Russian invasion of Ukraine

Russian invasion of Ukraine
Part of the Russo-Ukrainian War (outline)
Map of Ukraine as of 18 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 4 days) 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 invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022 in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict that began in 2014. Internationally considered a war of aggression, the invasion is the largest military assault on a European state since World War II. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since that war: more than 3.6 million Ukrainians have left the country and millions more have fled their homes.

Following the Ukrainian Revolution of Dignity in February 2014, Russia annexed Crimea, and Russian-backed separatists seized part of south-east Ukraine, starting the war in Donbas. In 2021, Russia began a large military build-up along its border with Ukraine. Russian president Vladimir Putin espoused irredentist views, questioned Ukraine's right to statehood, and accused Ukraine, without basis, of being dominated by neo-Nazis who persecute the Russian-speaking minority. Putin said the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) had threatened Russia's security by expanding eastward since the early 2000s – a claim disputed by NATO – and demanded Ukraine be barred from ever joining the alliance. The United States and others accused Russia of planning to attack or invade Ukraine, which Russian officials repeatedly denied as late as 23 February 2022.

On 21 February 2022, Russia recognised the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and the Luhansk People's Republic, two self-proclaimed statelets in Donbas controlled by pro-Russian separatists. The following day, the Federation Council of Russia authorised the use of military force abroad, and Russian troops entered both territories. On 24 February, at about 5:00 EET (UTC+2), Putin announced a "special military operation" to "demilitarise and denazify" Ukraine. Minutes later, missiles and airstrikes struck throughout Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv, shortly followed by a large ground invasion from multiple directions. In response, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy enacted martial law and general mobilisation.

Multi-pronged assaults were launched from Russia, Belarus, and the two occupied territories of Ukraine (Crimea and Donbas). Four major war theatres developed: the Kyiv offensive, the Northeastern Ukraine offensive, the Eastern Ukraine offensive, and the Southern Ukraine offensive. The Russian military has also carried out air and missile strikes far into western Ukraine. Russian forces have approached or besieged key settlements, including Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kyiv, Mariupol, and Sumy, but met stiff Ukrainian resistance and experienced logistical and operational challenges that hampered their progress. Three weeks after launching the invasion, the Russian military had enjoyed more success in the south, while incremental gains or stalemates elsewhere forced them to adopt a strategy of attrition, resulting in mounting civilian casualties.

The invasion was widely condemned internationally. The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution which condemned it and demanded a full withdrawal. The International Court of Justice ordered Russia to suspend military operations, and the Council of Europe expelled Russia. Many countries imposed new sanctions, which have affected the economies of Russia and the world. Various countries provided humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine. Protests occurred around the world; those in Russia have been met with mass arrests and increased media censorship, including banning the terms "war" and "invasion". Numerous companies withdrew their products and services from Russia and Belarus. The International Criminal Court opened an investigation into allegations of Russian military war crimes in Ukraine.

Background

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 and become 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) agreed to uphold the territorial integrity and 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 Soviet Union's collapse, several former Eastern Bloc countries joined NATO, partly in response to regional security threats involving Russia such as the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis, the War in Abkhazia (1992–1993) and the First Chechen War (1994–1996). In the years leading up to the invasion, Russian leaders described this expansion as a violation of Western powers' informal assurances that NATO would not expand eastward.

The 2004 Ukrainian presidential election was controversial. During the election campaign, opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko was poisoned by TCDD dioxin; he later implicated Russian involvement. In November, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych was declared the winner, despite allegations of vote-rigging by election observers. During a two-month period which became known as the Orange Revolution, large peaceful protests successfully challenged the outcome. After the Supreme Court of Ukraine annulled the initial result due to widespread electoral fraud, a second round re-run was held, bringing to power Yushchenko as president and Yulia Tymoshenko as prime minister, and leaving Yanukovych in opposition.

The Orange Revolution is often grouped together with other early-21st century protest movements, particularly within post Soviet-states, 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 countries and undermine Russia's national security. Russian president 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".

At the 2008 Bucharest summit, Ukraine and Georgia sought to join NATO. The response among NATO members was divided; Western European countries opposed offering Membership Action Plans (MAP) in order to avoid antagonising Russia, while US president George W. Bush pushed for their admission. NATO ultimately refused to offer Ukraine and Georgia MAPs, but also issued a statement agreeing that "these countries will become members of NATO". Putin voiced strong opposition to Georgia and Ukraine's NATO membership bids. On 7 February 2019, the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's parliament, voted to amend the constitution to state that the country's long-term ambition was to join the European Union (EU) and NATO. However, in the months prior to the 2022 invasion, the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO remained remote.

Euromaidan, Revolution of Dignity, and the War in Donbas

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

See also: 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, and Russian nationalism

Euromaidan protests in Kyiv, December 2013

In 2009, Yanukovych announced his intent to again run for president in the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election, which he subsequently won. In November 2013, a wave of large, pro-EU protests erupted in response to Yanukovych's sudden decision not to sign the EU–Ukraine Association Agreement, instead choosing closer ties to Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union. The Verkhovna Rada had overwhelmingly supported the agreement with the EU. Russia had put pressure on Ukraine to reject it.

The scope of the protests widened, with protesters opposing widespread government corruption, police brutality, and repressive anti-protest laws. In February 2014, clashes in Kyiv between protesters and Berkut special police resulted in the deaths of 100 protesters and 13 policemen; most of the victims were shot by police snipers. On 21 February 2014, Yanukovych and parliamentary opposition leaders signed an agreement calling for an interim government and early elections. The following day, Yanukovych fled Kyiv and later Ukraine; the Ukrainian parliament subsequently voted to remove him from office. Leaders in Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine declared continuing loyalty to Yanukovych, leading to pro-Russian unrest. Russian state-controlled media portrayed the crisis as having been instigated by the post-Yanukovych Ukrainian government, and represented Euromaidan as being controlled by "ultranationalist", "fascist", "neo-Nazi", and "anti-Semitic" groups.

Ukraine, with Crimea and two self-proclaimed separatist republics in Donbas

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: the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic. Russian troops were involved in the conflict. 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 France, Germany, and Ukraine understood Minsk as an agreement between Russia and Ukraine, 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 Dmitry 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 neo-imperial movement aspiring to annex more land from Ukraine, including the unrecognised 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 reaffirmed 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 called it historical revisionism. Other observers regarded 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

Main article: Prelude to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

Rise in tensions (March 2021–February 2022)

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. It was followed by a second build-up between October 2021 to February 2022 in both Russia and Belarus. During these developments, the Russian government repeatedly denied it had plans to invade or attack Ukraine; those who issued the denials included government spokesman Dmitry Peskov in 28 November 2021, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov in 19 January 2022, Russian ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov on 20 February 2022, and Russian ambassador to the Czech Republic Alexander Zmeevsky on 23 February 2022.

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 Russo-Ukrainian border. The intelligence reported the existence of a Russian list of key sites and individuals to be killed or neutralised upon invasion. The US continued to release reports that accurately predicted the invasion plans.

Russian accusations and demands

Further information: Russian opposition to Ukrainian NATO membership

See also: Disinformation in the 2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis and Humanitarian situation during the war in Donbas

On 10 January 2022, Ukrainian deputy prime minister Olha Stefanishyna and NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg spoke to media about the prospect of a Russian invasion.

In the months preceding the invasion, Russian officials accused Ukraine of inciting tensions, Russophobia, and the repression of Russian speakers in Ukraine. They also made multiple security demands of Ukraine, NATO, and non-NATO allies in the EU. These actions were described by commentators and Western officials as attempts to justify war. On 9 December 2021 Putin said that "Russophobia is a first step towards genocide". Putin's claims were dismissed by the international community, and Russian claims of genocide have been widely rejected as baseless. Ukrainian president Zelenskyy declared that 16 February, a speculated date for the invasion, would be a "Day of Unity". Ukrainians were encouraged to "hang our national flags, put on blue and yellow ribbons, and show our unity to the whole world", as well as to sing the national anthem in public spaces at 10:00 EET (UTC+2).

In a 21 February speech, Putin questioned the legitimacy of the Ukrainian state, repeating an inaccurate claim that "Ukraine never had a tradition of genuine statehood". He incorrectly described the country as having been created by Soviet Russia. To justify an invasion, Putin falsely accused Ukrainian society and government of being dominated by neo-Nazism, invoking the history of collaboration in German-occupied Ukraine during World War II, and echoing an antisemitic conspiracy theory which casts Russian Christians, rather than Jews, as the true 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, rebuked Putin's allegations, stating that his grandfather had served in the Soviet army fighting against the Nazis. The US Holocaust Memorial Museum and Yad Vashem condemned the abuse of Holocaust history and the use of comparisons with Nazi ideology for propagandist purposes.

Putin and his long-time confidant Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu

During the second build-up, Russia issued demands to the US and NATO, including a legally binding arrangement preventing Ukraine from ever joining NATO, and the removal of multinational forces stationed in NATO's Eastern European member states. Russia threatened an unspecified military response if NATO continued to follow an "aggressive line". These demands were widely interpreted as being non-viable; new NATO members in Central and Eastern Europe had joined the alliance because their populations broadly preferred to move towards the safety and economic opportunities offered by NATO and the EU, and their governments sought protection from Russian irredentism. The demand for a formal treaty preventing Ukraine from joining NATO was also seen as unviable by Western officials as it would contravene the treaty's "open door" policy, although NATO showed no desire to accede to Ukraine's requests to join.

Alleged clashes (17–21 February 2022)

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

Fighting in Donbas escalated after 17 February 2022. The Ukrainians and the Russian separatists accused one another of firing into their respective territories. On 18 February, the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics ordered all civilians to leave their capitals, although observers noted that full evacuations would take months. Ukrainian media reported a sharp increase in artillery shelling by the Russian-led militants in Donbas as attempts to provoke the Ukrainian army. In the days leading up to the invasion, the Russian government intensified a disinformation campaign intended to mute public criticism. Russian state media promoted fabricated videos—many amateur in quality—that purported to show Ukrainian forces attacking Russians in Donbas; evidence showed that the claimed attacks, explosions, and evacuations were staged by Russia. On 21 February, the head of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said that Russian forces had killed five Ukrainian "saboteurs" that crossed into Russian territory, capturing one Ukrainian serviceman and destroying two armoured vehicles. The claim was denied by Ukraine and drew warnings that Russia was seeking further justification to start an invasion. The Times described it as "the first move in Putin's war plan."

Escalation (21–23 February 2022)

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

On 21 February, Putin announced that the Russian government would recognise the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics. The same evening, Putin directed that Russian troops be deployed into Donbas, in what Russia referred to as a "peacekeeping mission". The 21 February intervention in Donbas was condemned by several members of the UN Security Council; none voiced support. On 22 February, video footages shot in the early morning shown Russian armed forces and tanks moving in the Donbas region. The Federation Council unanimously authorised the use of military force outside Russia.

In response, Zelenskyy ordered the conscription of army reservists; The following day, Ukraine's parliament proclaimed a 30-day nationwide state of emergency and ordered the mobilisation of all reservists. Russia began to evacuate its embassy in Kyiv. 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 gave a speech in Russian in which he appealed to the citizens of Russia to prevent war. He also refuted Russia's claims about the presence of neo-Nazis in the Ukrainian government and said that he had no intention of attacking the Donbas region. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on 23 February that the separatist leaders in Donetsk and Luhansk had sent a letter to Putin stating that Ukrainian shelling had caused civilian deaths and appealing for military support from Russia.

In response, Ukraine requested an urgent UN Security Council meeting. Half an hour into the emergency meeting, Putin announced the start of military operations in Ukraine. Sergiy Kyslytsya, the Ukrainian representative, subsequently called on the Russian representative, Vasily Nebenzya, to "do everything possible to stop the war" or relinquish his position as president of the UN Security Council; Nebenzya refused.

Declaration of military operations

On 24 February, Putin announced that he had made the decision to launch a "special military operation" in eastern Ukraine. In his pre-invasion speech, Putin said 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 him, "for eight years now, have been facing humiliation and genocide perpetrated by the Kyiv regime".

Putin said 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 region. An alleged leaked report from within Russia's FSB security agency claimed that the intelligence agency was not warned about Putin's plan to invade Ukraine. 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 the north in Belarus (towards Kyiv); from the northeast in Russia (towards Kharkiv); from the east in the DPR and the Luhansk People's Republic; and from the south in Crimea. Russian equipment and vehicles were marked with a white Z military symbol (a non-Cyrillic letter), believed to be a measure to prevent friendly fire.

Invasion and resistance

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

See also: Order of battle for the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

Animated map of the invasion from 24 February to 20 March

The invasion began on 24 February after Putin's declaration of his intended military intervention. The full military operation was to follow an invasion by infantry divisions with supportive tank divisions and air support in Eastern Ukraine, along with dozens of missile attacks across both Eastern Ukraine and Western Ukraine. Ostensibly, the main infantry and tank division attacks were launched at four spearhead incursions, creating a Northern front (launched towards Kiev), a Southern front (originating in Crimea), a Southeastern front (launched at the cities of Luhansk and Donbas), and an Eastern front. All four incursions crossed into Ukraine at approximately 100-200 kilometers within Ukrainian borders while occupying Ukrainian territory and encircling main cities. By 20 March, the four incursion fronts had formed a perimeter significantly within the entire border of Eastern Ukraine and started to extensively consolidate lines of communication and support between all four fronts within Ukraine while besieging Mariupol, Kiev, Donbas, Luhansk, and other cities. An extensive missile bombardment campaign was also conducted with dozens of missile strikes across Ukraine, reaching as far west as Lviv.

Northern front

See also: Kyiv offensive (2022)

Military control around Kyiv on 18 March 2022

Russian efforts to capture Kyiv included a main spearhead striking south from Belarus along the west bank of the Dnipro River, with the apparent aim of encircling the city from the west. It was 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 likely intended to encircle Kyiv from the northeast and east.

On the first day of the invasion, Russian forces advancing towards Kyiv from Belarus gained control of the ghost towns of Chernobyl and Pripyat. Following their breakthrough at Chernobyl, Russian forces were held at Ivankiv, a northern suburb of Kyiv. Russian Airborne Forces attempted to seize two key airfields around Kyiv, launching an airborne assault on Antonov Airport, followed by a similar landing at Vasylkiv, near Vasylkiv Air Base to the south of Kyiv, on 26 February. These attacks appeared to have been an attempt by Russia to seize Kyiv rapidly, with Spetsnaz infiltrating into the city supported by airborne operations and a rapid mechanised advance from the north. However, the attacks were unsuccessful. During its initial assaults on Kyiv, Russia reportedly made several attempts to assassinate Volodymyr Zelenskyy using Wagner Group mercenaries and Chechen forces; the Ukrainian government said these efforts were partially thwarted by anti-war officials within Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), who shared intelligence of the plans.

File:Russian military weapons destroyed and seized by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.jpg

Russian military vehicles destroyed in Bucha, Kyiv Oblast, 1 March

By early March, further Russian advances along the west side of the Dnipro were limited, after suffering setbacks from Ukrainian defence. As of 5 March, a large Russian convoy, reportedly 64 kilometres (40 mi) in length, had made little progress toward Kyiv; the London-based think tank Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) assessed the Russian performance from the north and east as "stalled". Advances along the Chernihiv axis had largely halted as a siege on the city began. Russian forces also continued advancing from the northwest of Kyiv, capturing Bucha, Hostomel, and Vorzel by 5 March, though Irpin remained contested as of 9 March. By 11 March, it was reported that the lengthy convoy had largely dispersed, taking up positions that offered tree cover. Rocket launchers were also identified. On 16 March, Ukrainian forces began a counter-offensive to repel Russian forces approaching Kyiv from several surrounding cities.

Northeastern front

Main article: Northeastern Ukraine offensive

Russian forces advanced into Chernihiv Oblast on 24 February and sieged its administrative capital. The following day, the oblast's second largest city, Konotop, which is 90 kilometres (56 mi) from the Russian border, was attacked and captured by Russian forces.

A separate advance was made into Sumy Oblast on the same day, where the city of Sumy, just 35 kilometres (22 mi) from the Russo-Ukrainian border was invaded by Russian units. Despite the onset of hostilities, the battle erupted into urban fighting, and Ukrainian forces were successful in holding the city. According to Ukrainian sources, more than 100 Russian armoured vehicles were destroyed and dozens of soldiers were captured. Okhtyrka also came under attack, where Russian forces were spotted deploying thermobaric weapons.

In an assessment of the campaign on 4 March, Frederick Kagan wrote that the Sumy axis is currently "the most successful and dangerous Russian avenue of advance on Kyiv", and commented that the geography favoured mechanised advances as the terrain "is flat and sparsely populated, offering few good defensive positions". Russian forces has made the deepest advances along the attack on Sumy in the east, winning several battles in the process. Travelling along highways, Russian forces reached Brovary, an eastern suburb of Kyiv, on 4 March. On 17 March, Izium was reportedly captured by Russian forces, although fighting continued.

Southeastern front

Main article: Eastern Ukraine offensive

Russian bombardment on the outskirts of Kharkiv, 1 March

In the east, Russian troops tried to capture Kharkiv, less than 35 kilometres (22 mi) from the Russian border. During the fighting, Russian tanks were met with strong Ukrainian resistance. On 28 February, the city was targeted by various missile attacks that killed several people. The battle was described by a Ukrainian presidential adviser as the "Stalingrad of the 21st century".

On the morning of 25 February, the Russian units from the DPR advanced towards Mariupol and encountered Ukrainian forces near the village of Pavlopil, where they were defeated. By the evening, the Russian Navy reportedly began an amphibious assault on the coastlines of the Sea of Azov 70 kilometres (43 mi) west of Mariupol. A US defence official said that Russian forces might be deploying thousands of Russian Naval Infantry units from this beachhead. On 1 March, Denis Pushilin, the head of the DPR, announced that DPR forces had almost completely surrounded the city of Volnovakha and claimed similar circumstances would happen at Mariupol. On 2 March, Russian forces were repelled from Sievierodonetsk during an attack against the city.

By 18 March, Mariupol was completely encircled as fighting reached the city-center, hampering civilian evacuation efforts. On 20 March, the campus of an art school in the city, which had sheltered around 400 people, was destroyed in a Russian bombing. The same day, as Russian forces continued their siege on the city, the Russian government demanded a full surrender, to which several Ukrainian government officials refused.

Southern front

Main article: Southern Ukraine offensive

Destroyed Russian BMP-3 near Mariupol, 7 March

On 24 February, Russian forces took control of the North Crimean Canal, allowing Crimea to obtain water from the Dnieper, previously cut off since 2014. A siege at Mariupol began as the attack moved east towards the city, while simultaneously linking the front with separatist-held regions in Donbas. On 1 March, Russian forces started preparations to resume their attack on Melitopol and other nearby cities, intiating a battle. Ivan Fedorov, the mayor of Melitopol, later revealled that Russian forces have occupied the city.

Another group Russian forces advanced north from Crimea, with the Russian 22nd Army Corps approaching the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant on 26 February. On 28 February, they began a siege at Enerhodar in an attempt to take control of the nuclear power plant. A fire was started at the plant during the battle. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) subsequently clarified that essential equipment had not been damaged. By 4 March, the nuclear power plant fell under Russian control. Despite reports of fires, the power plant recorded no radiation leaks.

A third Russian attack group from Crimea moved northwest, where they captured bridges over the Dnieper. On 2 March, Russian troops won a battle at Kherson and captured the city, becoming the first major Ukrainian city to be captured by Russian forces during the invasion. Russian troops then advanced to Mykolaiv and attacked the city two days later, but were later repelled by Ukrainian forces. Ukrainian forces initiated a counteroffensive on Horlivka on 2 March. The city of Horlivka had been mainly controlled by the Donetsk People's Republic from 2014. Following a renewed missile attack on 14 March in Mariupol, the Ukrainian government claimed more than 2,500 deaths in the city.

Western Ukraine

On 14 March, Russian forces conducted multiple cruise missile attacks on a military training facility in Yavoriv, Lviv Oblast, close to the Polish border. Local governor Maksym Kozytskyy reported that at least 35 people had been killed in the attacks. On 18 March, Russian forces expanded the attack on Lviv itself, with Ukrainian military officials saying initial information suggested that the missiles launched by Russia towards Lviv were "most likely air-launched cruise missiles fired from warplanes over the Black Sea".

Air and naval engagements

"Russian warship go fuck yourself!", billboard in Russian language in Dnipro, Ukraine

On 24 February, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine announced 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. Russian forces also attacked the Chuhuiv air base on 24 February, which housed Bayraktar TB2 drones. The attack caused damage to fuel storage areas and infrastructure.

On 25 February, the Millerovo air base attack by Ukrainian military forces relied on OTR-21 Tochka missiles. According to Ukrainian officials, this destroyed several Russian Air Force planes and set the airbase on fire. 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 at least ten aircraft on 5 March. On 6 March, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported 88 Russian aircraft had been destroyed since the war began. However, an anonymous senior US defence official told Reuters on 7 March that Russia still had the "vast majority" of its fighter jets and helicopters that had been amassed near Ukraine available to fly.

Russia stated on 26 February that US drones were supplying intelligence to the Ukrainian navy to help target Russian warships in the Black Sea, which the US denied. By 3 March, the Ukrainian frigate Hetman Sahaidachny, the flagship of the Ukrainian navy, was scuttled in Mykolaiv to prevent its capture by Russian forces. On 14 March, the Russian source RT reported that the Russian Armed Forces had captured about a dozen Ukrainian ships in Berdyansk, including the Polnocny-class landing ship Yuri Olefirenko.

On 13 March, Russian forces conducted multiple cruise missile attacks on a military training facility in Yavoriv, Lviv Oblast, close to the Polish border. Local governor Maksym Kozytskyy reported that at least 35 people had been killed in the attacks. The nonperformance of the Russian Air Force has been attributed by The Economist to Russia's inability to suppress Ukraine's medium ranged surface-to-air missile (SAM) batteries, Russia's lack of precision-guided bombs, together with Ukrainian mid-range SAM sites that force planes to fly low, making them vulnerable to Stinger and other shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles, and lack of training and flight hours for Russian pilots rendering them inexperienced for the type of close ground support missions typical of modern air forces.

Popular resistance

Civilians in Kyiv preparing Molotov cocktails, 26 February

Ukrainian civilians resisted the Russian invasion, volunteering for territorial defence units, making Molotov cocktails, donating food, constructing barriers such as Czech hedgehogs, and helping to transport refugees. Responding to a call from Ukraine's transportation agency, Ukravtodor, civilians dismantled or altered road signs, constructed makeshift barriers, and blocked roadways. Social media reports show spontaneous street protests against Russian forces in occupied settlements, often evolving into verbal altercations and physical standoffs with Russian troops. In some instances, people physically blocked Russian military vehicles, sometimes forcing them to retreat. The Russian soldiers' response to unarmed civilian resistance varied from reluctance to engage the protesters to firing into the air or directly into crowds. There have been mass detentions of Ukrainian protesters, and Ukrainian media reported forced disappearances, mock executions, hostage-taking, extrajudicial killing, and sexual violence perpetrated by the Russian military.

Foreign military involvement

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

  Russia

  Ukraine

  Countries sending any aid, including humanitarian aid, to Ukraine

Since 2014, the UK, US, EU, and NATO have provided mostly non-lethal military aid to Ukraine. Lethal military support was limited, with the US beginning to sell weapons including Javelin anti-tank missiles starting in 2018, and Ukraine agreeing to purchase TB2 combat drones from Turkey in 2019. As Russia began building up its equipment and troops on Ukraine's borders, in January 2022, the US started approving some of the NATO member states to transfer their US-produced weapons to Ukraine. The UK also began supplying NLAW and Javelin anti-tank weapons. Following the invasion, NATO member states, including Germany, agreed to supply weapons, but NATO as an organisation did not. NATO and its member states also refused to send troops into Ukraine as this would risk a larger-scale war, a decision which some experts have labelled as a policy of appeasement.

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. The next day the EU stated that it would purchase €450 million (US$502 million) in lethal assistance and an additional €50 million ($56 million) in non-lethal supplies to be supplied to Ukraine, with Poland acting as a distribution hub. In less than one week from the beginning of the invasion, NATO member states supplied more than 17,000 anti-tank weapons to Ukraine.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell stated that the EU intended to supply Ukraine with fighter jets. Bulgaria, Poland, and Slovakia had MiG-29s, and Slovakia also had Su-25s, aircraft which Ukraine already flew and which could be transferred without pilot training. However, the planes' owners were reluctant to donate weapons critical for their own territorial defences, and feared that Russia could view it as an act of war if jets fly from their air bases to fight over Ukraine.

Foreign volunteers

See also: International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine

Ukraine has been actively seeking volunteers from other countries. On 1 March, Ukraine temporarily lifted visa requirements for foreign volunteers who wished to join the fight against Russian forces. The move came after Zelenskyy created the International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine and called on volunteers to "join the defense of Ukraine, Europe and the world." Ukraine's foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba stated that as of 6 March, approximately 20,000 foreign nationals from 52 countries have volunteered to fight. Most of these volunteers joined the newly created International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine.

On 3 March, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov warned that mercenaries are not entitled to protection under the Geneva Conventions, and foreign fighters that have been captured will not be given prisoner of war status and will be prosecuted as criminals. On 11 March, Moscow announced that 16,000 volunteers from the Middle East were ready to join other pro-Russian foreign fighters alongside the Donbas separatists. A video uploaded online showed armed Central African paramilitaries calling to arms to fight in Ukraine with Russian troops.

Casualties and humanitarian impact

Casualties

Further information: Casualties of the Russo-Ukrainian War

See also: List of Russian generals killed during the 2022 invasion of Ukraine and List of journalists killed during the Russo-Ukrainian War

Breakdown	Fatalities	Time period	Source
Civilians	3,388–3,654+ killed	24 February – 23 March 2022	Ukrainian government
	953+ killed	24 February – 21 March 2022	United Nations
UAF, NGU, and volunteer forces	2,000–4,000 killed	24 February – 9 March 2022	US estimate
	1,300 killed	24 February – 12 March 2022	Ukrainian government
Russian Armed Forces	498 killed	24 February – 2 March 2022	Russian government
	3,000–10,000 killed	24 February – 18 March 2022	US estimate
	557 killed	24 February – 21 March 2022	BBC News Russian
	7,000–15,000 killed	24 February – 23 March 2022	NATO estimate
	15,600 losses	24 February – 23 March 2022	Ukrainian government
Donetsk PR forces	349 killed	25 February – 17 March 2022	Donetsk PR

With respect to Russian military losses, Ukrainian estimates tended to be high, while Russian estimates of their own losses tended to be low. Combat deaths can be inferred from a variety of sources, including satellite imagery and video image of military actions. According to a researcher at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University in Sweden, Ukraine's government was engaged in a misinformation campaign aimed to boost morale and Western media was generally happy to accept its claims, while Russia was "probably" downplaying its own casualties. Ukraine also tended to be quieter about its own military fatalities. According to BBC News, Ukrainian claims of Russian fatalities were possibly including the injured as well. Analysts warned about accepting the Ukrainian claims as fact, as Western countries were emphasizing the Russian military's toll, while Russia wanted to downplay its losses.

The number of civilian and military deaths is impossible to determine with precision given the fog of war. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) consider the number of civilian casualties to be considerably higher than the one the United Nations are able to certify.

Foreign civilian deaths

Excluding the Ukrainian civilian casualties, at least 28 people from 12 countries were killed during 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
Belarus	2
United States	2
Afghanistan	1
Algeria	1
Armenia	1
Bangladesh	1
India	1
Iraq	1
Ireland	1
Israel	1

Foreign fighters deaths

Excluding the Russian and Ukrainian soldiers casualties, at least five combatants from other countries were killed during the war. Below is a list of the nationalities of the foreign fighter casualties.

Foreign fighter casualties of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

Country	Deaths	Allegiance	Reference(s)
Georgia	3	Ukrainian Armed Forces Georgian Legion
Belarus	2	Ukrainian Armed Forces Kastuś Kalinoŭski Battalion

Prisoners of war

Russia claimed to have captured 572 Ukrainian soldiers by 2 March 2022, while Ukraine claimed 562 Russian soldiers were being held as prisoners as of 20 March, with 10 previously reported released in prisoner exchanges.

On 8 March, a Ukrainian defence reporter with The Kyiv Independent announced that the Ukrainian government was working towards having Russian POWs work to help revive the Ukrainian economy, in full compliance with international law. Oksana Markarova, Ukraine's ambassador to the US, reported that a platoon of the 74th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade from Kemerovo Oblast surrendered to Ukraine, saying they "didn't know that they were brought to Ukraine to kill Ukrainians".

Refugees

Main article: Ukrainian refugee crisis

File:Ukrainian civilians and soldiers take shelter under a bridge in Kyiv.jpg

Ukrainian refugees sheltering beneath a bridge in Kyiv, 5 March

Refugee children and babies in a basement in Kyiv, 1 March

The war caused a refugee and humanitarian crisis within Europe not seen since the 1990s Yugoslav Wars; the UN has described it as the fastest growing such crisis since World War II. 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 to five million people to flee their homes.

In the first week of the invasion, the UN reported over a million refugees had fled Ukraine; this subsequently rose to over 3.6 million by 23 March. Most refugees were women, children, the elderly, or people with disabilities. As of 16 March, another 6.5 million people were displaced inside Ukraine. By 20 March, a total of ten million Ukrainians had fled their homes, making it the fastest growing refugee crisis in the contemporary era. Most male Ukrainian nationals aged 18 to 60 were denied exit from Ukraine as part of mandatory conscription, except if they were responsible for the financial support of three or more children, single fathers, or were the parent/guardian of children with disabilities. Many Ukrainian men, including teenagers, in any case opted to remain in Ukraine to join the resistance. There has also been an inflow of over 66,200 Ukrainian men to Ukraine, returning from abroad to fight.

On 16 March, BBC News, relying on data from the UN High Commission for Refugees, reported that the total number of refugees then exceeded 3 million people, the majority of whom crossed the border to Poland. The BBC report provided the number of refugees seeking refuge in specific nations, stating Poland had received 1,916,445 refugees; Romania 491,409; Moldova 350,886; Hungary 282,611; Slovakia 228,844; Russia 168,858; and Belarus 2,127. As of 17 March, over 270,000 refugees from Ukraine had arrived in the Czech Republic. The EU invoked the Temporary Protection Directive for the first time in its history, granting Ukrainian refugees the right to live and work in the EU for up to three years. Turkey has been another significant destination, registering 20,550 Ukrainian refugees as of 7 March, .

Thousands of those arriving in Russia appear to have been forcibly relocated. Some Mariupol evacuees have allegedly been sent to work in Russia, with Ukrainian officials claiming thousands have been dispatched to Taganrog. RIA Novosti, a Russian state media outlet, reported that some Mariupol residents have been evacuated to Donetsk, Ryazan, and Yaroslavl.

A second refugee crisis created by the invasion and by the Russian government's crackdown has been the flight of up to 200,000 Russian political refugees, to countries like the Baltic states, Georgia, and Turkey. Some of these have faced discrimination for being Russian.

Legal implications

War crimes

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

Attributed to Russian authorities and forces

A Ukrainian civilian killed during the Russian bombing of Chernihiv

Ukrainian first responders on a street in Chernihiv

The invasion of Ukraine violated the Charter of the United Nations and constituted a crime of aggression according to international criminal law, raising the possibility of prosecution under universal jurisdiction. The invasion 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 did not ratify the Rome Statute and Russia withdrew its signature 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. A maternity and children's hospital in Mariupol was targeted by a Russian air strike on 9 March. A regional official stated that the attack happened during a pre-arranged ceasefire, and estimated that at least 17 people were injured as a result. In a statement two days before the bombing, the Permanent Representative of Russia to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya claimed that "local residents said that Ukraine's armed forces forced staff out of a maternity clinic No.1 in Mariupol and then established a firing site in the clinic."

On 28 February, AI and HRW denounced the use of cluster munitions and thermobaric weapons by Russian invasion forces in Ukraine. According to the UK's Ministry of Defence, Russia has confirmed it has used thermobaric weapons in Ukraine. International law does not prohibit the use of thermobaric weapons against military targets. 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.

Attributed to Ukrainian authorities and forces

On 7 March, AI called on the Ukrainian government to uphold the rights of the Russian prisoners of war under the Third Geneva Convention, and on 16 March, HRW urged Ukrainian authorities to stop posting on social media and messaging apps videos of captured Russian soldiers that showed them being humiliated or intimidated. Since 27 February, the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs had shared grisly photos and videos of killed Russian soldiers, soon followed by dozens of videos of prisoners of war under interrogation, sometimes blindfolded or bound, revealing their names and personal information, and expressing regret over their involvement in the invasion. According to The Guardian, while it is likely that Ukraine is utilising the discomfort of captured soldiers for propaganda purposes, the videos succeeded in showing "an authentic sense that many Russian servicemen regret ever having come to Ukraine."

On 14 March, a OTR-21 Tochka missile hit the city of Donetsk, allegedly killing 23 local civilians. Russia and the DPR claimed that the missile was launched by the Armed Forces of Ukraine and accused Ukraine of committing war crimes; the Ukrainian government denied this accusation, claiming the missile was launched by the Russian Armed Forces as part of a false flag operation.

Legal proceedings against Russia

Further information: Legality of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

International Criminal Court

Main article: International Criminal Court investigation in Ukraine

On 27 February, the Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba called for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the Okhtyrka kindergarten bombing. On 28 February, Karim Ahmad Khan, the chief prosecutor of the ICC, said he planned to investigate allegations of war crimes in Ukraine "as rapidly as possible" 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. Russia is not party to the ICC's Rome Statute, or founding treaty, and therefore does not recognize its authority.

International Court of Justice

Main article: Ukraine v. Russian Federation (2022)

Ukraine filed a lawsuit against Russia before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing Russia of violating the 1948 Genocide Convention (to which both Ukraine and Russia are parties) by falsely claiming genocide as a pretext for invading Ukraine. The International Association of Genocide Scholars supported Ukraine's request. Ukraine asked the ICJ to adopt provisional measures, an order directing Russia to halt its offensive in Ukraine. The ICJ granted Ukraine's request to expedite the proceedings. Russian representatives refused to appear at a court hearing at the Peace Palace in The Hague. On 16 March, the ICJ ordered Russia, as a provisional measure, to "immediately suspend the military operations that it commenced on 24 February 2022 in the territory of Ukraine". The decision was taken after a 13–2 vote, with the Russian and Chinese judges in opposition. It is binding on Russia, but the ICJ has no means to enforce it.

Other legal proceedings

Iryna Venediktova, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, has called for a Nuremberg trials-style ad hoc international criminal tribunal to be established to hold Russian officials responsible for waging the crime of aggression and for atrocities during the war. Former British prime ministers Gordon Brown and Sir John Major, as well as former prosecutor for the Nuremberg Military Tribunal Benjamin Ferencz, are among dozens of public figures who support the measure. Domestic criminal proceedings have been opened in Estonia, Germany, Latvia, and Poland, investigating potential war crimes committed by Russia against Ukraine.

Peace efforts

Main article: 2022 Russia–Ukraine peace negotiations

The Prime Ministers of the governments of Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia with the President of Ukraine in Kyiv, 15 March 2022 (20th day of the Russian invasion). The first government delegation to Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion

On 28 February, Ukrainian and Russian negotiators began talks in Belarus aimed at a ceasefire and ensuring humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians. After three rounds of talks, no deal was reached. On 5 March, Russia declared a five-and-a-half hour ceasefire in Mariupol and Volnovakha, to open humanitarian corridors for civilians to evacuate. Ukraine blamed Russian forces for repeatedly breaking the ceasefire by shelling the two cities; the Russian defence ministry stated the firing came from inside both cities against Russian positions. The International Committee of the Red Cross declared that the effort to evacuate civilians had failed.

On 7 March, as a condition for ending the invasion, the Kremlin demanded Ukraine's neutrality, recognition of Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, as Russian territory, and recognition of the self-proclaimed separatist republics of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states. The same day, Russia declared a temporary ceasefire in Kyiv, Sumy, and two other cities, starting from 10:30 Moscow Time (UTC+3). On 8 March, Zelenskyy suggested a direct meeting with Putin to end the invasion and expressed willingness to discuss Putin's demands. Zelenskyy said he was ready for dialogue, but "not for capitulation". He proposed a new collective security agreement for Ukraine with the US, Turkey, France, Germany, and Russia as an alternative to the country joining NATO. Zelenskyy's Servant of the People party said that Ukraine would not give up Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk.

On 10 March, Foreign Ministers Sergey Lavrov and Dmytro Kuleba met for talks in Antalya, Turkey, with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu as a mediator within scope of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in the first high-level contact between the two sides since the beginning of the invasion. On 15 March, while the fourth round of talks took place, Zelenskyy suggested that Ukraine would accept not pursuing membership of NATO. On 17 March, the Financial Times reported that a 15-point plan negotiated with Russia was identified by Zelenskyy as offering a more "realistic" possibility for ending the war than previous talks. Mykhailo Podolyak, continuing as the chief negotiator for the Ukrainian peace delegation, indicated that peace negotiations of a 15-point plan would involve the retraction of Russian forces from their advanced positions in Ukraine, along with international guarantees for military support and alliance in case of renewed Russian military action in return for Ukraine not pursuing further affiliation with NATO.

On 17 March, Çavuşoğlu was the first foreign minister to visit Ukraine after the start of the invasion. In a joint meeting with Kuleba, he reiterated support for Ukraine and revealed plans for a collective security agreement for Ukraine involving the US, Russia, UK, France, Germany, and Turkey, and called for leaders of both countries to meet in person, stating that the "hopes for ceasefire have increased". Shortly afterwards, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian reportedly received intelligence that the Russians might be disingenuous and warned that Russia was only "pretending to negotiate", in line with a strategy it has used elsewhere.

On 20 March, Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin, said the two sides were getting closer on four key issues. He cited Russia's demand for Ukraine to renounce ambitions to join NATO, demilitarisation, what Russia has referred to as "de-nazification", and the protection of the Russian language in Ukraine. The other two issues of Crimea and Donbas are the most pressing issues of the current negotiations. On the same day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that no significant progress had been made in peace talks, accusing Ukraine of stalling peace talks by making proposals unacceptable for Russia. In response, Ukraine reiterated its willingness to negotiate but stated it would not accept Russian ultimatums. On 22 March, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that "elements of diplomatic progress" were coming into view "on several key issues" and that an immediate cease-fire was possible; he urged the parties involved to cease hostilities immediately and enter into serious negotiations as the war was "unwinnable" on the battlefield.

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 shared across social media, news sites, and by friends and families 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.

Observers have criticised Western media's portrayal of Ukraine's suffering as somewhat different from the suffering in wars in countries like Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Iraq, Libya, Palestine, Syria, and Yemen. In Indonesia, China, India, and Malaysia, social media users showed sympathy for Russian narratives due more to cynicism toward US foreign policy rather than support for the invasion.

Censorship

See also: Media freedom in Russia and Putinism

The Russian censorship apparatus Roskomnadzor ordered the country's media to employ information only from Russian state sources or face fines and blocks, and ordered media agencies to describe the war as a "special military operation", in line with Putin's speech on 24 February 2022. As the Russian government has avoided referring to the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a war or an invasion, stories that describe the event as an "assault", "invasion", or a "declaration of war" were ordered to be deleted. Roskomnadzor launched an investigation against several independent Russian media outlets for publishing information about the war or civilian casualties. Roskomnadzor also threatened to block access to the Russian Wikipedia in Russia over its article on the invasion for reporting casualties among the Russian military personnel and Ukrainian civilians.

Roskomnadzor imposed partial restriction on access to Facebook on 25 February, as Facebook 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. Facebook also uncovered a Russian disinformation campaign using fake accounts, and attempts to hack the accounts of high-profile Ukrainians. On 27 February, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announced an EU-wide ban of Russia's state-sponsored RT and Sputnik news channels following the decision of Poland and Estonia days earlier.

On 3 March, Echo of Moscow's board of directors voted to close the station down. 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. Russian authorities also blocked access to Echo of Moscow and Dozhd (TV Rain), Russia's last independent TV station, claiming that they were spreading false information on the Russian military and calling for violence. Putin signed into law a bill introducing prison sentences of up to 15 years for those who publish "fake news" 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. On 11 March, Mark Bernstein, a top Russian Wikipedia editor, was detained by the Belarusian security service GUBOPiK on charges of violating the "fake news" law after being doxxed on Telegram.

On 12 March, YouTube announced it was blocking an unspecified number of Russian state-backed media, including RT and Sputnik, under its violent events policy. Sputnik criticised the decision, calling it "nothing but a new turn of an atrocious attack on one of the fundamental principles of a democratic society - that is freedom of the press".

Bolstering support against the invasion by Ukraine

Ukrainian officials have utilized social media to bolster support against the invasion and to spread information to the world and their citizens. Targeted posts and videos have also been used for recruitment drives for international aid and soldiers. Some have highlighted the Ukrainian officials' methods as beneficial, by flooding the world with their messages. Several academics, including Professors Rob Danish and Timothy Naftali, have highlighted Zelenskyy's speaking ability and his ability to manipulate social media to spread information and draw upon feelings of shame and concern while building kinship with the viewer. Additional real time information about Russian antagonism and the invasion has been spread by online activists, journalists, politicians, and members of the general population, both from within and from outside Ukraine.

Propaganda

Russian state propaganda

Putin and Konstantin Ernst, chief of Russia's main state-controlled TV station Channel One.

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. On 28 February, RIA Novosti published and then took down an article incorrectly saying that Russia had won the Russo-Ukrainian War and that "Ukraine has returned to Russia". On 14 March, Marina Ovsyannikova, an editor for Russia's Channel One, interrupted the state television's live broadcast to protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, carrying a poster stating in a mix of Russian and English: "Stop the war, don't believe the propaganda, here you are being lied to." RT, a Russian state-controlled television network, was banned in Poland and suspended by television service providers in several countries including Australia and Canada. Russian state-linked channels such as RT and Sputnik were also blocked by YouTube across Europe to prevent Russian disinformation. Many RT journalists resigned from RT following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

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". The "Z" symbol has been used by the Russian government as a pro-war propaganda tool and by Russian civilians as a sign of support for the invasion.

According to The Guardian's Pjotr Sauer, one reason many Russians still support Putin and the "special military operation" in Ukraine has to do with the propaganda and disinformation being sown by the Kremlin. A telephone survey conducted by independent researchers from 28 February to 1 March found that 58% of Russian respondents approved of the military operation. However, a series of four online polls by Alexei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation found that between 25 February and 3 March, the share of Russian respondents who considered Russia an "aggressor" increased from 29% to 53%, while the share of those who considered Russia a "peacemaker" fell by half from 25% to 12%. 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 in Russia. Kataryna Wolczuk, an associate fellow of Chatham House's Russia and Eurasia programme, said, "[Older] Russians are inclined to think in line with the official 'narrative' that Russia is defending Russian speakers in Ukraine, so it's about offering protection rather than aggression."

On 18 March, the British media regulator Ofcom revoked RT's broadcasting licence.

Propaganda in other countries

Chinese diplomats, government agencies, and state-controlled media in China have used the war as an opportunity to deploy anti-American propaganda, and they have amplified conspiracy theories created by Russia, such as the false claims that public health facilities in Ukraine are "secret US biolabs". Such conspiracy theories have also been promoted by Cuban state media.

Russian propaganda has also been repeated by the state-controlled outlets of other countries such as Serbia and Iran. In Iran, the state media criticised the British embassy in Tehran after it raised the Ukrainian flag in support of Ukraine. Reports from Sputnik have been actively republished by Iran's pro-regime media. In Latin America, RT Actualidad is a popular channel that has spread disinformation about the war. Authorities in Vietnam have instructed reporters not to use the word "invasion" and to minimize coverage of the war. In South Africa, the governing African National Congress published an article in its weekly newsletter ANC Today endorsing the notion that Russia had invaded Ukraine to denazify it.

Sanctions and ramifications

Main article: International sanctions during the Russo-Ukrainian War

Sanctions

Further information: List of companies that applied sanctions during the Russo-Ukrainian War and List of people sanctioned 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 imposed 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. The sanctions included cutting off major Russian banks 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 also 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.

Major multinational companies, including Apple, IKEA, ExxonMobil, and General Motors, have decided themselves to apply sanctions to Russia, acting as international law enforcers on behalf of states. Ukrainian and Western governments have explicitly urged the global private sector to help uphold international law, and the EU, UK and Australia have also called on global digital platforms to remove pro-Russian propaganda. Multinational companies have disengaged from Russia in order to comply with sanctions and trade restrictions imposed by home states, but also on their own accord, beyond what was required by law, in order to avoid the economic and reputational risks associated with maintaining commercial ties with Russia.

French finance minister Bruno Le Maire said that the EU "will bring about the collapse" of the Russian economy.

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. Since 1969, Germany had maintained a policy called Ostpolitik, choosing dependence on Russian energy to maintain peaceful relations with Russia and to integrate it in to Europe, while allowing defence spending to fall. In response to the invasion, Germany's new chancellor, Olaf Scholz, decided to suspend Nord Stream 2 and announced a new policy of energy independence from Russia, admitting that Ostpolitik was a failure. In addition, Germany provided arms shipments to Ukraine, the first time that it provided arms to a country at war since the end of World War II. Germany also increased defence expenditures by approximately $100 billion, by some estimates making it the third largest military spender in the world. This change from a policy of appeasement to brinkmanship has been called a new epoch in German policy by The Economist.

On 27 February, Putin responded to the sanctions, and to what he called "aggressive statements" by Western governments, by ordering the country's "deterrence forces"—generally understood to include its nuclear forces—to be put on a "special regime of combat duty". This novel term provoked some confusion as to what exactly was changing, but US officials declared it generally "escalatory". 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. As an effect of the sanctions, Russian elites shifted funds worth hundreds of millions of dollars from sanctioning countries, like the UK and Switzerland, to countries that have not imposed sanctions, like the United Arab Emirates.

Airspace

  Russia

  Ukraine – closed its airspace to Russia in 2015

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

Russian airlines and private flights, with the exception of certain permitted flights such as those made for humanitarian reasons, were banned from national airspaces in the EU, UK, and US. Russia responded by banning several countries from its airspace. On 25 February, US carrier Delta Air Lines announced that it was suspending ties with Aeroflot. Turkey invoked the Montreux Convention on 28 February and sealed off the Bosporus to Russian warships not registered on Black Sea home bases and not returning to their ports of origin, rejecting passage of four Russian naval vessels through the Turkish Straits.

Economic impact

Main article: Economic impact of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

Further information: 2021–2022 global energy 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.

The major weapon manufacturers reported sharp rises in interim revenues and profits.

Russia

Volodymyr Zelenskyy meeting with Boris Johnson on 1 February 2022

President of Poland Andrzej Duda during his visit in Kyiv twelve hours before the invasion (23 February 2022)

Economic sanctions affected Russia from the first day of the invasion, with the stock market falling by up to 39% (RTS Index). The Russian ruble fell to record lows, as Russians rushed to exchange currency. Stock exchanges in Moscow and St. Petersburg were suspended until at least 18 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 interventions, its first since the 2014 annexation of Crimea, to stabilise the market. On 28 February, 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. With the value of the Russian ruble and the share prices for Russian equities falling on major exchanges, the Moscow Exchange was closed for a day, which since has been extended to over a week. As of 28 February, the price of Russia's credit default swaps signalled about a 56% chance of default. Fitch Ratings feared that Russia would imminently default on its debts.

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 projected 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.

On 28 February, Shell 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, suspended all container shipments to Russia, excluding foodstuffs, medical, and humanitarian supplies.

Russia is reported to be experiencing a brain drain due to mass migration of up to 200,000 mainly younger Russian refugees, many of whom are tech industry professionals, to countries like Armenia, the Baltic states, and Turkey. In response to sanctions in the entertainment industry, Russia is considering the legalisation of software piracy.

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

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 the annual capacity of Nord Stream to 110 billion m³ (3.9 trillion cu ft) and thereby decreased the price.

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 $130 a barrel for the first time since 2008. The Biden administration was pressed on potential oil deals with Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Iran that would have them increase their oil production. However, so far, Saudi Arabia has declined requests from the US. Russia has offered crude oil and other commodities at discounted prices to India.

The invasion threatened the energy supply from Russia to Europe, with natural gas prices in Europe reaching an all-time high of $3,700 per thousand cubic meters on 7 March at ICE Futures. This caused European countries to seek to diversify their energy supply routes. On 7 March, German chancellor Olaf Scholz and other European leaders pushed back against the call by the US and Ukraine to ban imports of Russian gas and oil because "Europe's supply of energy for heat generation, mobility, power supply and industry cannot be secured in any other way". The EU indicated that it would cut its gas dependency on Russia by two-thirds in 2022. Germany stated that it would reduce its dependence on Russian energy imports by accelerating renewables and reaching 100% renewable energy generation by 2035. Before the invasion, the EU's energy strategy had focused more on the Green Deal and Fit for 55 plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030.

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 responsible for 29% of the world's wheat exports and 75% of world sunflower oil exports. On 24 February, China announced that it would drop restrictions on Russian wheat, partly due to heavy rains reducing domestic yields, 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 contracts reached their highest price since 2012, with the prices of corn and soybean also spiking. The head of the World Food Programme, David Beasley, warned in March that the war in Ukraine could take the global food crisis to "levels beyond anything we've seen before". A potential disruption to global wheat supplies could exacerbate the ongoing hunger crisis in Yemen.

The supply of neon, needed for chip manufacture and lasers, was also severely constrained by the conflict. Ukraine produces about 70% of the global neon supply, and 90% of the semiconductor-grade neon used in the United States. The two largest suppliers in Ukraine, which together account for half of global neon production, were shuttered after the conflict broke out. The supply of krypton and xenon, of which Ukraine is also a major exporter, was affected as well.

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.

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 while China, India, and the United Arab Emirates abstained. The UN Security Council voted to hold an emergency special session of the UN General Assembly to vote on a similar resolution, which was convened on 28 February. 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.

During a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council on 1 March, over 100 diplomats walked out in protest over a speech by Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov.

NATO

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

Many NATO member states in Eastern Europe triggered 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), led by France. The US announced on 24 February that it would be deploying 7,000 troops to join the 5,000 already in Europe. NATO forces included 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.

As Russia began to build forces on Ukraine's border in the leadup to their invasion, Finland and Sweden, both neutral states, increased their cooperation with NATO. Both countries attended the emergency NATO summit as members of NATO's Partnership for Peace, and both condemned the invasion and have provided assistance to Ukraine. 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. Both Finnish and Swedish public opinion shifted in favour of joining NATO after the invasion. 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.

On 8 March, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned that "any attack against any NATO country [or] NATO territory ... will trigger Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty. On 13 March, Jake Sullivan, the United States National Security Advisor to President Biden, warned of a full-fledged NATO response if Russia were to hit any part of NATO territory. Sullivan added on 22 March, during Biden's trip to Europe to discuss updating NATO's posture towards Russia, that Biden would emphasize three key issues: new sanctions against Russia and tightening existing sanctions, longer-term adjustments to NATO force posture and contingencies in the case of nuclear weapons use, and 'joint action' on enhancing energy security in Europe, which is highly reliant on Russian gas.

European Union

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 Ukraine or NATO provocation

  Unknown

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  Russia

  Ukraine

Further information: Foreign military support to Ukraine

On 27 February, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announced that the European Union 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. The following day, the Council of the European Union adopted two assistance measures to strengthen Ukraine's military capabilities. The measures, for a total value of €500 million, financed the provision of military equipment to the Ukrainian armed forces including – for the first time in the history of the European Union – weapons and other lethal equipments.

On 28 February, the EU imposed a ban on transactions with the Russian Central Bank and a ban on the overflight of EU airspace and on access to EU airports by Russian carriers. On 2 March, a SWIFT ban for certain Russian banks was adopted, ensuring that they were disconnected from the international financial system, and the broadcasting activities in the EU of the outlets Sputnik and RT were suspended. On 10 March, additional measures targeting the Belarusian financial sector were agreed upon, and the EU imposed restrictive measures, including an asset freeze and a travel ban on 160 prominent businesspeople ("oligarchs") and members of the Russian Federation Council. At the onset of the war, similar measures had already been applied on members of Russia's Security Council and Duma, and on other individuals.

On 15 March, the EU decided to impose a fourth package of economic and individual sanctions, including trade restrictions for iron, steel, and luxury goods. The European Commission claimed that restricting steel imports could lead to a loss of €3.3 billion in revenue for Russia, and von der Leyen explained that the EU was now working to suspend Russia's membership rights in multilateral institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Council of Europe

On 25 February, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe suspended Russia from its rights of representation in the Committee of Ministers and in the Parliamentary Assembly. In the following days, the European Court of Human Rights granted interim measures indicating to the Russian Federation that they should refrain from military attacks against civilians and civilian objects and should ensure access to safe evacuation routes, healthcare, food and other essential supplies, rapid and unconstrained passage of humanitarian aid, and movement of humanitarian workers. Russia replied accusing NATO and EU countries of having undermined the European Council, and announcing its intention to withdraw from the organisation. On 15 March, Russia notified the Council of Europe of its decision to withdraw from the council and to denounce the European Convention on Human Rights by the end of 2022. The following day, the Committee of Ministers decided to expel Russia from the Council of Europe with immediate effect.

Protests

Main article: Protests against the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

Anti-war protest in Helsinki, Finland, 26 February 2022

In Russia

Main article: 2022 anti-war protests in Russia

See also: Freedom of assembly in Russia and Opposition to Vladimir Putin in Russia

Almost 2,000 Russians in 60 cities were detained by Russian police on 24 February for protesting against the invasion, according to OVD-Info; by 6 March, it reported that more than 13,000 protestors had been detained overall, with over 5,000 detained that day. 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. Arkady Dvorkovich, who served as Russian Deputy Prime Minister from 2012 to 2018, also condemned the invasion.

Russian human rights activist Lev Ponomaryov started a petition to protest the invasion, garnering more than 750,000 signatures by 26 February. Some Russians who signed petitions against Russia's war in Ukraine lost their jobs. 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 and described 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 resolve 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 held worldwide. In Prague, about 80,000 people protested in Wenceslas Square. 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, Rose Monday, 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 employed the slogan "Glory to Ukraine".

As well as the protests, there were also reported instances of Russophobia and discrimination against the Russian diaspora and Russian-speaking immigrants from post-Soviet states as a result of the war.

Public opinion in Russia

File:Prisdent Vladimir Putin speech Crimea reunification anniversary 2022, Pic 1.jpg

Putin giving speech During pro-war rally

In late February and mid-March 2022 with an interval of one and a half weeks, two polls conducted by a group of independent Russian sociologists to survey Russians’ sentiments about the invasion. The results of the poll were obtained by Radio Liberty.

Almost three-quarters (71%) of the Russian population support the invasion of Ukraine, experiencing such positive emotions as "pride, joy, respect, trust and hope".

Russians over 35 were more likely to express feelings of "pride, respect, and hope". Respondents under the age of 18 were more prone to "resentment and disappointment". Young Russians in the age group of 18 to 24 were more likely to express "indifference" to what is happening in Ukraine. More than half of those over 55 support the war with Ukraine. And two out of five Russians expressed anxiety about the war, and these feelings were most often reported by young Russians.

The differences between the first and second polls show an increase in the number of people supporting the "military operation" and the independence of DPR and LPR.

When asked how they are affected by the actions of the Russian President, a third of respondents said they strongly believe that Putin is working in their interests, and another 26 percent say that he is working in their interests to some extent. In general, most Russians believe that it would be better if Putin remained president for "as long as possible".

Another polls conducted by Levada Center on 17-21 February found that the majority of respondents (52%) felt negatively towards Ukraine. Most (60%) blamed the US and NATO for the escalation of tensions in Eastern Ukraine, while 4% blamed Russia.
The polls suggest that net public approval of Putin had surged by about 13 percentage points since December 2021, a rally 'round the flag effect, with almost three-quarters (71%) expressing approval of Putin's leadership by February 2022.

Stronger sentiments were recorded in the pre-invasion poll conducted on 7-15 February for CNN in Russia by a British agency, Savanta ComRes, where half (50%) agreed that “it would be right for Moscow to use military force to prevent Kyiv from joining NATO”. Two thirds of Russians (64%) in the poll said that they think Russians and Ukrainians are ‘one people’, compared to 28% of Ukrainians.

A poll of 25-27 February 2022 by VCIOM reported strong support for the “special military operation” in Ukraine, with two thirds (68%) in favour, around one quarter (22%) against, and 10% provided no response.

FOM showed that 65% of respondents supported the “launch of Russia’s special military operation” in a 25-27 February 2022 survey.

A private survey agency, Russian Field, reported that 58.8% of respondents supported “Russian military action in Ukraine” in polls conducted from 26-28 February 2022.

Another poll by Washington Post conducted a week into the invasion by a consortium of researchers showed that the majority of Russians (58%) approved of the invasion while a quarter (23%) opposed it.

In conclusion, a majority of about 60% of the Russians supported the war prior to the outbreak of the conflict, according to different measures by different polls.

See also

• Timeline of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
• List of interstate wars since 1945
• Post-Soviet conflicts
  • Russo-Georgian War – 2008 conflict between Russia and Georgia
  • Transnistria War – 1990–1992 conflict between Moldova and Russian-backed self-proclaimed Transnistria
• Second Cold War – Term referring to heightened tensions in the 21st century
• World War III – Hypothetical future global conflict

Further reading

• Wood, Elizabeth A.; Pomeranz, William E.; Merry, E. Wayne; Trudolyubov, Maxim (15 December 2015). Roots of Russia's War in Ukraine. Columbia University Press]. ISBN 978-0-231-80138-6. OCLC 1008637056.
• D'Anieri, Paul (31 October 2019). Ukraine and Russia: From Civilized Divorce to Uncivil War. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-48609-5.
• Menon, Rajan; Rumer, Eugene B. (6 February 2015). Conflict in Ukraine: The Unwinding of the Post-Cold War Order. MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-53629-5. OCLC 1029335958.

External links

• Russia invades Ukraine live updates. CNN.
• Ukraine live updates. BBC News.
• Video of aftermath, including injured pregnant woman being carried, after Russian airstrike on hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine. Sky News, March 9, 2022
• Russia invades Ukraine. Reuters, 10 March 2022
• Video archive by RFE/RL