conflicts
• Russo-Georgian War – 2008 conflict between Russia and Georgia
• Second Cold War – Term referring to heightened tensions in the 21st century
• Transnistria War – 1990–1992 conflict between Moldova and Russian-backed self-proclaimed Transnistria

External links

• Part of Putin's national address pre-invasion. Comments archived at archive.today. Video archived at ghostarchive.org.
  • Full transcript of Putin's pre-invasion address
• Russia invades Ukraine Live Update. CNN.
• Ukraine live updates. BBC News.
• U.S. and International Response to Russia's Invasion of Ukraine. C-SPAN.