RUSSO-UKRAINIAN WAR
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2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine in a major escalation of the
Russo-Ukrainian War that began in 2014. The invasion caused Europe's
largest refugee crisis since World War II, with around 6.7 million
Ukrainians fleeing the country and a third of the population displaced.
The invasion also caused global food shortages.
In 2014, Russia invaded and annexed Crimea, and Russian-backed
separatists seized part of the Donbas region of south-eastern Ukraine,
consisting of Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts, sparking a regional war. In
2021, Russia began a large military build-up along its border with
Ukraine, amassing up to 190,000 troops and their equipment. In a
televised address shortly before the invasion, Russian president
Vladimir Putin espoused irredentist views, challenged Ukraine's right to
statehood, and falsely claimed Ukraine was governed by neo-Nazis who
persecuted the ethnic Russian minority. On 21 February 2022, Russia
recognised the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's
Republic, two self-proclaimed breakaway quasi-states in Donbas. The next
day, the Federation Council of Russia authorised the use of military
force, and Russian troops promptly advanced on both territories.