Russian Invasion Of Ukraine (2022–present)

On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thousands of military casualties and tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilian casualties. As of 2025, Russian troops occupy about 20% of Ukraine. From a population of 41 million, about 8 million Ukrainians had been internally displaced and more than 8.2 million had fled the country by April 2023, creating Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II.

In late 2021, Russia massed troops near Ukraine's borders and issued demands to the West including a ban on Ukraine ever joining the NATO military alliance. After repeatedly denying having plans to attack Ukraine, on 24 February 2022, Russian president Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation", saying that it was to support the Russian-backed breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, whose paramilitary forces had been fighting Ukraine in the war in Donbas since 2014. Putin espoused irredentist and imperialist views challenging Ukraine's legitimacy as a state, baselessly claimed that the Ukrainian government were neo-Nazis committing genocide against the Russian minority in the Donbas, and said that Russia's goal was to "demilitarise and denazify" Ukraine. Russian air strikes and a ground invasion were launched on a northern front from Belarus towards the capital Kyiv, a southern front from Crimea, and an eastern front from the Donbas and towards Kharkiv. Ukraine enacted martial law, ordered a general mobilisation, and severed diplomatic relations with Russia.

Russian troops retreated from the north and the outskirts of Kyiv by April 2022, after encountering stiff resistance and logistical challenges. The Bucha massacre was uncovered after their withdrawal. In the southeast, Russia launched an offensive in the Donbas and captured Mariupol after a destructive siege. Russia continued to bomb military and civilian targets far from the front, and struck the energy grid during winter months. In late 2022, Ukraine launched successful counteroffensives in the south and east, liberating most of Kharkiv Oblast. Soon after, Russia illegally annexed four partly-occupied provinces. In November, Ukraine liberated Kherson. In June 2023, Ukraine launched another counteroffensive in the southeast but made few gains. After small but steady Russian advances in the east in the first half of 2024, Ukraine launched a cross-border offensive into Russia's Kursk Oblast in August, where North Korean soldiers were sent to assist Russia. The United Nations Human Rights Office reports that Russia is committing severe human rights violations in occupied Ukraine. The direct cost of the war for Russia has been over US$450 billion.

The invasion was met with widespread international condemnation. The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution condemning the invasion and demanding a full Russian withdrawal. The International Court of Justice ordered Russia to halt military operations, and the Council of Europe expelled Russia. Many countries imposed sanctions on Russia and its ally Belarus and provided large-scale humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine. The Baltic states and Poland declared Russia a terrorist state. Protests occurred around the world, with anti-war protesters in Russia being met by mass arrests and greater media censorship. The Russian attacks on civilians have led to allegations of genocide. War-related disruption to Ukrainian agriculture and shipping contributed to a world food crisis; war-related local environmental damage has been described as ecocide and the war has heavily disrupted global climate policy. The International Criminal Court (ICC) opened an investigation into crimes against humanity, war crimes, abduction of Ukrainian children, and genocide against Ukrainians. The ICC issued arrest warrants for Putin and five other Russian officials.

Background

Post-Soviet relations

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia and Ukraine maintained cordial relations. In return for security guarantees, Ukraine signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1994 and gave up the nuclear weapons it inherited from the Soviet Union. Russia, the US, and UK thus agreed in the Budapest Memorandum to uphold Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. In 1999, Russia signed the Charter for European Security, affirming the right of each state "to choose or change its security arrangements" and to join alliances. In 2002, Putin said Ukraine's relations with NATO were "a matter for those two partners". In 2005, Putin said that if Ukraine wanted to join NATO, "we will respect their choice, because it is their sovereign right to decide their own defence policy, and this will not worsen relations between our countries".

Russia invaded Georgia in 2008 and took control of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, demonstrating Russia's willingness to use force to attain its political objectives. The US "was accused of appeasement and naivete" over its reaction to the invasion.

Ukrainian revolution

In 2013, Ukraine's parliament approved finalising the European Union–Ukraine Association Agreement. Russia raised concerns about the agreement when it became clear Ukraine would no longer be able to maintain the same level of relations with Russia. Russia put pressure on Ukraine to reject the agreement and imposed economic sanctions on the country. Kremlin adviser Sergei Glazyev warned in September 2013 that if Ukraine signed the EU agreement, Russia would no longer acknowledge Ukraine's borders.

In November, Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych suddenly withdrew from signing the agreement, choosing closer ties to the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union instead. This coerced withdrawal triggered protests known as Euromaidan, culminating in the Revolution of Dignity in February 2014. Almost 100 protesters were killed by state forces. Despite signing an agreement, Yanukovych fled. Parliament voted to remove him.

Russian invasion in Crimea and Donbas

On 27 February 2014, Russian soldiers with no insignia began to invade the Ukrainian territory of Crimea, and fully controlled the peninsula by late March. At first, Russia denied the soldiers were theirs, but Putin later admitted they were Russian special forces. Russia annexed Crimea in March, after a widely condemned and disputed referendum held under occupation. Historians liken the annexation to Nazi Germany's Anschluss of Austria.

Pro-Russian protests followed in the Ukrainian cities of Donetsk and Luhansk. Separatists proclaimed the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR). The War in Donbas began in April 2014 when armed Russian paramilitaries led by Igor 'Strelkov' Girkin seized Sloviansk and other settlements, and the Ukrainian military began an operation against them. Russia covertly supported the separatists with troops, tanks and artillery. The International Criminal Court judged that the war was a national and international armed conflict involving Russia, and the European Court of Human Rights judged that Russia controlled the DPR and LPR from 2014 onward. Ukraine's parliament declared the Donbas region to be occupied by Russia.

The annexation of Crimea and Donbas war sparked a wave of Russian nationalism. Analyst Vladimir Socor called Putin's 2014 speech following the annexation a "manifesto of Greater-Russia irredentism". Putin began referring to "Novorossiya" (New Russia), a former Russian imperial territory that covered much of southern Ukraine. Russian-backed forces were influenced by Russian neo-imperialism and sought to create a new Novorossiya. Putin cited the Kosovo independence precedent and NATO bombing of Yugoslavia as a justification for military intervention.

When the conflict began in 2014, Ukraine was officially a neutral country and said it was not seeking NATO membership. Because of Russia's occupation of Crimea and its invasion of the Donbas, Ukraine's parliament voted in December 2014 to revoke the country's neutral status and seek membership of NATO.

The Minsk agreements, signed in September 2014 and February 2015, aimed to resolve the conflict, but ceasefires and further negotiations failed. The West's weak response to Russia's attack led Russia to believe the West would not react strongly to the 2022 invasion. Several political scientists said this encouraged further Russian aggression.

Economic aspects

Economic interests were also a motive for Russia's attack on Ukraine and its annexation of the southeast. Control of lithium deposits in the Donbas and Ukraine's grain wealth would give Russia a "monopoly on the world market". In 2022, Russian General Vladimir Ovchinsky confirmed that the "Russian special operation" aimed to seize Ukrainian lithium deposits.

The US government estimates that Russia's economic losses from the war and Western sanctions will amount to around $1.3 trillion by 2025, and Russia's direct financial spending on the invasion is estimated at $250 billion (as of late 2024)costs that Russia could not have foreseen. According to a study published in mid-2022 by Canadian think tank SecDev, Russia seized energy reserves, metals and minerals worth at least $12.4 trillion in the Donbas, including 41 coal fields (63 percent of Ukraine's coal reserves), 27 natural gas fields, 9 oil fields, 6 iron ore deposits, two titanium ore deposits, a strontium deposit, a uranium deposit, a gold deposit and a large limestone quarry. The total value of raw material stocks in Ukraine is estimated at over $26 trillion. The value of lithium and rare earths in Ukraine is estimated at $11.5 trillion. In January 2024, the Russian occupation government in Donetsk Oblast granted the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources permission to mine lithium in the Shevchenko deposit near Kurakhovo, which is estimated to be worth hundreds of billions of US dollars.

The Russian elite, especially Russian generals, had invested assets and property in Ukraine for money laundering purposes before the invasion.

Prelude

There was Russian military build-up near Ukraine's borders in March and April 2021, and again in both Russia and Belarus from October 2021 onward. Russia said it was only holding military exercises. Members of its government, including Putin, repeatedly denied having plans to invade Ukraine, issuing denials up until the day before the invasion.

While Russian troops massed on Ukraine's borders, Russia's proxy forces launched thousands of attacks on Ukrainian troops in the Donbas. Observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which includes Ukraine and Russia, reported more than 90,000 ceasefire violations throughout 2021; most in Russian-controlled territory.

In July 2021, Putin published an essay " On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians", in which he called Ukraine "historically Russian lands" and claimed there is "no historical basis" for the "idea of Ukrainian people as a nation separate from the Russians". Putin claimed Ukraine never had "real statehood" and the creation of modern Ukraine was a mistake. Putin was accused of promoting Russian imperialism, historical revisionism and disinformation.

The December 2021 Russian ultimatum to NATO, included demands that NATO end activity in its Eastern European member states and ban Ukraine or any former Soviet state from ever joining the alliance. Russia's government said NATO was a threat and warned of a military response if it followed an "aggressive line". Some demands had already been ruled out by NATO. A US official said the US was willing to discuss the proposals, but there were some "the Russians know are unacceptable". Eastern European states willingly joined NATO for security reasons, and the last time a country bordering Russia had joined was in 2004. Ukraine had not yet applied, and some members were wary of letting it join. Barring Ukraine would go against NATO's " open door" policy, and against treaties agreed to by Russia. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg replied that "Russia has no say" on whether Ukraine joins, and "no right to establish a sphere of influence to try to control their neighbours". NATO underlined that it is a defensive alliance, and it had co-operated with Russia until the latter annexed Crimea. It offered to improve communication with Russia, and negotiate limits on missile placements and military exercises, as long as Russia withdrew troops from Ukraine's borders, but Russia did not.

Western leaders vowed heavy sanctions would be imposed should Putin invade rather than negotiate. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met Putin in February 2022 to dissuade him from an invasion. Putin told him that Ukraine should not be an independent state. Scholz told Ukrainian President Zelenskyy to declare Ukraine a neutral country and renounce its aspirations to join NATO. Zelenskyy replied that Putin could not be trusted, as he had broken agreements. Ukraine had been a neutral country in 2014 when Russia occupied Crimea and invaded the Donbas. On 19 February, Zelenskyy made a speech at the Munich Security Conference, calling for Western powers to end their "appeasement" towards Putin and give a clear time-frame for when Ukraine could join NATO. Analysts Taras Kuzio and Vladimir Socor agree that "when Russia made its decision to invade Ukraine, that country was more remote than ever not only from NATO membership but from any track that might lead to membership".

Shortly before the invasion, Russia's proxy forces stepped up attacks on Ukrainian forces and civilians in the Donbas. Separatist leaders warned that Ukraine was about to launch an offensive, but they gave no evidence, and ''The Guardian'' noted it would be "exceedingly risky" for Ukraine to assault the Donbas while Russian troops were massed on its borders. Ukraine and Western leaders accused Russia of staging false flag attacks and trying to provoke retaliation, to give Russia a pretext for invading. On 17 February, Russian proxy forces shelled a kindergarten in Ukrainian-held territory, then blamed it on Ukraine. Zelenskyy said his military would not respond to the provocations.

Invasion plans

The Royal United Services Institute reported that Russia's plan involved defeating Ukraine within ten days and capturing or killing its government, followed by "mopping up" operations; establishing filtration camps for Ukrainians; setting up occupation regimes; executing people involved in the Revolution of Dignity; and lastly annexation. The decision to invade was reportedly made by Putin and a small group of war hawks or ''siloviki'' in Putin's inner circle, including national security adviser Nikolai Patrushev and defence minister Sergei Shoigu.

Putin's invasion announcement

On 21 February, Putin announced that Russia recognised the Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic as independent states. The following day, Russia announced that it was sending troops into the territories as "peacekeepers", and the Federation Council of Russia authorised the use of military force abroad.

Before 5 a.m. Kyiv time on 24 February, Putin, in another speech, announced a "special military operation", which effectively declared war on Ukraine. Putin said the operation was to "protect the people" of the Russian-controlled breakaway republics. He baselessly claimed that Russians in the Donbas had "been facing humiliation and genocide perpetrated by the Kyiv regime" for 8 years. Putin said Russia was being threatened: he baselessly claimed that Ukrainian officials were neo-Nazis under Western control, that Ukraine was developing nuclear weapons, and a hostile NATO was building up its forces and infrastructure in Ukraine. He said Russia sought the "demilitarisation and denazification" of Ukraine, and denied the legitimacy of the Ukrainian state. Putin said he had no plans to occupy Ukraine. The invasion began within minutes of Putin's speech.

Events

The invasion began at dawn on 24 February. It was the biggest attack on a European country and first full-scale war in Europe since World War II. Russia launched a simultaneous ground and air attack. Missiles struck targets throughout Ukraine, and Russian troops invaded from the north, east, and south. Russia did not officially declare war. Immediately after the invasion began, Zelenskyy declared martial law in Ukraine in a video speech. The same evening, he ordered a general mobilisation of all Ukrainian males aged 18–60, prohibiting them from leaving the country.

The first stage of the invasion was conducted on four fronts: one towards western Kyiv from Belarus by the Russian Eastern Military District, one deployed towards eastern Kyiv by the Central Military District (northeastern front), comprised the 41st Combined Arms Army and the 2nd Guards Combined Arms Army, one deployed towards Kharkiv, and a fourth, southern front originating in Crimea and Russia's Rostov oblast with an eastern axis towards Odesa and a western area of operations toward Mariupol. The invasion was unexpectedly met by fierce resistance. In Kyiv, Russia failed to take it and was repulsed in the battles of Irpin, Hostomel, and Bucha. The Russians tried to encircle the capital, but defenders under Oleksandr Syrskyi held their ground, effectively using Western Javelin anti-tank missiles and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles to thin Russian supply lines and stall the offensive.

By 7 April, Russian troops deployed to the northern front pulled back from Kyiv, to resupply and redeploy to the Donbas to reinforce the renewed invasion of southeastern Ukraine. The northeastern front, including the Central Military District, was similarly withdrawn for redeployment to southeastern Ukraine. On 26 April, delegates from the US and 40 allied nations met at Ramstein Air Base in Germany to discuss a coalition to provide economic support, in addition to military supplies and refitting to Ukraine. Following Putin's Victory Day speech on 9 May, US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said no short term resolution should be expected.

Ukraine's reliance on Western-supplied equipment constrained operational effectiveness, as supplying countries feared Ukraine would use Western-made matériel to strike targets in Russia. Experts disagreed on the future of the conflict; some suggested Ukraine should trade territory for peace, others believed Ukraine could maintain its resistance due to Russian losses.

Initial invasion (24 February – 7 April 2022)

The invasion began on 24 February, launched out of Belarus to target Kyiv, and from the northeast against the city of Kharkiv. The southeastern front was conducted as two separate spearheads, from Crimea and the southeast against Luhansk and Donetsk.

Kyiv and northern front

Russian tried to seize Kyiv quickly with a probative spearhead on 24 February, from Belarus south along the west bank of the Dnipro River, with Spetsnaz infiltrating into the city supported by airborne operations and a rapid mechanised advance from the north, but failed.
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* The apparent intent was to encircle the city from the west, supported by two separate axes of attack along the east bank of the Dnipro: the western at Chernihiv, and from the east at Sumy. Russian forces advanced into Chernihiv Oblast on 24 February, besieging its administrative capital within four days of fighting. Travelling along highways, Russian forces reached Brovary, an eastern suburb of Kyiv, on 4 March.

The US contacted Zelenskyy and offered to help him flee, lest the Russian Army attempt to kidnap or kill him on seizing Kyiv; Zelenskyy responded that "The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride." By early March, Russian advances along the west side of the Dnipro were limited by Ukrainian defences. As of 5 March, a Russian convoy, reportedly long, had made little progress toward Kyiv. Advances from Chernihiv largely halted as a siege began there. Russian forces advanced on Kyiv from the northwest, capturing Bucha, Hostomel and Vorzel by 5 March. By 11 March, the lengthy convoy had largely dispersed and taken cover. On 16 March, Ukrainian forces began a counter-offensive. Unable to achieve a quick victory in Kyiv, Russian forces switched to indiscriminate bombing and siege warfare.

On 25 March, a Ukrainian counter-offensive retook towns to the east and west of Kyiv. Russian troops in the Bucha area retreated north. Ukrainian forces entered the city on 1 April, and recaptured the region around Kyiv, and uncovered evidence of war crimes in Bucha. The Pentagon confirmed on 6 April that the Russian army had left Chernihiv Oblast; local authorities said Russian troops had left Sumy Oblast. NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said the Russian "retraction, resupply, and redeployment" of troops from the Kyiv area should be interpreted as an expansion of Putin's plans for concentrating his forces on eastern Ukraine.

Southern and eastern front

On 24 February, Russian attack groups moved northwest from Crimea, capturing bridges over the Dnieper and the North Crimean Canal. On 1 March, Kherson was the first major city to fall to Russia. Russian troops moved on Mykolaiv and attacked it, but were repelled. Russian forces approached the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and besieged Enerhodar. By 25 February, Russian units had begun advancing on Mariupol. Russian forces captured Berdiansk. On 1 March, Denis Pushilin, head of the DPR, announced that it had surrounded Volnovakha.

By 18 March, Mariupol was completely encircled and fighting had reached the city centre, hampering efforts to evacuate civilians. The Russians demanded surrender, and the Ukrainians refused. On 27 March, Ukrainian deputy prime minister Olha Stefanishyna said that "(m)ore than 85 percent of the whole town is destroyed." Russia refused safe passage into Mariupol to 50 buses sent by the UN to evacuate civilians.

In the east, Russian troops attempted to capture Kharkiv, and met strong Ukrainian resistance. Izium was captured by Russian forces on 1 April after a monthlong battle. On 25 March, the Russian defence ministry said it would seek to occupy major cities in eastern Ukraine.

On 3 April, following the retreat of Russian forces from Kyiv, Russia expanded its attack on southern Ukraine, with bombardment and strikes against Odesa, Mykolaiv, and the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. By 7 April, the renewed massing of Russian troops and tanks around Izium, Sloviansk, and Kramatorsk prompted Ukrainian officials to advise remaining residents near the eastern border to evacuate to western Ukraine.

Southeastern front (8 April – 5 September 2022)

By 17 April, Russian progress on the southeastern front appeared impeded by Ukrainian forces in the large, heavily fortified Azovstal Iron and Steel Works and surrounding area in Mariupol. On 19 April Russia launched an "eastern assault" across a front extending from Kharkiv to Donetsk and Luhansk, with simultaneous missile attacks again directed at Kyiv and Lviv. An anonymous US Defence official called the Russian offensive "very tepid", "minimal at best", and "anaemic".

By 30 May, disparities between Russian and Ukrainian artillery were apparent, with Ukrainian artillery vastly outgunned, in range and number. In response to Biden's indication that enhanced artillery would be provided to Ukraine, Putin said Russia would expand its invasion to include new cities. In apparent retribution, Putin ordered a missile strike against Kyiv on 6 June after not directly attacking it for weeks. On 10 June, deputy head of the SBU Vadym Skibitsky stated that during the Sievierodonetsk campaign, the frontlines were where the future of the invasion would be decided:

On 29 June, US Intelligence Director Avril Haines said US agencies agreed the invasion will continue "for an extended period of time ... In short, the picture remains pretty grim and Russia's attitude toward the West is hardening." On 5 July, BBC reported that extensive destruction by the invasion would cause immense financial damage to Ukraine's economy, with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal telling nations at a reconstruction conference that Ukraine needed $750B for a recovery plan and Russian oligarchs should contribute.

The chief spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Defence Igor Konashenkov revealed that Russian troops were divided between the Army Groups "Centre" commanded by Colonel General Aleksander Lapin and "South" commanded by Army General Sergey Surovikin. On 20 July, Lavrov announced that Russia would respond to the increased military aid being received by Ukraine from abroad as justifying the expansion of its special military operation to Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts. Russian Ground Forces started recruiting volunteer battalions from the regions in June to create a new 3rd Army Corps within the Western Military District, with a planned strength of 16,000–60,000 personnel. Its units were deployed to the front around the September Kharkiv counteroffensive, in time to join the Russian retreat. The 3rd Army "melted away" according to ''Forbes'', having little impact on the battlefield along with other irregular forces.

Fall of Mariupol

On 13 April, Russian forces intensified their attack on the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works. Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal said Ukrainian soldiers had vowed to ignore the ultimatum to surrender and fight to the last. On 20 April, Putin said the siege could be considered tactically complete, since the 500 Ukrainian troops entrenched in bunkers within the iron works and estimated 1,000 civilians were sealed off from relief.

After meetings with Putin and Zelenskyy, UN Secretary-General Guterres on 28 April said he would attempt to organise an evacuation from Azovstal in accordance with assurances from Putin. On 30 April, Russian troops allowed civilians to leave under UN protection. By 3 May, after allowing 100 civilians to depart the steel factory, Russian troops renewed their bombardment. On 6 May, ''The Daily Telegraph'' reported that Russia had used thermobaric bombs against the remaining soldiers. Zelenskyy authorised the commander of the steel factory to surrender as necessary. On 7 May, all civilians were evacuated.

After the last civilians evacuated, 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers remained barricaded there, 700 were injured. They communicated a plea for a military corridor to evacuate, as they expected execution if they surrendered. Reports of dissent were reported on 8 May indicating that the commander of the Ukrainian marines had made an unauthorised acquisition of tanks, munitions, and personnel, broke out from the position and fled. The remaining soldiers spoke of a weakened defense as a result, which allowed progress to advancing Russian attacks. Ilia Somolienko, deputy commander of the remaining Ukrainian troops, said: "We are basically here dead men. Most of us know this and it's why we fight so fearlessly."

On 16 May, the Ukrainian General staff announced that the Mariupol garrison had "fulfilled its combat mission" and final evacuations had begun. 264 service members were evacuated to Olenivka under Russian control, while 53 who were seriously injured were taken to a hospital in Novoazovsk, controlled by Russia. Following the evacuation, Russian and DPR forces fully controlled Mariupol. The end of the battle brought an end to the Siege of Mariupol. Russia press secretary Dmitry Peskov said Putin had guaranteed that the fighters who surrendered would be treated "in accordance with international standards" while Zelenskyy said that "the work of bringing the boys home continues..."

Fall of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk

A Russian missile attack on Kramatorsk railway station in Kramatorsk took place on 8 April, killing at least 61 and injuring 87 to 300. On 11 April, Zelenskyy said Ukraine expected a new Russian offensive in the east. American officials said Russia had withdrawn or been repulsed elsewhere, and therefore was preparing a retraction, resupply, and redeployment to the southeastern Ukraine front. Military satellites photographed Russian convoys of infantry and mechanised units deploying south from Kharkiv to Izium on 11 April, apparently part of the planned Russian redeployment.

On 18 April, with Mariupol overtaken by Russian forces, the Ukrainian government announced that the second phase of the reinforced invasion of the Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv oblasts had intensified with expanded invasion forces occupying of the Donbas. On 22 May, the BBC reported that after the fall of Mariupol, Russia had intensified offensives in Luhansk and Donetsk while concentrating missile attacks and intense artillery fire on Sievierodonetsk, the largest city under Ukrainian control in Luhansk Oblast. On 23 May, Russian forces were reported entering Lyman, capturing the city by 26 May. Ukrainian forces were reported leaving Sviatohirsk. By 24 May, Russian forces captured the city of Svitlodarsk. On 30 May, Reuters reported that Russian troops had breached the outskirts of Sievierodonetsk. By 2 June, ''The Washington Post'' reported that Sievierodonetsk was on the brink of capitulation to Russian occupation with over 80% in the hands of Russian troops. On 3 June, Ukrainian forces reportedly began a counter-attack in Sievierodonetsk. By 4 June, Ukrainian government sources claimed 20% or more of the city had been recaptured.

Ukrainian authorities estimated that 800 Ukrainian civilians were besieged at the Azot chemical factory in Sievierodonetsk; Russian-backed separatists said it sheltered 300–400 soldiers. With the Ukrainian defences of Sievierodonetsk faltering, Russian troops began intensifying their attack upon the neighbouring city of Lysychansk as their next target. On 20 June it was reported that Russian troops continued to tighten their grip on Sievierodonetsk by capturing surrounding villages.

On 24 June, CNN reported that, amid scorched-earth tactics by advancing Russian troops, Ukraine's armed forces were ordered to evacuate Sievierodonetsk; several hundred civilians taking refuge in the Azot chemical plant were left behind, with some comparing their plight to those at the Azovstal steel works in Mariupol in May. On 3 July, the Russian defence ministry claimed Lysychansk had been captured and occupied by Russian forces. On 4 July, ''The Guardian'' reported that after the fall of the Luhansk oblast, Russian troops would continue their invasion into the adjacent Donetsk Oblast to attack the cities of Sloviansk and Bakhmut.

Zaporizhzhia front

Russian forces continued to fire missiles and drop bombs on Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia. Russian missiles destroyed the Dnipro International Airport on 10 April. On 2 May, the UN, reportedly with the cooperation of Russian troops, evacuated about 100 survivors from the siege of Mariupol. On 28 June, Reuters reported that a Russian missile attack on Kremenchuk, detonated in a mall, had caused at least 18 deaths. France's Macron called it a "war crime".

The president of Ukrainian nuclear agency Energoatom called the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant "extremely tense", saying that it was being operated by Ukrainian staff but controlled by up to 500 Russian soldiers, with Russia shelling nearby areas and storing weapons at the plant. Russia agreed on 19 August to allow IAEA inspectors access to the plant after a call from Macron to Putin. As of July 2023, access to the plant remained limited and required extensive negotiation.

Russia reported that 12 attacks with explosions from 50 artillery shells had been recorded by 18 August at the plant and the company town of Enerhodar. Tobias Ellwood, chair of the UK's Defence Select Committee, and US congressman Adam Kinzinger said that radiation leaks would be a breach of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, under which an attack on a member of NATO is an attack on them all.

Russian annexations and occupation losses (6 September – 11 November 2022)

On 6 September 2022, Ukrainian forces launched a surprise counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region, beginning near Balakliia, led by General Syrskyi.
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* An emboldened Kyiv launched a counteroffensive 12 September around Kharkiv successful enough to make Russia admit losing key positions and for ''The New York Times'' to say that it dented the image of a "Mighty Putin". Kyiv sought more arms from the West to sustain the counteroffensive. On 21 September 2022, Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilisation and Minister of Defence Sergei Shoigu said 300,000 reservists would be called.
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* He also said that his country would use "all means" to "defend itself". Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelenskyy, said that the decision was predictable and that it was an attempt to justify "Russia's failures". British Foreign Office Minister Gillian Keegan called the situation an "escalation", while former Mongolian president Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj accused Russia of using Russian Mongols as "cannon fodder".

Russian annexation of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts

In late September 2022, Russian-installed officials in Ukraine organised referendums on the annexation of the occupied territories of Ukraine. These included the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic in Russian-occupied Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine, as well as the Russian-appointed military administrations of Kherson Oblast and Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Denounced by Ukraine's government and its allies as sham elections, the elections' official results showed overwhelming majorities in favour of annexation.

On 30 September 2022, Vladimir Putin announced the annexation of Ukraine's Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts in an address to both houses of the Russian parliament. Ukraine, the United States, the European Union and the United Nations all denounced the annexation as illegal.

Kherson counteroffensive

On 29 August, Zelenskyy announced the start of a full-scale counteroffensive in the southeast to retake Russian-occupied territory in the Kherson and Mykolaiv regions. By 4 September, Ukrainian forces had retaken the village of Vysokopillia. Ukrainian attacks also continued along the southern frontline, though reports about territorial changes were largely unverifiable.

In October, Ukrainian forces pushed further south towards the city of Kherson, taking control of of territory, with fighting extending to Dudchany. On 9 November, defence minister Shoigu ordered Russian forces to leave part of Kherson Oblast, including the city of Kherson, and move to the eastern bank of the Dnieper. On 11 November, Ukrainian troops entered Kherson, as Russia completed its withdrawal. This meant that Russian forces no longer had a foothold on the west (right) bank of the Dnieper.

Kharkiv counteroffensive

Ukrainian forces launched another surprise counteroffensive on 6 September in the Kharkiv Oblast near Balakliia led by General Syrskyi. By 7 September, Ukrainian forces had advanced some into Russian occupied territory and claimed to have recaptured approximately . Russian commentators said this was likely due to the relocation of Russian forces to Kherson in response to the Ukrainian offensive there. On 8 September, Ukrainian forces captured Balakliia and advanced to within of Kupiansk. Military analysts said Ukrainian forces appeared to be moving towards Kupiansk, a major railway hub, with the aim of cutting off the Russian forces at Izium from the north.

On 9 September, the Russian occupation administration of Kharkiv Oblast announced it would "evacuate" the civilian populations of Izium, Kupiansk and Velykyi Burluk. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said it believed Kupiansk would likely fall in the next 72 hours, while Russian reserve units were sent to the area by both road and helicopter. On the morning of 10 September, photos emerged claiming to depict Ukrainian troops raising the Ukrainian flag in the centre of Kupiansk, and the ISW said Ukrainian forces had captured approximately by effectively exploiting their breakthrough. Later in the day, ''Reuters'' reported that Russian positions in northeast Ukraine had "collapsed" in the face of the Ukrainian assault, with Russian forces forced to withdraw from their base at Izium after being cut off by the capture of Kupiansk.

By 15 September, an assessment by UK's Ministry of Defence confirmed that Russia had either lost or withdrawn from almost all of their positions west of the Oskil river. The retreating units had also abandoned various high-value military assets. The offensive continued pushing east and by 1 October, Ukrainian Armed Forces had liberated the key city of Lyman.

Winter stalemate, attrition campaign and 1st military surge (12 November 2022 – 7 June 2023)

After the end of the twin Ukrainian counteroffensives, the fighting shifted to a semi-deadlock during the winter, with heavy casualties but reduced motion of the frontline. Russia launched a self-proclaimed winter offensive in eastern Ukraine, but the campaign ended in "disappointment" for Moscow, with limited gains as the offensive stalled. Analysts variously blamed the failure on Russia's lack of "trained men", and supply problems with artillery ammunition, among other problems. Near the end of May, Mark Galeotti assessed that "after Russia's abortive and ill-conceived winter offensive, which squandered its opportunity to consolidate its forces, Ukraine is in a relatively strong position."

On 7 February, ''The New York Times'' reported that Russians had newly mobilised nearly 200,000 soldiers to participate in the offensive in the Donbas, against Ukraine troops already wearied by previous fighting. The Russian private military company Wagner Group took on greater prominence in the war, leading "grinding advances" in Bakhmut with tens of thousands of recruits from prison battalions taking part in "near suicidal" assaults on Ukrainian positions.

In late January 2023, fighting intensified in southern Zaporizhzhia Oblast, with both sides suffering heavy casualties. In nearby southern parts of Donetsk Oblast, an intense, three-week Russian assault near the coal-mining town of Vuhledar was called the largest tank battle of the war to date, and ended in disaster for Russian forces, who lost "at least 130 tanks and armored personnel carriers" according to Ukrainian commanders. The British Ministry of Defence stated that "a whole Russian brigade was effectively annihilated."

In late 2022, as Russian casualties exceeded 50,000, the Russian army introduced barrier troops. The U.K. defence ministry stated that these are units that threaten to shoot their own retreating soldiers in order to compel offensives. In March 2023, Russian soldiers filmed a video addressed to President Putin where they stated that after suffering casualties, they attempted to return to their headquarters but their superiors denied them evacuation. They stated that barrier troops were placed behind them threatening to "destroy them". In particular, Storm-Z units have been reported to be "kept in line" by barrier troops.

Battle of Bakhmut

Following defeat in Kherson and Kharkiv, Russian and Wagner forces focused on taking the city of Bakhmut and breaking the half year long stalemate that prevailed there since the start of the war. Russian forces sought to encircle the city, attacking from the north via Soledar. After taking heavy casualties, Russian and Wagner forces took control of Soledar on 16 January 2023. By early February 2023, Bakhmut was facing attacks from north, south and east, with the sole Ukrainian supply lines coming from Chasiv Yar to the west.

On 4 March, Bakhmut's deputy mayor told news services that there was street fighting in the city. On 20 May 2023, the Wagner Group claimed full control over Bakhmut, and a victory in the battle was officially declared by Russia the next day, following which Wagner forces retreated from the city in place of regular Russian units.

2023 Ukrainian counteroffensives (8 June 2023 – 1 December 2023)

In June 2023, Ukrainian forces launched counteroffensives on multiple fronts. Efforts faced stiff Russian resistance. By 12 June, Ukraine reported advances and liberated settlements. On 24 June, the Wagner Group rebellion briefly unfolded before a peace deal. In late June, Ukraine reclaimed territory in Donbas and made gains in Kherson Oblast.
Russia heavily mined areas, making Ukraine the most mined country in the world. Following Russia leaving the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Ukraine targeted Russian ships. In September 2023, Russian strikes hit Ukrainian energy facilities. The US announced sending long-range ATACMS missiles and Ukraine struck the Sevastopol naval base.

In October–December 2023, Ukrainian forces crossed the Dnipro river despite heavy losses. On 1 December 2023, Zelenskyy stated that the Ukrainian counter-offensive was unsuccessful, citing slow results. Zelenskyy stated it would be easier for Ukraine to regain Crimea than the Donbas, because the latter is heavily militarised with much pro-Russian sentiment. In December 2023, media outlets described the Ukrainian counteroffensive as having failed to regain significant territory or meet any of its objectives.

Battle of Avdiivka

In October 2023, it was reported that there was a growth of mutinies among Russian troops due to the large number of losses in Russian offensives around Avdiivka with a lack of artillery, food, water and poor command also being reported. By November, British intelligence said that recent weeks had "likely seen some of the highest Russian casualty rates of the war so far."

On 17 February 2024, Russia captured Avdiivka, a longtime stronghold for Ukraine that had been described as a "gateway" to nearby Donetsk. ABC News stated that Russia could use the development to boost morale with the war largely at a stalemate close to its second anniversary. Described by ''Forbes'' journalist David Axe as a pyrrhic Russian victory, the Russian 2nd and 41st Combined Arms Armies ended up with 16,000 men killed, tens of thousands wounded and around 700 vehicles lost before seizing the ruins of Avdiivka.

Ukraine's shortage of ammunition caused by political deadlock in the US Congress and a lack of production capacity in Europe contributed to the Ukrainian withdrawal from Avdiivka, and was "being felt across the front" according to ''Time''. The shortage resulted in Ukraine having to ration its units to fire only 2,000 rounds per day, compared to an estimated 10,000 rounds fired daily by Russia.

Russian offensives and Ukrainian incursion (April 2024 – present)

Russian spring and summer offensives

On 10 May 2024, Russia began a renewed offensive in Kharkiv Oblast. Russia managed to capture a dozen villages, and Ukraine had evacuated more than 11,000 people from the region since the start of the offensive by 25 May. Ukraine said on 17 May that its forces had slowed the Russian advance, and by 25 May Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian forces had secured "combat control" of areas where Russian troops entered the northeastern Kharkiv Oblast. Russian officials said that they were "advancing in every direction" and that the goal was to create a "buffer zone" for embattled border regions. The White House said on 7 June that the offensive had stalled and was unlikely to advance further.

Following the Russian success in the battle of Avdiivka, their forces advanced northwest of it to form a salient, and by mid-April 2024 reached the settlement of Ocheretyne, capturing it in late April and further expanding the salient in the succeeding months. Russian forces also launched an offensive towards the city of Chasiv Yar in early April, a strategically important settlement west of Bakhmut, and by early July had captured its easternmost district. Another offensive in the direction of the city of Toretsk was launched on 18 June, with the goal of capturing the city, and according to Ukrainian military observer and spokesperson Nazar Voloshyn, flanking Chasiv Yar from the south. Russian forces advanced to expand the salient northwest of Avdiivka in July, and on 19 July, made a breakthrough allowing them to begin advancing towards the operationally significant city of Pokrovsk.

Ukrainian offensive into Russia

On 6 August 2024, Ukraine launched their first direct offensive into Russian territory, the largest of any pro-Ukrainian incursion since the invasion's inception, into the bordering Kursk Oblast. The main axis of the initial advance centred in the direction of the town of Sudzha, located from the border, which was reported by President Zelenskyy to have been captured on 15 August. Ukraine, taking advantage of the lack of experienced units and defences along the border with Kursk Oblast, was able to quickly seize territory in the opening days of the incursion. The incursion caused Russia to divert thousands of troops from occupied Ukrainian territory to counter the threat, though not from Donetsk Oblast.

Despite repeated deadlines set by Putin to push out Ukrainian troops, Russian forces had still not yet done so by the end of January 2025, with advances in Donetsk Oblast being prioritized over the Kursk salient. However, by February 2025, Russian forces in Donetsk Oblast were described by the ISW as not being fully protected from the theater-wide impacts of the incursion, with troops, armored vehicles, artillery, and air defense systems being pulled away from Ukrainian sectors to reinforce the Russian forces in Kursk.

Late 2024 and early 2025 Russian advances

Russian troops continued advancing in eastern Ukraine, notably at a faster pace than prior to the Kursk offensive, including towards the strategically important city of Pokrovsk, where their number of forces had instead been increased.

In late August 2024, Russian forces seized the city of Novohrodivka, southeast of Pokrovsk, bringing them within 8 kilometres of the city, while capturing Krasnohorivka and Ukrainsk, near Pokrovsk and west of Donetsk city, in early September. In late September, a Russian assault on the long-held city of Vuhledar began, leading to its fall on 1 October. Following the Russian capture, the city with a pre-war population of about 14,000 was described as a "sprawling ruin".

On 30 October, Ukrainian Major General Dmytro Marchenko was reported to have said "our front has crumbled" due to a dwindling ammunition supply, problems with military recruitment, and poor leadership. He said Zelensky's victory plan was too heavily focused on seeking more Western support. Briefings from Western officials had also become more pessimistic about Ukraine's military situation. According to the Prosecutor General's Office, more than 100,000 criminal cases for desertion were initiated by the end of November 2024. Russian forces then captured the city of Kurakhove in late December 2024, and the nearby Kurakhove Power Station in January 2025.

In early 2025, Russian forces advanced in eastern Ukraine, capturing Velyka Novosilka and most of Toretsk by late January. Russia continued attacks on the Ukrainian energy infrastructure. In February 2025, Ukraine's government approved a one-year contract for volunteers aged 18–24 who are currently not subject to mobilization.

Battlespaces

Frontlines of the Russian invasion of Ukraine stretch for over 600 miles. The frontlines are divided into three separate fronts, southern front, eastern front, and the northern front. Various high-profile battles took place in the fronts, with Kursk offensive in the north, Pokrovsk offensive in the east and naval warfare with Russian forces in the south near the Black Sea.

Command

The supreme commanders-in-chief are the heads of state of the respective governments: President Vladimir Putin of Russia and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine. Putin has reportedly meddled in operational decisions, bypassing senior commanders and giving orders directly to brigade commanders.

US general Mark Milley wrote in May 2022 that Ukraine's top military commander in the war, commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, "has emerged as the military mind his country needed. His leadership enabled the Ukrainian armed forces to adapt quickly with battlefield initiative against the Russians." Russia began the invasion with no overall commander. The commanders of the four military districts were each responsible for their own offensives.

After initial setbacks, the commander of the Russian Southern Military District, Aleksandr Dvornikov, was placed in overall command on 8 April 2022, while still responsible for his own campaign. Russian forces benefited from the centralisation of command under Dvornikov, but continued failures to meet expectations in Moscow led to multiple changes in overall command:
* commander of the Eastern Military District Gennady Zhidko (Eastern Military District, 26May – 8October 2022)
* commander of the southern grouping of forces Sergei Surovikin (early October 2022 – 11January 2023)
* commander-in-chief of the Russian Armed Forces Valerii Gerasimov (from 11January 2023)

Russia has suffered a remarkably large number of casualties in the ranks of its officers, including a number of generals.

Missile attacks and aerial warfare

Aerial warfare began the first day of the invasion. Dozens of missile attacks were recorded across both eastern and western Ukraine, reaching as far west as Lviv.

By September 2022, the Ukrainian air force had shot down about 55 Russian warplanes. In mid-October, Russian forces launched missile strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure, intended to knock out energy facilities. By late November, hundreds of civilians had been killed or wounded in the attacks, and rolling blackouts had left millions without power.

In December 2022, drones launched from Ukraine allegedly carried out several attacks on Dyagilevo and Engels

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