Russo-Ukrainian War

The Russo–Ukrainian War^[3] is a war currently taking place between Russia and Ukraine that began in February 2014. It started when Russia took over Crimea and funded anti-government rebels in the Donbas region. It then escalated in February 2022 when Russia tried to invade the whole of Ukraine. Russia currently occupies most of and has officially annexed Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Donetsk Oblast, Luhansk Oblast, and Kherson Oblast.

Russo-Ukrainian War
Clockwise from top left: Ukrainian troops during the war in Donbas, 2014 Russian T-64 tank with Z markings, 2022 Russian-backed Donetsk People's Republic forces, 2015 Residential building damaged by a Russian missile in Avdiivka, 2023 Destroyed vehicles after the battle of Bucha, 2022 Civilian killed after Russian missile strikes on Kyiv, 2022
Date Late February 2014[a] – present (11 years, 5 months, 4 weeks and 1 day) Location Ukraine, Russia, and Black Sea (spillover into Romania,[1] Poland, Moldova, and Belarus) Status Ongoing Territorial changes Russian annexation of Crimea and parts of four southeast Ukrainian oblasts in 2014 and 2022, respectively Russian occupation of more than 18% of Ukrainian territory as of March 2024[2] Ukrainian occupation of parts of Russia's Kursk Oblast since 2024
Belligerents
Russia (2014, since 2022 directly) Donetsk PR[b] Luhansk PR[b]  Chechnya (since 2022)	Ukraine Supplied by:  NATO
Commanders and leaders
Russia Vladimir Putin Sergei Shoigu Valery Gerasimov Yevgeny Prigozhin (2014–2023) Alexander Zakharchenko (2014–2018) Denis Pushilin (2018–present) Pavel Gubarev (2014) Igor Girkin (2014) Leonid Pasechnik (2017–present) Igor Plotnitsky (2014–2017) Valery Bolotov (2014)	Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy (2019–present) Petro Poroshenko (2014–2019) Oleksandr Turchynov (acting; 2014) Andrii Zahorodniuk (2019–2020) Stepan Poltorak (2014–2019) Valeriy Heletey (2014) Ihor Tenyukh (2014) Oleksandr Syrskyi (2024–present) Valerii Zaluzhnyi (2021–2024) Ruslan Khomchak (2019–2021)
Casualties and losses
From hundreds of thousands to more than two millions, reports vary widely.

The number of soldiers that have been wounded or killed is a half million (as of 2023), according to U.S. authorities.^[4]

History

War in Donbas

Main article: War in Donbas (2014–2022)

On 20 February 2014, Russian soldiers took control of Crimea. The Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation soon followed. Russia also supported separatists in the Donbas region, who took control of the Donetsk Oblast and the Luhansk Oblast and declared them as independent countries.

In August 2014, Ukraine attacked the separatist oblasts. A ceasefire, the Minsk Protocol, was agreed on but both sides continued fighting, with 85% of the ceasefire violations being done by Russia.^[5] The fighting slowed down and became a frozen conflict.

Invasion of Ukraine

Main article: Russian invasion of Ukraine

In 2021, more and more Russian soldiers and weapons arrived near the border with Ukraine. There was fear of a possible invasion.^[6]

On 17 January 2022, Russian troops and weapons began arriving in Belarus for a 'military exercise', that [started or] was going to start in February; Its name is Allied Resolve.^[7] The following month, Russia officially recognised the separatist regions in Donetsk and Luhansk as independent countries (separate from Ukraine). Russian soldiers then began appearing in the regions.

On 24 February 2022, President Vladimir Putin announced the invasion of Ukraine.^[8] Most other countries declared their support for Ukraine, especially the countries of the NATO military alliance. Many other countries began sanctioning Russia (such as stopping trade, participation in events and the travel of Russian politicians) as a way to fight Russia without using soldiers.

Russia's effort to take Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, failed in early April 2022 and had to withdraw. Ukraine began taking back land that Russia had taken during 2022. In September 2022, four Russian-controlled separatist regions of Ukraine were annexed as member states of Russia.

In 2023 the frontlines changed very little, with many calling the war a stalemate. However, the year saw many important events, such as when the Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary company, took over the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and tried to reach Moscow (capital of Russia), after its leader had complained about how the war was going. As of 2024's third quarter, the U.S. government is still giving military aid to Ukraine. Earlier, there have been months when U.S. lawmakers did not pass laws about military aid to Ukraine.^[9]

Related pages

• List of ongoing armed conflicts
• 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
• The Long Breakup, a film about the relationship between Ukraine and Russia.

Notes

2. The Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic were Russian puppet states that declared their independence from Ukraine in May 2014. In 2022, they received international recognition from each other, Russia, Syria and North Korea, and some other partially recognised states. On 30 September 2022, Russia declared that it had formally annexed both entities. They continue to exist as republics of Russia.