The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine began on 21 February 2022 when Russian president Vladimir Putin officially recognized the independence of the breakaway Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic of eastern Ukraine and deployed Russian Army "peacekeepers" to the contested Donbas region. Pro-Russian separatists and the Russian military had reported clashes with the Ukrainian military starting on 19 February 2022, leading to the mass evacuation of the DPR and LPR's civilian populations to Russia. Western intelligence agencies had previously warned of Russia using "false flags" to justify an invasion of Ukraine to prevent the country from joining NATO, and, following a series of false flags, President Putin made a televised speech on 21 February 2022 in which he recognized the breakaway republics, restated his idea that Ukrainians and Russians were one people, claimed that modern Ukraine was a creation of Bolshevik Russia under Vladimir Lenin, and that he would be ready to show Ukraine what real "de-communization" meant. On 24 February 2022, responding to requests for military assistance from Donetsk and Luhansk, Putin ordered a multi-pronged invasion of Ukraine, and an all-out invasion of Ukrainian-held territory began.
Background[]
Starting in October 2021, Russian president Vladimir Putin deployed over 100,000 Russian Army troops to the border of Ukraine in a re-escalation of a border crisis which had surfaced earlier that year in response to major NATO wargames in Eastern Europe.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov claimed that Ukraine was planning aggressive actions against Donbas, a Russian-majority region of eastern Ukraine where the Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic had seceded from Ukraine in 2014 in response to the pro-Western Euromaidan revolution in Kyiv. By late January 2022, 30,000 Russian troops had been deployed to Belarus for the "Allied Resolve" joint military exercises with the Belarusian military, and, on 20 January, Russia initiated naval drills in the Black Sea which effectively blockaded Ukraine's ports.
On 14 February 2022, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu claimed that Russia had withdrawn units from the Southern Military District and Western Military District following the completion of military exercises close to the Ukrainian border, but NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg challenged this statement, as Russia had instead redeployed its units to their permanent bases still within striking distance of the Ukrainian border. On 17 February, the Ukrainian military reported 60 attacks, while Russia claimed that Ukraine had launched 20 artillery strikes on separatist positions that same day.
Three civilians were injured when pro-Russian separatists shelled a kindergarten at Stanytsia Luhanska, but the separatists claimed that the kindergarten was on their side of the front line, and that the Ukrainians had shelled the kindergarten in preparation for an offensive to reclaim the Donbas region for themselves. The Russian Army and separatists attempted to bait the Ukrainians into an armed response by stepping up their shelling, and, on 19 February 2022, two Ukrainian soldiers were killed by separatist artillery fire and four others were wounded. On 20 February 2022, American news channels CBS and CNN reported that US intelligence assessed that Russian commanders had been given orders to proceed with an invasion of Ukraine, using the recent shelling and the alleged Ukrainian plan to invade Donbas as a casus belli.
On 21 February 2022, Russia claimed that Ukrainian shelling had destroyed an FSB border base in Rostov Oblast, while the Southern Military District reported killing five Ukrainian saboteurs near Mityakinskaya, also in Rostov Oblast. Concurrently, two more Ukrainian soldiers were killed by shelling in Zaitseve, a village north of Donetsk. That same day, the separatist leaders Denis Pushilin and Leonid Pasechnik requested that President Putin officially recognize the DPR and LPR's independence; Russia's State Duma had previously forwarded to Putin a bill recognizing the breakaway states' independence on 15 February.
Defense Minister Shoygu and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin endorsed the request, and, later that day, President Putin held a televised announcement in which he addressed the citizens of Russia, revealing that he had signed legislation to officially recognize the independence of the DPR and LPR, and claiming that Ukraine was a creation of Bolshevik Russia under Vladimir Lenin, that he was ready to show Ukraine what the process of decommunization would mean for Ukraine, that the admission of Ukraine to NATO was a foregone conclusion, and that Moscow could not afford to ignore the threat of a nuclear-armed Ukraine.
Invasion[]
Movement of troops into Donbass[]
A pro-separatist counter-protester at a Ukrainian rally in London, 23 February 2022.
Following his recognition of the Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics, Putin ordered the Russian Army (including tanks) into eastern Ukraine as part of what he called a "peacekeeping mission".
United States Ambassador to the United Nations warned the UN Security Council that Putin's recognition of the breakway states was an "attempt to create a pretext for a further invasion" and that it was "nonsense" for Russia to claim that its soldiers in Ukraine were "peacekeepers", while President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that Russia's actions violated his country's "national integrity and sovereignty", and British Health Secretary Sajid Javid proclaimed that the Russian inavsion of Ukraine had begun.
In response to the Russian invasion, US President Joe Biden signed an executive order prohibiting new investment, trade, and financing by US persons to, form, and in the DPR and LPR, and anyone operating in those areas could also be included in the sanctions. French President Emmanuel Macron also demanded that the European Union adopt targeted sanctions on Russia, while British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced new sanctions against Russia which would take effect the next day, 22 February.
An anti-war protest in front of the Russian embassy in London, 23 February 2022.
By 23 February 2022, a senior US defense official reported that nearly 100% of the Russian Army's troops on the Ukrainian border were in invasion-ready positions, and the USA warned Ukraine that an attack was imminent, especially as deteriorating weather conditions would force Russia to act quickly. That same day, Donetsk and Luhansk asked Russia for military aid due to allegations of continued Ukrainian shelling of civilian targets, providing Russia with a final pretext for an invasion of Ukrainian-controlled territory.
That same day, the Armyansk chemical plant in Crimea was evacuated in another apparent staged provocation from Russia, with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba stating that Ukraine had no intention of attacking or sabotaging the facility. President Zelensky made a last-ditch plea to the Russian people to stop their government from launching an invasion of Ukraine, warning them that the Russian military would see Ukrainians' faces and not their backs. Zelensky also warned that Russia had approved an offensive against Ukraine, as Putin had not replied to his invitation to hold talks.
At the same time, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed his fears that, before the night was over, Russia would launch an invasion of Ukraine, as it was fully prepared; at the same time, Russia issued a civil aviation notice which closed off eastern Ukrainian airspace along the Russian border for an unlimited amount of time.
Offensive against Ukraine[]
Map of the Russian invasion on 24 February 2022.
Shortly after 4:00 AM on 24 February 2022, Putin ordered a "special military operation" to "demilitarize and deNazify" Ukraine, with Putin warning of "consequences you have never seen in history" to countries who would create threats for Russia. Russian Ground Forces entered Luhansk Oblast, Sumy Oblast, Kharkiv Oblast, Chernihiv Oblast, and Zhytomyr Oblast and crossed the border from Crimea, while Russian forces attacked Odessa and Mariupol in amphibious landings, and Russian tanks rolled into Kharkiv. Concurrently, Russian ballistic and cruise missiles struck multiple Ukrainian cities and airfields, including the capital of Kyiv and Kharkiv; one of the missiles struck the Ministry of Defense intelligence headquarters in Kyiv, while Russian gunships bombarded Hostomel Airport on the outskirts of Kyiv, losing three helicopters in the process.
Eighteen people were killed in a missile strike on Odessa, while the Ukrainian military killed about 50 Russian soldiers in eastern Ukraine; the Ukrainian Defense Ministry estimated that hundreds of Ukrainian troops were killed in Russian airstrikes. The Russian military claimed that its "lightning offensive" crippled the Ukrainian military and suppressed its air defense systems, but the Ukrainian Air Force said that it was repelling Russian invaders. Ukraine shot down 6 Russian warplanes, 2 helicopters, and destroyed dozens of armored vehicles, while halting the Russian invasion of Chernihiv, engaging in a major battle with the Russians at Kharkiv, and reclaiming Mariupol and Shchastia. President Zelensky declared martial law across the country in response to the invasion.
In response to the Russian invasion, Ukraine severed diplomatic ties with Russia, the European Union announced that it would implement its strongest, harshest package of sanctions against Russia, Moldova declared a state of emergency as hundreds of Ukrainian refugees crossed the border, South Korea announced that it would join in the sanctions against Russia, Lithuania proclaimed a state of emergency, a massive selloff crippled the Moscow Stock Exchange and led to the Russian ruble's exchange rate dropping to a record low, and the National Bank of Ukraine stopped servicing transactions with Russian accounts.
By the evening of 24 February, Russian troops captured the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant after fighting in the ghost towns of Chernobyl and Pripyat, and Russian forces bombarded and captured the Black Sea island of Snake Island, off the coast of Budjak in Odessa Oblast.
Russian troops took over the road from Moscow to Kyiv near Sumy and battled for strategic cities on the railway to Sumy; Russia captured the North Crimean Canal in the Kherson Oblast and restored water supplies to Crimea; 83 Ukrainian above-ground military facilities (including 11 aerodromes) were destroyed by the Russian Air Force; Russia claimed that two of its civilian ships were hit with anti-ship missiles in the Sea of Azov, and a Turkish-owned vessel was bombed off the coast of Odessa.
President Joe Biden ordered the deployment of 7,000 troops to Germany to aid the USA's NATO allies; New Zealand, Canada, Latvia, and the Czech Republic joined in sanctions against Russia (the latter two halting the issuing of visas to Russians); Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Putin and urged him to stop his invasion; and anti-war protests were held in Washington DC, Downing Street in London, and in other major cities across the world. Anti-war protests in Russia were suppressed as protesters in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and elsewhere were detained.
By 25 February, Zelensky ordered the general mobilization of all able-bodied men from 18 to 60 and forbade military-age men from leaving the country. That day, Russian forces reportedly retreated from Sumy and the Russian attack on Chernihiv was halted, while the Russian Air Force and artillery bombarded Kyiv in preparation for an assault on the city. Ukrainian Air Force colonel Oleksandr Oksanchenko was killed when his plane was shot down by a Russian missile. Meanwhile, Russian forces in northern Ukraine were heavily engaged by the Ukrainian army, which ambushed several Russian armored columns and inflicted heavy losses with Javelin missiles (such as at the Battle of Kharkiv).
However, Russian operations in the south and east were more effective, with Russian troops in Donbas outflanking Ukrainian defensive positions in an attempt to force the Ukrainians to fight in the open, and Russian forces advancing from Crimea being divided into two columns to encircle and entrap the Ukrainian forces in the Donbas region.
That same day, the Ukrainian government said that all Ukrainians were eligible to volunteer regardless of age, and several men above the age of 60 volunteered to join the war effort. As Russian troops approached Kyiv, Zelensky asked residents to prepare Molotov cocktails, while Putin concurrently called on the Ukrainian government, calling it a "gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis". That same day, heavy fighting broke out in Kyiv as Russian forces advanced into the city, and Mayor Vitali Klitschko and his brother Wladimir Klitschko, as well as former President Petro Poroshenko, volunteered to take up arms against the invaders, while Zelensky and all of the leaders of his government and party remained in Kyiv to lead the war effort.
The United States Department of Defense reported that Russia was losing its momentum in its attack on Ukraine that same day, with Russian forces retreating from Sumy, being defeated at the Battle of Starobilsk, and losing two warplanes in a Ukrianian attack on Millerovo airbase in Rostov Oblast. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced that NATO would provide weapons to Ukraine, and that the NATO Response Force would be activated for the first time in history. Kazakhstan denied Russia's request to join the war or recognize the LPR and DPR, but Russian spokeswoman Maria Zakharova aggressively warned Sweden and Finland of "detrimental military and political consequences" if they attempted to join NATO.
Russia was disqualified from the Eurovision song contest that same day, Britain banned the Russian flag carrier Aeroflot from British airspace (leading to a reciprocal ban on British airlines by Russia), the Council of Europe suspended Russia's membership, the OECD terminated the accession process of Russia to the organization, Micronesia suspended diplomatic ties with Russia, China urged Russia to respect Ukraine's sovereignty and engage in peace talks, Belarus said that it was ready to hold peace talks in Minsk, and Russia partly restricted access to Facebook.
The situation in Ukraine on 26 February 2022.
On 26 February, Russia continued its censorship campaign, blocking Twitter. That same day, the Ukrainian army repelled Russian attacks on an army base and electricity generating stations in Kyiv, and two Russian Ilyushin Il-76 transport planes were shot down over Vasylkiv and Bila Tserkva, killing all of the paratroopers on board. The Russians claimed to have captured Melitopol with no resistance, but Ukraine challenged Russia's claim of taking the town.
President Zelensky posted a video of himself in Kyiv to disprove reports that he and his government had fled the capital, and, when the US government attempted to persuade him to flee Kyiv, Zelensky said that he needed a gun and not a ride, insisting on leading the Ukrainian war effort from the capital. The Russian Navy also warned that all civilian ships attempting to approach the Ukrainian Black Sea coast would be destroyed as "terrorist threats", while Turkey agreed to block Russian warships from accessing the Black Sea through the Bosporus following a phone conversation between Presidents Zelensky and Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Later in the day, Russia decided to halt its attacks on Kharkiv and Chernihiv, bypassing the cities to attack Kyiv in greater numbers. By then, both Russia and Ukraine faced strategic problems. Ukraine risked its forces in eastern Ukraine being cut off, forcing them to contemplate ceding much of eastern Ukraine or withdrawing their forces from the Donbas region to avoid encirclement. Meanwhile, the Russian war effort suffered from poor planning and execution, the Russian military in northern Ukraine faced morale and logistical issues, Russian forces faced gasoline and diesel shortages, tanks and armored vehicles stalled and slowed the Russian Army's advance, and Russia continued not to use its full arsenal lest it continue to create unbearable civilian casualties.
On 27 February, Putin proclaimed peace talks "dead" and ramped up his offensive in Ukraine, targeting gas and oil pipelines outside Kharkiv and Kyiv to incapacitate their defenses. Russian missiles struck the Vasylkiv airbase, and firefighters were unable to respond due to the heavy fighting in the area. At the same time, Zhuliany Airport was also bombed by the Russians. That same day, Nova Kakhovka fell to the Russians, who destroyed the nearby settlements of Kazatsky and Vesely. Russian troops entered Kharkiv, leading to fighting on the streets and in the city center, while Russian tanks advanced into Sumy from the east.
Meanwhile, Russian troops completely surrounded Kherson and Berdyansk in southern Ukraine, additionally capturing Henichesk and the Kherson International Airport. That same day, Ukraine used Bayraktar drones against the Russian Army, and the European Union said it would finance €450 million in procurement and delivery of weapons to Ukraine (the first time it did so in its history), as well as €50 million in medical supplies. Canada, the EU, the UK, and the USA froze all assets of the Russian Central Bank and the Russian National Wealth Fund, preventing the usage of 39% of Russia's $630 billion of foreign exchange reserves and three-quarters of its currency reserves.
That same day, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said that a Russen delegation had arrived in Gomel, Belarus to hold talks in an effort to end the war. President Zelensky refused to hold negotiations in non-neutral Belarus, and it was ultimately agreed that peace talks would be held on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border at the Pripet Marshes. At the same time, Ukraine sued Russia in the International Court of Justice, the EU and Canada closed their airspaces to Russian aircraft, the EU imposed sanctions on Belarus, the EU banned Sputnik and Russia Today for spreading pro-Russian propaganda, the International Judo Federation revoked Putin's title as Honorary President, FIFA prohibited Russia from playing under its own flag in favor of the neutral Russian Football Union banner; 440 Belarusian activists were detained in anti-war protests in Minsk; Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett offered to mediate a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine; the Russian delegate to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Oleg Anisimov apologized to Ukraine and said that there was no justification for a Russian invasion; British Petroleum liquidated its 19.75% stake in the Russian state-owned oil company Rosneft, Norway's sovereign fund divested its Russian holdings; the Russian ruble experienced panic sellings; Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen allowed Danish volunteers to join the Ukrainian army in response to Zelensky's appeals for international volunteers; 368,000 refugees were reported to have fled Ukraine since the invasion started; Chechen general Magomed Tushayev was reportedly killed in Kyiv; and Russia's nuclear forces were placed on high alert due to NATO rhetoric on intervention.
On 28 February, Russia reportedly launched a missile attack on Zhytomyr Airport, United States intelligence sources predicted that Belarus would directly deploy its armed forces in Ukraine to aid the Russian invasion; the Central Bank of Russia raised its interest rate from 9.5% to 20% (its highest since 2003) as the ruble lost more than a quarter of its value; and a Ukrainian delegation arrived in Belarus for peace talks with Russia. That same day, Russia claimed that it had captured the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, and that the plant's operations resumed as normal under the Russian soldiers. At the same time, Peskov claimed that Western arms supplies justified Russia's casus belly of demilitarizing Ukraine. As Belarus was predicted to invade Ukraine (and revoked its status as a non-nuclear state in a move to enable Russia to return nuclear missiles to Belarus), the USA ordered the closure of its embassy in Minsk and the departure of non-essential embassy staff.
An anti-war protest in Trafalgar Square, London on 1 March 2022
At 8 AM on 1 March, a Russian missile struck the Kharkiv Oblast state administration building, obliterating it and injuring six people. That same day, a 40-mile-long convoy of Russian military vehicles advanced on Kyiv, Belarusian soldiers entered northern Chernihiv Oblast in a breach of Lukashenko's promise not to invade Ukraine, 70 Ukrainian troops were killed in a Russian ballistic missile strike on Okhtyrka in Sumy Oblast, and the European Court of Human Rights ordered an immediate cessation of bombarding and targeting civilians in Ukraine. Later that day, the European Union accepted Ukraine's application for EU membership; Russia took down the liberal Echo of Moscow radio station; the Russian convoy advancing on Kyiv stalled due to fuel and food shortages; Russian forces struck the Kyiv TV Tower with a missile to disrupt TV and radio broadcasting (killing five people); another Russian missile accidentally struck the Babi Yar Holocaust Memorial Center; the Russian military warned civilians to leave Kyiv; the Ukrainian military killed a group of Chechen Kadyrovtsy who were sent to assassinate Zelensky in Kyiv; and Denis Pushilin announced that separatist forces were being assembled to besiege Mariupol.
Another pro-Ukraine rally in London, 2 March
On 2 March 2022, ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine were indefinitely postponed, while Turkey prevented four Russian warships from passing through the Bosporus strait, the Ukrainian Air Force destroyed two Russian warplanes in a dogfight over Kyiv, Russian Ground Forces claimed to have captured Kherson after a six-day battle, Mariupol suffered mass casualties and a water shortage due to Russian bombardment, two Kalibr cruise missiles struck a hospital in Chernihiv after Russian troops were forced to retreat, Russian forces launched an airstrike on Kharkiv National University and a local police department, Russia claimed to have captured the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (the largest nuclear power plant in Europe), Ukrainian forces began the Horlivka offensive (the first Ukrainian offensive of the war), a missile struck a Bangladeshi cargo ship docked in Mykolaiv Oblast, the United Nations General Assembly called for Russia to end the invasion, the EU removed seven Russian banks from the SWIFT financial messaging system, Russian stocks endured a total wipeout in value on the London stock exchange (with some being worth pennies), the World Bank suspended all programs in Russia and Belarus, and the European Court of Human Rights suspended all judicial proceedings against Ukraine pending before the ECHR.
That same day, Russia once again taunted the West when two Russian Su-27 and two Su-24 fighter jets briefly entered Swedish airspace east of the island of Gotland, leading to Swedish jets being sent to document the violation. Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist said that the violation was "of course completely unacceptable", and that, "It will lead to a firm diplomatic response from Sweden. Swedish sovereignty and territory must always be respected." Russian general Andrey Sukhovetsky was killed by a Ukrainian sniper during the Siege of Mariupol, and Putin confirmed his death in an official statement.
On 3 March 2022, Russian airstrikes on two schools in Chernihiv killed nine people and wounded four others. Additionally, the United Nations reported that over 1 million Ukrainians had fled the country since the invasion began; Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the war would continue "until the end" and that Zelensky had allowed "a society in which Nazism is flourishing", while denying that Russia was planning a nuclear war; French authorities seized the yacht of Russian oligarch Igor Sechin in La Ciotat; the Russian television network RT was taken off-air in the UK and European Union; and the International Paralympic Committee banned Belarus and Russia from competing in the 2022 Winter Paralympics in Beijing.
As diplomats from Kyiv and Moscow returned to the negotiation table that same day, academics and military generals analyzed possible scenarios for how the war might end. BBC diplomatic correspondent James Landale put forth five scenarios for how the conflict could be resolved. The first was a short war in which Russia - if able to have its forces perform better, deploy more of its troops, and crush Ukraine's extraordinary fighting spirit - could escalate its military operations through indiscriminate artillery and rocket strikes across Ukraine, send the Russian Air Force (previously having played a low-key role in the campaign) to deliver devastating airstrikes, launch massive cyberattacks to target infrastructure across Ukraine, cut off energy supplies and communications networks, kill thousands of civilians, capture Kyiv within days despite brave resistance, replace the government with a pro-Moscow puppet regime, and either assassinate or chase Zelensky into exile. In this case, Putin could declare victory and withdraw some forces, leaving enough behind to maintain control of Ukraine, while thousands of refugees would continue to fle west and Ukraine would join Belarus as a client state of Moscow.
The more likely scenario was a long war in which Russian forces might get bogged down, hampered by low morale, poor logistics, and inept leadership; it would take longer for Russian forces to secure cities like Kyiv, whose defenders would fight from street to street during a long siege reminiscent of the destructive Siege of Grozny during the 1990s. Even once Russian forces achieved some presence in Ukraine's cities, they would struggle to maintain control as Ukraine's defensive forces transformed into an effective insurgency, motivated and supported by local populations and armed by the West. After many years, possibly with new leadership in Moscow, Russian forces would leave Ukraine bowed and bloodied, reminiscent of the USSR's defeat in the Soviet-Afghan War. A third scenario would be a European war in which Putin mmight seek to reconquer other parts of the former Russian Empire such as Moldova and Georgia (which were not NATO members) or declare Western arms supplies to Ukrainian forces as an act of aggression and retaliate by sending troops into the Baltic states to establish a land corridor with the Russian coastal exclave of Kaliningrad Oblast.
This would risk war with NATO due to Article Five, but Putin might take the risk to save his leadership. A fourth scenario would be a diplomatic solution, as advocated by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and President Emmanuel Macron of France; Ukraine could accept Russian sovereignty over Crimea and parts of the Donbass, in exchange for Putin accepting Ukrainian independence and its right to deepen ties with Europe; however, this was unlikely. The fifth scenario would be Russia waging a disastrous war which cost Russia heavily both economically and in lives, which would lead to a popular revolution, encouraged by Putin's failed attempts to suppress the opposition, and resulting in the military, political, and economic elite turning against him. If Putin was replaced by a more moderate leader, Russia could see the lifting of some sanctions and a restoration of normal diplomatic relations. However, the prospect of a bloody palace coup was equally unlikely.
That same day, the second round of Russo-Ukrainian talks failed to achieve either side's desired results, but led to Russia agreeing to a temporary ceasefire in humanitarian corridors to allow more time for civilian evacuations. The two sides expected to hold a third round of talks the following reason, while Zelensky requested a personal meeting with Putin. At the same time, RT America ceased production and fired most of its employees, expecting the layoffs to be permanent.
On 4 March, Russia rolled out a new round of censorship, blocking access to the websites of BBC News, Voice of America, Deutsche Welle, and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty for spreading "false information" about the "special military operation" in Ukraine, while the State Duma unanimously passed a bill criminalizing the "spreading of falsehoods about Russian soldiers, the Russian Armed Forces, as well as calling for anti-Russian sanctions", punishing "spreading falsehoods" with 10-15 years in prison (and up to $13,700 in fines and three years of forced labor). The Moscow Stock Exchange, supposed to be closed until 5 March, was further closed until 8 March. Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google, stopped all sales of advertisements in Russia. The Czech Republic introduced a 30-day state of emergency to deal with the refugee crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian air defenses shot down a Russian Sukhoi Su-25 plane over Volnovakha in Donetsk Oblast, while Russian shelling caused the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Enerhodar to catch fire. After the fires were extinguished, Ukraine conceded that the power plant had been captured by Russian forces.
Meanwhile, the Russian space agency Roscosmos ceased all joint scientific experiments on the International Space Station, Arianespace and OneWeb suspended all future rocket launches from Baikonur Cosmodrome and the use of Russian Soyuz rockets for their spacecraft, Italian police seized the Russian oligarch Alexei Mordashov's yacht and blocked Gennady Timchenko's yacht from leaving the same port, Imperia, Putin claimed that he was open to peace talks with Ukraine, Yandex (the Russian version of Google) announced that it might be heading for default, JPMorgan Chase warned that the 2022 Russian financial crisis might be worse than Russia's 1998 crisis (when Russia defaulted on its obligations), Ukraine became a contributor to NATO's Cooperative Cyber Defense Centre of Excellence, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov called on Putin to let his forces seize Ukraine's major cities to "save the Russian people and our state", NATO announced that it would not declare a no-fly zone over Ukraine due to concerns over further escalation, President Zelensky told NATO, "All the people who die starting today will also die because of you. Because of your weakness, because of your disconnection,"; Sky News chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay was shot and injured by Russian troops near Kyiv, and Ukrainian forces recaptured Mykolaiv Airport.
The situation in Ukraine by the end of 5 March 2022
On 5 March, Russia's flag carrier airline Aeroflot suspended all flights to foreign destinations starting from 8 March, Samsung Electronics suspended all shipments to Russia, and Russian shelling of Mariupol and Volnovakha continued in spite of the earlier agreement, even as 200,000 people were expected to leave Mariupol and 15,000 from Volnovakha during a five-hour truce. Ukrainian troops also recaptured Mykolaiv, anti-war protesters gathered in Kherson to protest Russia's occupation of the city, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett traveled to Russia to meet with Putin in an attempt to negotiate a ceasefire in Ukraine, Ukrainian negotiator Davyd Arakhamia announced that Russo-Ukrainian talks would resume on 7 March, PayPal suspended its services in Russia, and Putin claimed that Western sanctions on Russia were akin to a "declaration of war", warning that any attempt to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine would lead to "catastrophic consequences" for the world. Later in the day, separatist Sparta Battalion commander Volodymyr Zhoha was killed in action, and the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office advised British citizens to leave Russia immediately due to a lack of available flight options back to the UK and increased volatility in the Russian economy. Russian Foreign Affairs Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Russia would not forget British support for "Ukrainian ultranationalists" and the supply of British weapons to Kyiv, which were being used against Russian forces. That evening, it was reported that Russian troops seized control of Borodianka in Kyiv Oblast after days of heavy shelling and airstrikes, but the Ukrainians were unable to evacuate a psychiatric hospital of 670 patients, which fell into Russian hands. The Ukrainian military concurrently began a mass evacuation of civilians from Irpin after the city was bombarded by Russian jets and artillery, and much of the city was destroyed.
On 6 March 2022, Russia destroyed the Havryshivka Vinnytsia International Airport in Vinnytsia Oblast with eight ballistic missiles; the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense claimed that 11,000 Russian soldiers had been killed by then (while Russia claimed that it lost only 498 men); Naftali Bennett and Recep Tayyip Erdogan again voiced their support for a ceasefire (with Putin responding that any attempt to draw out negotiations would fail, and called on Ukraine to cease fighting in order for the campaign to end); Ukrainian negotiator Davyd Arakhamia said that Ukraine was open to having non-NATO discussions in the future; and Putin told Emmanuel Macron that Russia would no longer attack nuclear power plants and was open to having a trilateral meeting between Russia, Ukraine, and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
On 7 March 2022, Russian and Ukrainian delegations held a third round of talks at the Belarus-Poland border, where both countries made small progress on humanitarian corridors, but failed to secure a ceasefire. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba agreed to hold a tripartite meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Ankara on 10 March in the first Cabinet-level meeting between Russia and Ukraine since the start of the invasion. Meanwhile, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban signed a decree allowing the deployment of NATO troops to western Hungary and the transfer of lethal weapons through Hungary, while not allowing weapons shipments across its territory to Ukraine. Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said that Russia would end its military campaign if Ukraine ended its fighting campaign, didn't enter NATO, recognized Crimea as Russian territory, and recognized Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states. That same day, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology had been destroyed by Russian shelling, but said that no radiation release had been caused, even though the institute housed a neutron generator and a small inventory of radioactive material. By nightfall, a second Russian general, Vitaly Gerasimov, was killed in action in Kharkiv.
A "Stand with Ukraine" rally at Trafalgar Square, London on 8 March
On 8 March 2022, after days of political pressure, President Biden announced that he planned to ban imports of Russian oil, gas, and coal to the United States in a major escalation of sanctions against Russia; this came in spite of fears about rising inflation. At the same time, Chinese officials indicated that they were interested in buying shares in recently-distressed Russian energy and minerals companies, seeking supply security; the London Metal Exchange suspended all trading of nickel due to panic-buying. That same day, the Albanian consulate in Kyiv was destroyed during Russian shelling. In an interview with ABC News that evening, President Zelensky said that Ukraine was open to holding discussions about the Russian-recognized Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics in eastern Ukraine, and conceded that his country might no longer be prepared to be accepted into NATO, saying that Ukraine would not beg for anything. Meanwhile, the New York Times withdrew all of its journalists from Russia due to concerns about the Russian Criminal Court's penalization of spreading "falsehoods" about the Russian invasion.
On 9 March 2022, Fitch Ratings downgraded Russia from "B" to "C", one notch above default, and warned that a Russian default on its obligations was imminent. That same day, the United Kingdom banned all Russian aircraft on its territory and airspace, as well as banning exports of all aviation and space-related goods and services. Additionally, the Ukrainian state grid operator warned that Russian forces disconnected the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant from the electricity grid, impacting nuclear fuel cooling and forcing a blackout for the nearby city of Slavutych. A Russian airstrike destroyed a Mariupol maternity and children's hospital, wounding at least 17 people and burying women and children beneath the rubble. China announced $790,000 in humanitarian aid to Ukraine, John Deere announced that it would suspend shipments to Russia and Belarus, and the Polish Senate unanimously passed a resolution calling on the EU to accelerate the membership process for Ukraine.
On 10 March, Russian forces resumed their shelling of Mariupol, forcing the withdrawal of a humanitarian aid convoy. By then, international sanctions had taken a heavy toll on Russia: the British government sanctioned Russian oligarch and Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich (freezing his British assets, prevented Chelsea from selling any more tickets for its games, Chelsea's merchandise store was shut, and it would be unable to buy or sell players on the transfer market until the club was sold); Russia quit the Council of Europe; Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Russian economy was experiencing a "shock" due to the "economic war" started against his country; Nintendo and PlayStation suspended all product sales in Russia; Goldman Sachs became the first major Wall Street bank to exit the country following its invasion of Ukraine; Putin warned the West that Russian would emerge stronger and solve the problems; Russia introduced sanctions against all foreign countries (apart from Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Uzbekistan, Cuba, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia), and abolished penalties for patent theft if the patents were held by natural or legal persons from hostile countries. That same day, former Ukrainian MP Yevhen Deidei was killed in battle.
On 11 March 2022, Russia claimed to have captured Volnovakha. That same day, Russia allowed international volunteers to join its armed forces in the war against Ukraine, with Sergey Shoygu claiming that 16,000 volunteers had already signed up, most of them from the Middle East. A large convoy of Russian military vehicles (including tanks and self-propelled guns) concurrently fanned out to forests and towns near Kyiv to prepare to advance on the capital, Ukrainian forces launched a successful counter-offensive in Chernihiv Oblast, Russian troops abducted Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov, Russia launched high-precision airstrikes on airfields in Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk and the city of Dnipropetrovsk, the USA banned imported seafood, alcohol, and diamonds from Russia, Dmitry Peskov said that Putin was willing to meet with Zelensky, Russia banned Instagram for enabling users to encourage violence against Russian soldiers and make death threats against Putin, YouTube blocked all Russian state-funded media outlets, and 29th Combined Arms Army commander Andrei Kolesnikov became the third Russian general to be killed in action during the invasion. Additionally, Colonel Andrei Zakharov was killed when his Russian armored convoy was ambushed and destroyed by the Ukrainians at Brovary, near Kyiv. The Kyiv Independent defense correspondent Illia Ponomarenko also reported that Russian jets struck at the Belarusian village of Kopani from Ukrainian airspace in an alleged provocation to drag Belarus into Russia's war against Ukraine.
On 12 March 2022, Russian soldiers damaged the Sviatohirsk Lavra pilgrimage site in Donetsk Oblast, Russia warned that it could fire on any future NATO armaments to Ukraine after claiming that they were "legitimate military targets", Pokemon Go suspended its operations in Russia and Belarus, the Central Bank of Russia extended the Moscow Stock Exchange's suspension until 18 March, demonstrators gathered in Melitopol to protest the abduction of Mayor Fedorov, Italian police seized Russian oligarch Andrey Melnichenko's yacht in Trieste, and Zelensky suggested that ceasefire negotiations should be held in Israel and presided over by Naftali Bennett.
On 13 March 2022, after the United States warned that Russia would use chemical weapons in Ukraine, Russia used incendiary white phosphorus bombs in the town of Popasna in Luhansk Oblast, Russian troops shot and killed New York Times photojournalist Brent Renaud in Kyiv, Russia installed Galina Danilchenko as Mayor Ivan Fedorov's replacement in Melitopol (Danilchenko called on anti-Russian protesters to stop "committing extremist acts"), Ukrainian authorities reported that 2,187 civilians had been killed in Mariupol, Russian airstrikes severely damaged the Ivano-Frankivsk International Airport, an airstrike on a NATO-Ukraine Partnership for Peace base at Yavoriv (not far from the border with Poland) killed 35 people and wounded 134 others, and Russian forces kidnapped Dniprorudne Mayor Yevgeny Matveyev after he refused to collaborate with the occupiers.
On 14 March 2022, local officials in Mariupol reported that 160 cars successfully left the city via a humanitarian corridor; Russia denied an American claim that the Russian government had requested military assistance from China (in the form of China supplying Russia with missiles); a Russian Air Force airstrike on a Rivne Oblast television tower killed 9 people; a Russian Orlan-10 reconnaissance drone crashed in Romania; the fourth round of Russo-Ukrainian talks was delayed to the next day due to technical issues; Slovakia expelled three Russian diplomats for espionage and bribery; anti-war squatters seized the London mansion of Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska and renamed it after the anarchist leader Nestor Makhno; United Russia Secretary-General Andrey Turchak declared that the party would criminalize compliance with Western sanctions; and the UK Ministry of Defense warned that Russia still intended to carry out a "false flag" chemical or biological attack.
On 15 March 2022, Fox News cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski and producer Oleksandra Kuvshynova were killed and war correspondent Benjamin Hall was injured by Russian gunfire in Horenka, Kyiv Oblast. That same day, 2,000 cars left the Mariupol humanitarian corridor, Russian troops stormed the Mariupol regional intensive care hospital and took 400 people hostage, the fourth round of Russo-Ukrainian talks resumed with the objective of securing a ceasefire, the Prime Ministers of Poland, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic traveled to Kyiv to show their solidarity with the Ukrainian government, Russia announced sanctions on several top US officials (including Hillary Clinton, who jokingly tweeted, "I want to thank the Russian Academy for this Lifetime Achievement Award") and almost every member of the Canadian Parliament, Spanish police seized the Russian oligarch Sergey Chemezov's superyacht in Barcelona, the USA imposed a new round of sanctions on Lukashenko, Zelensky acknowledged that Ukraine would not be able to join NATO (saying that NATO had been "hypnotized" by the Russian invasion), Russia formally withdrew from the Council of Europe, pro-Russian Opposition Platform - For Life MP Illia Kyva was expelled from the Verkhovna Rada for supporting the Russian invasion, Russian general Oleg Mityaev was killed in Mariupol, and Polish leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski called for a NATO peacekeeping mission on Ukrainian territory.
On 16 March 2022, Canada banned RT and RT France from Canadian airwaves, the International Court of Justice ordered Russia to immediately halt its invasion of Ukraine, Russia was formally expelled from the Council of Europe, Canada banned Belarusian aircraft from its airspace, Japan revoked Russia's "most favored nation" trade status, a peace plan was drafted by Ukraine and Russia which would guarantee a ceasefire and Russian withdrawal in exchange for Ukraine abandoning all attempts of joining NATO and accepting limits on its armed forces, President Putin addressed his ministers and spoke out against the "traitors" and "scum" who made up a "fifth column" attempting to destroy the country from within, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace announced that the United Kingdom would supply Starstreak anti-tank missiles and armed combat drones to Ukraine to counter Russia's invasion, President Biden announced a further $800 million in security assistance to Ukraine (including 800 anti-aircraft systems and thousands of anti-tank missiles and armed combat drones), Russian troops shot dead ten people in a food line in Chernihiv, and a Russian airstrike destroyed a drama theatre in Mariupol where 1,200 civilians were sheltering from Russian air raids in what Ukraine described as a "war crime" (the building was marked with the word "children" in an attempt to prevent the Russians from bombing the shelter).
A "Stand with Ukraine" rally in London, 17 March 2022
On 17 March 2022, it was revealed that three Panamanian ships were attacked by Russian ships and one of them sank, and that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad pledged to supply Russia with 40,000 mercenaries. Putin also ordered the FSB to arrest National Guard of Russia Deputy Chief Roman Gavrilov. That same day, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace announced that the UK was deploying a Sky Sabre air defense system and 100 operators to Poland as part of NATO's response to the Russian military aggression.
On 18 March 2022, Russian shelling killed nine people in Zaporizhzhia; the Russian Central Bank considered splitting its stock exchange into separate exchanges for Russian residents and foreigners; Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said that progress had been made regarding Ukraine's neutrality status; and Russia's telecommunications regulator Roskomnadzor considered blocking YouTube for "terrorism and of endangerment of Russian citizens' lives." That same day, a Ukrainian airstrike on Russian-occupied Kherson Airport killed Lieutenant-General Andrey Mordvichev, while Ukrainian actress Oksana Shvets was killed during the Russian shelling of Kyiv, and it was reported that Azov Battalion co-founder Mykola Kravchenko had been killed in combat in Mariupol four days earlier.
On 19 March 2022, Russia used a Kh-47M2 Kinzhal hypersonic missile to destroy a Ukrainian weapons storage facility in Ivano-Frankivsk; that same day, Black Sea Fleet deputy commander Andrey Paliy was killed in action at Mariupol, and Russia claimed that Ukrainian ultranationalists from the Azov Battalion were planning "false flag" attacks on Western consulates in Lviv to force the West to intervene on Ukraine's behalf. On 20 March, the city council of Mariupol said that the Russian military forcefully deported thousands of civilians to camps and remote cities in Russia; Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said that Russia and Ukraine were nearing an agreement on certain peace issues to end the war; France ended all attempts to negotiate with Russia and froze financial assets of the Central Bank of Russian Federation (worth €22 billion) and some properties owned by the richest Russians (worth €150 billion); Zelensky warned that a third world war might erupt in peace talks failed, and Russia claimed that the Dnipro Battalion was nearing its destruction. Additionally, the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine suspended the Opposition Platform - For Life, Derzhava, Left Opposition, Nashi, Opposition Bloc, Party of Shariy, Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine, Socialist Party of Ukraine, Union of Leftists, and the Volodymyr Saldo Block for their ties to the Russian state.
On 21 March 2022, a Russian airstrike destroyed a shopping mall in Kyiv (killing at least 8 people), Russia gave Ukraine a 5:00 AM deadline to surrender the city of Mariupol (with Ukraine rejecting the ultimatum and Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk saying "we have already informed the Russian side about this"), an ammonia leak occured at the Sumykhimprom chemical plant in Sumy, the Moscow Stock Exchange reopened for bond trading, Norway began to provide financial support to students from Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus, President Zelensky announced that he would consider dropping Ukraine's request to join NATO in exchange for a ceasefire, the Royal Gibraltar Police seized the superyacht of the Russian oligarch Dmitry Pumpyansky, and Russia banned Facebook and Instagram for "extremism".
On 22 March 2022, Ukrainian forces recaptured the Kyiv suburb of Makariv, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reported diplomatic progress in Ukraine, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said that the ongoing ceasefire talks should be "more active and substantial", Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was convicted on trumped-up fraud charges, Russian Navy warships shelled Mariupol, Peskov said that Russia would only use nuclear weapons if the country faced an "existential threat", Maersk completely withdrew from the Russian economy and sold off its Russian assets, South Korean LG Electronics suspended all shipments to Russia, and French oil and gas company TotalEnergies announced that it would no longer buy Russian oil by the end of the year.
On 23 March 2022, Russian troops looted and destroyed a laboratory near the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Sanofi halted the delivery of non-essential drugs to Russia and Belarus, Putin ordered that "unfriendly" countries pay for its deliveries of natural gas in rubles, the Moscow Stock Exchange was set to reopen on 24 March, Nestle announced that it would halt sales of non-essential items in Russia after it was pressured to boycott Russia, Poland expelled 45 Russian embassy staffers in Warsaw for spying, Kremlin special envoy for international organizations Anatoly Chubais resigned from his post, Belarus expelled most Ukrainian diplomats for allegedly interfering in Belarus' domestic affairs, the United States officially declared that the Russian military had committed war crimes in Ukraine, and Belarus granted asylum to 2021 United States coup d'etat attempt participant Evan Neumann.
On 24 March 2022, Ukrainian forces destroyed the Russian landing ship Orsk (which was capable of carrying 20 tanks, 45 armored vehicles, and 400 troops) at the port of Berdiansk. A week earlier, Russian military television hailed the arrival of the Orsk in the port as an "epic event", as it was the first Russian warship to dock there. That same day, Foreign Minister Kuleba said that Belarusian troops were not willing to fight alongside the Russians in Ukraine, a Russian airstrike on a Nova Poshta post office in Kharkiv killed 6 people, Canada banned its soldiers from volunteering in Ukraine, Britain announced that it would send 6,000 more missiles and £30 million (to pay the wages of Ukraine's soldiers and pilots) to Ukraine, Ukrainian Presidential Administration head Andriy Yermak expressed his optimism that a ceasefire could be reached to end the war, Ukraine reduced the number of Belarusian diplomats in Ukraine to only five and closed the Belarusian consulate in Lviv, and Belarus' bid to join the World Trade Organization was blocked by its Western adversaries.
The Ukrainian national anthem being sung at a 25 March 2022 rally in London.
On 25 March 2022, Russia used missiles to destroy a major oil terminal near Kyiv, a US defense official stated that Russian forces were no longer in full control of Kherson, President Lukashenko reaffirmed that Belarus had no plans to fight in Ukraine unless aggression was launched against his country, Iranian officials considered the possibility of recognizing the MIR electronic payment system in response to moves to ban Russian banks from SWIFT, Russian general Yakov Rezantsev was killed in a Ukrainian airstrike on his command post at the Kherson airport, and Ukrainian police general Vyacheslav Abroskin offered to surrender himself to the Russians if they allowed him to enter Mariupol and evacuate children who were stuck there under the bombs. That same day, Moscow City Duma member Sergey Savostyanov (CPRF) called for the "denazification" and "demilitarization" of Kazakhstan, the Baltic states, Poland, and Moldova.
Mayors Sadiq Khan and Vitali Klitschko of London and Kyiv, respectively, speaking at the 26 March 2022 "London Stands with Ukraine" live vigil in Trafalgar Square
On 26 March 2022, the Holocaust memorial at Drobytsky Yar in Kharkiv was damaged by Russian shelling, five people were injured by Russian airstrikes in Lviv, South Ossetian president Anatoly Bibilov announced that South Ossetian troops had been deployed to Ukraine to "protect Russia", Spotify announced that it would suspend all of its services in Russia by the end of April, President Joe Biden gave a speech in Poland (where he met with Ukrainian refugees) calling Putin a "butcher" and declaring that Putin "cannot remain in power", and the Kremlin responded that Putin being in power was a choice for the Russian people.
On 27 March 2022, President Zelensky gave an interview to the Russian media in which he said that any peace deal was only possible if Russia withdrew its troops to the territory occupied before the invasion (Crimea and the Donbas region), and that Ukraine was ready to discuss taking a position of "neutrality" and "non-nuclear status" with Russia in exchange for security guarantees. Any peace deal would be put to a referendum in Ukraine, and any treaty would need to be ratified by guarantor countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Turkey. At the same time, President Emmanuel Macron of France cautioned President Biden about his wording when referring to Putin, saying that he (Macron) continued to hold discussions with Putin. White House officials quickly clarified Biden's remark, saying that the President wasn't calling for regime change, but for an end to Russia's violent power projection in Eastern Europe. At the same time, Ukrainian forces retook several towns and villages in northern and eastern Ukraine, including Malaya Rogan (near Kharkiv), Trostyanets (between Kharkiv and Sumy), and two villages near Mykolaiv amid a Ukrainian counterattack near the Russian-occupied city of Kherson. At the same time, 24,710 acres of forest fires burned near the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine and Russia agreed to hold a new round of in-person peace talks in Turkey, and it was reported that at least 139 children had been killed during the Russian invasion as of that date.
The Ukraine front lines on 28 March 2022
On 28 March 2022, Mayor Oleksandr Markushyn reported that Irpin had been recaptured by Ukraine, Russian troops shelled the Luhansk Oblast town of Rubizhne, Ukrainian forces recaptured Trostyanets, Russian artillery damaged a school in Kharkiv, Russia warned against expecting any significant breakthroughs ahead of the first round of in-person negotiations with Ukraine, Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich and several Ukrainian negotiators were reported to have fallen victim to suspected poisoning earlier in the month, and President Zelensky announced that some of the mayors abducted by the Russian invaders were found dead.
On 29 March 2022, the Ukrainian and Russian delegations held their first face-to-face talks in two weeks in Turkey, where Russia agreed to "fundamentally cut back military activity in the direction of Kyiv and Chernihiv". That same day, however, a Russian missile struck the regional administration's headquarters in Mykolaiv, killing 7 people and injuring 22 others. The Pentagon warned that, while small numbers of Russian forces had moved away from Kyiv, Russia could still inflict "massive brutality" on the country, and that the Russian troop movements constituted a repositioning and not a withdrawal. Additionally, Roman Hrybov, the Ukrainian commander on Snake Island, returned home to a hero's welcome after the Ukrainian Navy reported that the soldiers on Snake Island had actually survived the attack on Snake Island and were involved in a reported prisoner exchange with Russia.
On 30 March 2022, Russian artillery and aircraft bombed a Red Cross hospital in Mariupol, Russian troops began withdrawing from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and into Belarus, South Ossetian president Anatoly Bibilov stated that South Ossetia would take "legal steps" in the near future for accession to Russia, Russia announced that it would ban all foreign software use by government agencies from 2025, American military intelligence claimed that Putin felt misled by the Russian military (whose generals were afraid to tell him of the situation on the ground, leading to persistent tensions between Putin and his military leadership), and British intelligence claimed that Russian troops in Ukraine were demoralized, short of equipment, and refusing to carry out orders.
On 31 March 2022, Australia announced the imposition of 35% tariffs on Russian and Belarusian goods, UK intelligence chief Jeremy Fleming reported that Russian soldiers sabotaged their own equipment and even accidentally shot down their own aircraft due to their low morale and poor combat performance, Energoatom confirmed the Russian withdrawal from Chernobyl, Russian troops withdrew from Slavutych into Belarus, Ukraine sent buses to Mariupol to evacuate civilians from the city, President Biden ordered the release of up to one million barrels of crude oil per day from the strategic oil reserve in an attempt to contain inflation, Georgia said that South Ossetia's plans to hold a referendum on becoming part of Russia were "unacceptable", and Russian media censorship agency Roskomnadzor threatened to fine Wikipedia up to 4 million rubles ($49,000) if it did not delete information which went against the Kremlin's official narrative on the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
On 1 April 2022, Australia announced that it would send domestically-produced armored vehicles to Ukraine, and two Ukrainian Air Force Mi-24 helicopters attacked a fuel depot in Belgorod, Russia, three days after a series of explosions occurred close to the same city (possibly caused by fire). Ukraine also recaptured Bucha and Irpin, the body of Reuters journalist Maks Levin was discovered in the town of Huta Mezhyhirska (near Kyiv) after the journalist had gone missing six days earlier, and President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola became the first EU official to visit Ukraine since the start of the invasion.
On 2 April 2022, Ukraine retook full control of Kyiv Oblast as the Russians withdrew into Belarus, the Ukrainian flag was raised over the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, twenty civilians were found dead on a street in Bucha after Ukraine recaptured the town, Russian authorities violently dispersed a pro-Ukrainian demonstration in Enerhodar, 170 people were detained in anti-war protests in Russia, and Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said that a decision on Finland joining NATO had to be made before summer.
On 3 April 2022, the Russian Air Force fired several missiles at Odessa, causing large explosions and forcing local residents to seek shelter. The Human Rights Watch documented allegations of war crimes perpetrated by Russian forces in Ukraine against civilians, including rape, summary execution, and looting of civilian properties; that same day, the United States, the European Union, and NATO accused the Russian military of war crimes in relation to the Bucha massacre and called for more sanctions against Russia. That same day, President Zelensky virtually addressed the audience of the 64th Grammy Awards, urging viewers to support Ukraine in any way they could.
On 4 April 2022, President Biden called for Putin to face trial for war crimes after more images emerged of the Bucha massacre; President Zelensky said that peace talks would continue despite the Bucha massacre; Lithuania banned Russian IT companies from relocating to Lithuania and also downgraded its diplomatic ties with Russia; France expelled 35 Russian diplomats in response to the Bucha massacre as Germany expelled 40; and the UK Ministry of Defense reported that Russian forces continued to consolidate and reorganize as they refocused their offensive into the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, with Russian troops and Wagner Group mercenaries being moved into the area.
On 5 April 2022, the Russian Navy shelled a Dominica-flagged vessel off Mariupol (injuring a crew member); Denmark, Estonia, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden expelled over 100 Russian diplomatic staff from their countries; Latvia closed the Russian consulates in Daugavpils and Liepāja; Estonia closed the Russian diplomatic facilities in Narva and Tartu; and Turkey moved its embassy back to Kyiv from Chernivtsi.
On 6 April 2022, Russian forces set ten high-rise buildings in Sievierodonetsk on fire amid renewed shelling, the United States sanctioned Putin's daughters, Russia claimed that is withdrawal from Kyiv was a "goodwill gesture" to promote peace talks, Russia claimed that it was willing to end its invasion if Zelensky accepted the status quo in Donbas and Crimea and abandoned hopes of joining NATO, a Romanian man rammed a vehicle into the fence of the Russian embassy in Bucharest before burning himself to death, and Poland arrested two Belarusians for spying for Minsk.
On 7 April 2022, Luhansk Oblast Governor Serhiy Haidai reported that all hospitals in the region had been destroyed by Russian forces, Dnipropetrovsk Mayor Boris Filatov requested that all women, children, and elderly leave the city in preparation for a Russian attack, the US Congress voted almost unanimously (the US House of Representatives 420-3 - with Republicans Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, and Matt Gaetz of Florida dissenting - and the US Senate 100-0) to suspend normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus, Lukashenko insisted that Belarus should be included in the Ukraine peace talks, the UN General Assembly voted 93-24 (with 58 abstentions) to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council, and former German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger and former Interior Minister Gerhart Baum filed a complaint with German federal prosecutors accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin, all 32 members of the Security Council of Russia, and members of the Russian Armed Forces of committing war crimes in Ukraine.
On 8 April 2022, at least 50 people were killed in a Russian attack on the Kramatorsk railway station, Japan expelled eight Russian diplomats, and the Russian Ministry of Justice revoked the registration of 15 foreign organizations (including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch (HRW), and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace). On 9 April, Zelensky said that Ukraine was still ready to pursue peace negotiations with Russia, Russian shelling in Marinka Raion killed five civilians, 12 Ukrainian soldiers and 14 civilians were released by Russia in Zelensky's third prisoner exchange with Putin, and the EU and Italy resumed their diplomatic operations in Kyiv. On 10 April, a mass grave of Ukrainian civilians was discovered near Buzova in Kyiv Oblast, 1,222 bodies were discovered in Kyiv Oblast, Russian shelling in the Kharkiv Oblast town of Derhachi killed two people and injured several others, and the Dnipro International Airport was completely destroyed by a Russian airstrike.
On 11 April 2022, Russia stoked fears about a cross-border Ukrainian attack by raising the threat alert in Kursk, Belgorod, Voronezh, and Bryansk, backing the Kremlin's narrative that Ukraine was a staging ground for a NATO attack on Russia. Additionally, Russia kidnapped 9 bus drivers working for the "Help People" Ukrainian volunteer group, which provided food and medicine and assisted in evacuations, in Mariupol. President Zelensky announced that Mariupol had been completely destroyed, and claimed that the death toll was in the tens of thousands. Additionally, Russia selectively defaulted on its foreign debt by using rubles instead of dollars to pay off its debts.
On 12 April, Biden called the Russian invasion of Ukraine a "genocide"; Poland sarcastically said that a sudden arrival of large numbers of T-72s to the Donbas operated by the Ukrainian army couldn't be linked to the disappearance of 100 Polish tanks from Lublin, and that T-72s could be bought in any army surplus store, "just like the weapons used in Crimea in 2014"; Ukrainian security forces recaptured pro-Russian politician Viktor Medvedchuk after he had fled from house arrest on 27 February; and a Colombian citizen was arrested in Russia under Russia's new "fake news law". On 13 April, the Russian military claimed that 1,000 Ukrainian marines surrendered to them in Mariupol, the United States announced that it would send $800 million more in military aid to Ukraine (including heavy weapons for the first time, such as artillery systems, artillery rounds, armored personnel carriers, Mi-17 helicopters transferred from Afghanistan, 300 Switchblade drones, and unmanned surface vehicles for coastal defence), Presidents Andrzej Duda of Poland, Gitanas Nauseda of Lithuania, Egils Levits of Latvia, and Alar Karis of Estonia traveled to Kyiv to meet with Zelensky, a member of Russia's Federation Council called for Ukrainian children from the "liberated areas" to be re-educated in the Russian language, the Ukrainian military fired two Neptune missiles at the Russian flagship cruiser Moskva in the Black Sea, Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said that US and NATO vehicles transporting weapons on Ukrainian territory were "legal military targets", and the Russian military announced that it would begin to target Ukrainian "decision-makers" (including President Volodymyr Zelensky) and command centres in Kyiv if Ukrainian forces continued to "attack" Russian territory.
On 14 April, Russia claimed that Ukrainian forces had shelled Spodaryushino in Belgorod Oblast and that two Ukrainian helicopters had carried out at least six air strikes on residential buildings in the village of Klimovo in Bryansk Oblast, injuring seven people; Ukraine claimed that these were Russian false flag attacks. That same day, the Moskva sank after an explosion and fire onboard, and Captain Anton Kuprin died aboard the ship. A Turkish ship responding to the ship's distress call rescued 54 members of the ship's crew of 485 (including 66 officers); Russia claimed that other Russian Navy vessels had fully evacuated the cruiser's crew, and that the ship had sunk in stormy weather while being towed.
On 15 April, Russia launched major missile strikes on Kyiv in retaliation for the alleged Ukrainian attacks on Belgorod and Bryansk, Moody's said that it would declare Russia in default on 4 May, and Russia blocked Radio France Internationale and The Moscow Times. On 16 April, Russia banned British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other senior ministers from entering Russia over thte UK's "hostile" stance on the war, Zelensky warned that the world should be prepared for the possibility that Russia would target Ukraine with a nuclear strike after Moscow warned of "unpredictable consequences" if the US and its allies continued to supply weapons to Ukraine, Kyiv's police chief announced that 900 civilians had been found dead in towns around the capital after the Russian withdrawal, Russian missile strikes hit Kharkiv and a military plant in Kyiv, the Governor of St. Petersburg Alexander Beglov announced that 8th Guards Combined Arms Army commander Vladimir Frolov had been killed in battle in Ukraine, Colonel Miras Bashakov was also announced to have been killed in action, and the FSB arrested Black Sea Fleet commander Igor Osipov due to the morale-crushing loss of the Moskva.
On 17 April, the Russian Army delivered an ultimatum to the last remaining holdout of Ukrainian troops and foreign fighters at the Azovstal iron and steel works in Mariupol to surrender, but defenders of the port rejected the Russian ultimatum. That same day, six people were killed in Russian missile strikes on Lviv, but Poland concurrently reported that more Ukrainians had entered Ukraine that day than had left it. On 18 April, the Russians appointed Igor Kastyukevich as Mayor of Kherson, and Russian troops captured Kreminna in Luhansk Oblast, shooting four refugees who attempted to flee the city. The Russians also repaired a statue of Vladimir Lenin and raised the Soviet flag at Henichesk.
On 19 April 2022, after weeks of preparation, Russian forces began an anticipated offensive in the Donbas region. The Russian military claimed to have destroyed 16 Ukrainian military facilities, including five command posts, a fuel depot, and three ammunition warehouses in "mass strikes" overnight. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov assured the international community that Russia would not use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, and would continue to use conventional weapons; that same day, the Russian Foreign Ministry expelled 21 Belgian diplomats, 15 Dutch diplomats, and 4 Austrian diplomats, while Greece seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker off Euboea.
The situation in Ukraine on 21 April 2022
On 20 April, Ukrainian negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted that Ukraine was prepared to hold special negotiations with Russia to save the lives of the soldiers and civilians besieged at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol; at the same time, presidential advisor Oleksiy Arestovych announced that a Russian advance on Sloviansk had been halted. On 21 April, Putin ordered his troops not to storm the Azovstal plant due to the impracticality of an assault, instead ordering a blockade. On 22 April, Russian Army Major-General Rustam Minnekayev announced that the ultimate goal of the Russian invasion of Ukraine would be to permanently occupy southern Ukraine and establish a land corridor from Crimea to Transnistria.
On 23 April, Russia launched airstrikes against residential areas in Odessa, killing at least five people (including a baby) and injuring 18 others. RIA Novosti also alleged that British SAS operatives were deployed to Western Ukraine, leading to the Russian government launching an investigation. That same day, Turkey closed its airspace to Russian flights to Syria. On 24 April, Switzerland vetoed Germany's request to re-export Swiss ammunition to Ukraine, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Ukraine to meet with Zelensky and inform him of the new approved military assistance to Ukraine, the Russian embassy in Tehran denied that Iran was secretly supplying Russia with arms, and pro-Russian presidential candidate Marine Le Pen lost the 2022 French presidential election to the mediator Emmanuel Macron by a margin of 58% to 42%. On 25 April, two large fires occurred at an oil refinery in Bryansk, and, while Ukraine claimed that the attacks were "false flags" by Russia, Britain said that Ukraine would be justified in attacking targets on Russian soil. Russian forces struck five railway stations in central and western Ukraine, claiming to be targeting the foreign fighters serving in the Ukrainian military. Kherson mayor Ihor Kolykhaiev announced that Russian forces had taken control of the Kherson City Council, Russia announced that it would stage a referendum in the broader occupied Kherson region to ask people to approve the independence of a new "Kherson People's Republic", and the office of the Transnistrian Ministry of State Security in Tiraspol was attacked with grenade launchers by unknown assailants. This came days after Russia claimed that the Russian-speaking minority in Transnistria was being persecuted. That same day, Sergey Lavrov claimed that there was a "serious" risk of nuclear war over Ukraine, saying that NATO's support for Ukraine meant a proxy war with Russia.
By 26 April 2022, Russia's offensive in the east, which focused on thet Kramatorsk and Sloviansk towns in eastern Donetsk and Kryvyi Rih in the southern Kherson region, had degenerated into heavy fighting. Novotoshkivka in Luhansk Oblast was razed to the ground during heavy fighting between the Russian and Ukrainian forces, and the UK Ministry of Defense declared that Russia had only made "minor advances" in the eastern Donbas region, without enough logistical and combat support in place. That same day, Moldova's Supreme Security Council convened an emergency meeting to improve the Moldovan military's combat readiness, bracing for a potential conflict with the Russians in Transnistria.
On 27 April 2022, Transnistrian authorities stated that several UAVs from Ukraine's direction had been spotted near the Cobasna ammunition depot, Russia threateningly insinuated that it could strike military targets on NATO soil due to NATO's provision of military supplies to Ukraine, Russia threatened retaliation against British soil if Britain continued to "encourage" Ukrainian attacks on Russian soil, British Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said that Russian threats to target Britain were "unlawful" and only added to the "pariah status" of Putin's regime, Russia claimed to have struck 59 Ukrainian weapon facilities (including a depot storing American and European weapons), the 27-foot Soviet-era bronze statue under the People's Friendship Arch in Kyiv (meant to commemorate Russo-Ukrainian friendship) was removed and the arch renamed the "Ukrainian People's Freedom Arch", Russia halted all gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland, an American Marine and a Russian pilot were freed in a prisoner exchange, and Russia announced its withdrawal from the World Tourism Organization.
On 30 April, Lavrov announced that sanctions against Russia had to be lifted as part of Russo-Ukrainian peace negotiations, Russia claimed that a Kursk Oblast border checkpoint had been shelled, and 20 civilians left the Azovstal plant. On 1 May, civilian evacuations from the Azovstal plant formally began, a fire broke out at a military facility in Belgorod Oblast, Ukrainian intelligence officials claimed that Russia was planning to open a second front in Transnistria in order to take over the rest of Moldova, Germany's Foreign Ministry stated its preparedness to lift sanctions against Russia if it completely withdrew its troops from Ukraine, Hungary said that it would veto any EU resolution to block energy imports from Russia, and worldwide May Day anti-war rallies were held to call for peace in Ukraine. On 2 May, evacuations from the Azovstal plant were halted as Russia resumed its bombardment, and five Russian troops were killed in an attempted incursion into the plant. A Ukrainian drone also destroyed two Russian patrol boats near Snake Island. Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council also claimed that Hungary had advance knowledge of Russia's planned invasion of Ukraine, and that Hungary planned to annex parts of Western Ukraine. On 3 May, 127 people were evacuated from the Azovstal plant, and Russia avoided defaulting on its debt by paying off its debts to foreign investors before the grace period expired. Additionally, major Russian television outlets threatened nuclear attacks against the United Kingdom, with state propagandist Dmitry Kiselyov hosting a program called "The Sinkable Island" and claiming that the island of Great Britain could be submerged under radioactive water should a certain nuclear weapon be employed. On 4 May, the Associated Press confirmed that 600 people had been killed in the 16 March 2022 Mariupol theatre airstrike, Russian forces used thermobaric missiles to attack the Azovstal plant as Russian ground troops launched an all-out assault (causing the plant to lose contact with the Ukrainian command), Finland reported a Russian airspace violation ahead of an expected Finnish application to join NATO, and the EU proposed to ban all Russian oil imports by the end of the year and remove Sberbank (Russia's largest bank) from SWIFT. On 5 May 2022, the Ukrainian military claimed to have repelled a Russian attack on the Azovstal plant.
On 6 May 2022, the Ukrainians attacked the Russian Navy warship Admiral Morozov with Neptune anti-ship missiles off Snake Island. That same day, President Zelensky expressed his willingness to engage in peace talks with Russia if they withdrew to their preinvasion borders, the Ukrainians abducted by Russia were repatriated, and Russian troops withdrew from the country. On 7 May, while all civilians were evacuated from the Azovstal plant in Mariupol, Russian forces bombed Odessa and a school in Bilohorivka, Sievierodonetsk Raion. On 8 May, Mother's Day, American First Lady Jill Biden met with Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska in Uzhhorod, while Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau visited Kyiv and met with President Zelensky; the Canadian delegation promptly announced the reopening of its embassy in Kyiv. On 9 May, the Swedish Social Democratic Party announced that it would decide on 15 May whether to pursue a course of action to join NATO, while Prime Minister of Finland Sanna Marin was expected to announce Finland's decision on 12 May. On 10 May, the Lithuanian parliament unanimously voted to designate Russia a terrorist state and classify Russia's actions in Ukraine as a genocide. On 11 May, the United Kingdom and Sweden announced a new defensive pact, promising to come to ther other country's aid should either of them be attacked by Russia. That same day, a major Ukrainian counteroffensive near Kharkiv recaptured several nearby settlements.
On 12 May, Ukrainian forces repelled a Russian offensive across the Donets River at Sievierodonetsk, destroying a Russian battalion tactical group and pontoon bridge. That same day, Finland's leaders declared that the country should join NATO without delay, and Russia threatened "military-technical" retaliation. On 13 May, Russian energy company Inter RAO announced that it would cut off its supply of electricity to Finland, Erdogan announced his opposition to Swedish and Finnish NATO membership due to their support for Kurdistan, the American and Russian Defense Secretaries held talks, and Ukraine held its first war crimes trial against captured Russian soldier Vadim Shysimarin. On 14 May, Ukrainian band Kalush Orchestra won the Eurovision song contest, and the President of South Ossetia announced a referendum on joining Russia on 17 July 2022. On 15 May, Russia once again bombed a target on the Polish-Ukrainian border, Finland officially announced its application for NATO membership, and the Swedish Social Democrats announced their support for NATO membership. On 16 May, Ukraine's counterattack near Kharkiv pushed Russian forces back to the Russian border, while hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers were evacuated from the Azovstal factory to Russian-controlled territory, to be exchanged for Russian prisoners-of-war. The Swedish government announced its intention to join NATO, leading to Russia warning of retaliation. On 17 May, the United States lifted some economic sanctions on Venezuela with the intention of securing a new oil supplier in the wake of Russian sanctions. On 18 May, the American embassy in Kyiv reopened, and Finland and Sweden formally applied for NATO membership. On 19 May, the US Senate voted 86-11 to send another $40 billion package aimed at sending aid to Ukraine, but Erdogan reiterated his intention to veto Swedish and Finnish membership in NATO.
In late May, the Russians made gains in the east, capturing Svitlodarsk on 24 May, Lyman on 26 May, Severodonetsk on 24 June, and Lysychansk on 3 July. By June 2022, Russian forces had been divided between Aleksandr Lapin's Army Group Center and Sergey Surovikin's Army Group South. On 20 July, Lavrov announced that, in retaliation for the West's aid to Ukraine, Russia intended to conquer Zaporizhzhia Oblast and Kherson Oblast in addition to the Donbas. On 6 September 2022, however, Ukraine launched a surprise counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region, driving the Russians out of the region by 12 September. At the same time, Ukraine launched a counteroffensive in Kherson Oblast. On 21 September, Putin announced a "partial mobilization", calling up 300,000 reservists for deployment in Ukraine in a desperate and widely unpopular move. By that time, Russia's war effort in Ukraine had stalled as soldiers were rushed to the front lines without adequate training, equipment, or ammunition, and Russia instead resorted to destroying Ukraine's infrastructure with missile strikes; in October 2022, Iran supplied Russia with "kamikaze" drones and advisors who directly controlled these strikes from Crimea. On 30 September 2022, Putin also announced Russia's annexation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts as a means of forcibly conscripting Ukrainians in occupied territories, as well as claiming that any Ukrainian advance into these regions would be an attack on Russian soil. On 8 October 2022, the Ukrainian bombing of the Kerch Strait Bridge in Crimea provoked a furious reaction from Putin (who had opened the bridge himself in 2018), who ordered the bombardment of Ukraine's energy infrastructure, as well as further indiscriminate attacks on cities.