2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, marking a significant turning point in the Russo-Ukrainian War, which had begun in 2014. The invasion has probably resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides and has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. By the end of May, an estimated 8 million people will have been displaced within the country, and as of October 3, 2022, 7.6 million Ukrainians will have fled the country. The number of Russians leaving the country increased to its highest level since the October Revolution of 1917 within only five weeks after the invasion. The invasion has also contributed to widespread shortages of food throughout the world.
In the aftermath of the Ukrainian Revolution of 2014, Russia invaded Crimea, and paramilitaries supported by Russia captured a portion of the Donbas area of south-eastern Ukraine. The Donbas territory is comprised of the oblasts of Luhansk and Donetsk, and their occupation sparked a regional conflict. Russia initiated a significant military buildup near its border with Ukraine in March 2021. This buildup included the amassing of up to 190,000 soldiers and their equipment. In spite of the buildup, numerous officials within the Russian government continued to deny that there were any preparations to invade or attack Ukraine right up to the day before the invasion took place. The Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic are two self-proclaimed breakaway quasi-states located in the Donbas. On February 21, 2022, Russia recognised both of these breakaway republics. The Federation Council of Russia granted permission to employ armed force the next day, at which point Russian forces invaded both of the disputed territory.
When Russian President Vladimir Putin made the announcement of a "special military operation" for the "demilitarisation and denazification" of Ukraine on the morning of February 24, the invasion of Ukraine had already begun. In his speech, Vladimir Putin advocated irredentist beliefs, questioned Ukraine's right to exist as a state, and made the erroneous assertion that the government of Ukraine was run by neo-Nazis who were oppressing the country's ethnic Russian minority. After a few minutes, missiles, rockets, and aircraft targeted several parts of Ukraine, including the nation's capital city of Kyiv. This was immediately followed by a huge ground assault from numerous angles. The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has declared a state of martial rule and ordered a mass mobilisation. At first, Russian assaults were launched on a northern front from Belarus towards Kyiv, a north-eastern front towards Kharkiv, a southern front from Crimea, and a south-eastern front from Luhansk and Donetsk. All of these fronts were located in Ukraine. The Russian advance into Kyiv came to a halt in March, and by April, Russian soldiers had begun withdrawing from the northern front. After a lengthy siege, Russia took control of the southern and south-eastern fronts, capturing Kherson in March and Mariupol in May respectively. Russia resumed their assault on the Donbas area on April 19, and by July 3, they had completely taken control of the Luhansk Oblast. A considerable distance from the front line, Russian troops continued to attack both military and civilian objectives. In August, Ukrainian troops began a counteroffensive in the southern region, and in September, they did the same in the northern region. Not long after that, Russia made public its intention to seize the territory that was partly occupied in the southeast of Ukraine.
The invasion has been condemned by a significant majority of people all around the world. A resolution was approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations that strongly condemned the invasion and called for the complete departure of all Russian soldiers. The International Court of Justice issued a ruling instructing Russia to halt its military actions, and the Council of Europe withdrew Russia from its membership. The economy of Russia and the rest of the world have been impacted as a result of the imposition of sanctions against Russia and its partner Belarus by a number of nations. These countries have also supplied humanitarian aid and military assistance to Ukraine. Protests took out in several parts of the globe; those in Russia were greeted with heightened control of the media and mass arrests, including a prohibition on the use of the phrases "war" and "invasion." In reaction to the invasion, more than one thousand businesses have evacuated their operations from Russia and Belarus. Since 2013, the International Criminal Court has been conducting an investigation into potential war crimes and crimes against humanity that may have occurred during the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.