The Russia and Ukraine conflict actually began in 2014. Most people don’t know that, but Russia occupied and annexed Crimea from Ukraine. They supported pro-Russian separatists even fighting the Ukrainian military in the Donbas War. This conflict lasted eight years until their most recent conflict in 2022 Over those eight years, there were many naval incidents and cyberwarfare. However, in 2022 Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and began to occupy more of the country, which has made the biggest conflict in Europe since WWll ended in 1945. This current conflict has resulted in a refugee crisis and tens of thousands of deaths.
In April 2014, Russian-backed militants seized a town in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. They proclaimed the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) as independent states, starting the Donbas war. Russia covertly supported the separatists with its own troops, tanks, and artillery, preventing Ukraine from fully retaking the territory. One month prior in March 2014, Russian troops took control of the Ukrainian region of Crimea. Russian President Vladimir Putin cited the need to protect the rights of Russian citizens and Russian speakers in Crimea and southeast Ukraine.
Russia formally annexed the peninsula after Crimeans voted to join the Russian Federation in a disputed local referendum. The crisis heightened ethnic divisions, and two months later, pro Russian separatists in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk held their own independence referendums.
Fast forwarding to February of 2022, during a last-ditch UN Security Council effort to dissuade Russia from attacking Ukraine, Putin announced the beginning of a full-scale land, sea, and air invasion of Ukraine, targeting Ukrainian military assets and cities across the country. Putin claimed that the goal of the operation was to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine and end the alleged genocide of Russians in Ukrainian territory.
United States President Joe Biden declared the attack “unprovoked and unjustified” and issued severe sanctions against top Kremlin officials, including Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Four of Russia’s largest banks and the Russian oil and gas industry in coordination with European allies.
As the initial Russian invasion slowed in March, long-range missile strikes caused significant damage to Ukrainian military assets, urban residential areas, communication, and transportation infrastructure. Hospitals and residential complexes also sustained shelling and bombing attacks. Later that month, Russia announced that it would “reduce military activity” near Kyiv and Chernihiv.
Armed conflict in the regions quickly broke out between Russian-backed forces and the Ukrainian military. Russia denied military involvement, but both Ukraine and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) reported the buildup of Russian troops and military equipment near Donetsk and Russian cross-border shelling immediately following Crimea’s annexation. The conflict transitioned to an active stalemate, with regular shelling and skirmishes occurring along frontlines separating Russian and Ukrainian-controlled eastern border regions.
Beginning February 2015, France, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine attempted to kickstart negotiations to bring an end to the violence through the Minsk Accords. The agreement framework included provisions for a ceasefire, withdrawal of heavy weaponry, and full Ukrainian government control throughout the conflict zone.
Fast forwarding to November 2023, Commander In Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi said the war had reached a stalemate after Ukraine failed to counteroffensive. This assessment resulted in months of tension between Zaluzhnyi and Zelenskyy over strategy and tactics On February 8, Zelenskyy replaced Zaluzhnyi with General Oleksandr Syrsky, who led two successful counter offensives since the beginning of the invasion.
Soon after this appointment, Syrsky ordered the withdrawal of troops from Avdiivka, a strategically important town in Donetsk, where fighting was ongoing for four months. He argued the retreat was necessary to avoid being encircled. The decision, however, handed Russia its most significant battlefield victory since the capture of Bakhmut in May 2023.
