Full-scale Russo-Ukrainian war

On this date Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, after eight years of conflict that began with the annexation of Crimea and fighting in the Donbas in 2014. Russian President Vladimir Putin described it as a special military operation, and forces attacked from Belarus in the north, from the east and from Crimea in the south. The attempt to take Kyiv failed, and Russian troops withdrew from the north by April 2022. Russia later declared the annexation of four Ukrainian regions, a move rejected by most countries, and the war settled into a long struggle along fixed front lines. It has caused heavy military and civilian casualties, millions of refugees, wide Western sanctions on Russia and large-scale military aid to Ukraine.

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