INTRO

In, Russia invaded and annexed Crimea, and Russian-backed separatists

seized part of Ukraine's Donbas area, including the oblasts of Luhansk
and Donetsk, triggering a regional war.
Russia initiated a massive military buildup near its border with Ukraine
in 2021, gathering up to 190,000 troops and weapons.
Russian President Vladimir Putin espoused irredentist views in a
televised address shortly before the invasion,[23][24] and falsely[25]
claimed Ukraine was governed by neo-Nazis who persecuted the ethnic
Russian minority.[26] On 21 February 2022, Russia recognized the
Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic, two self-
proclaimed breakaway quasi-states in Donbas.

On the morning of February 24,[29], Putin announced a "special

military operation" to "demilitarize and denazify" Ukraine.[30][31]
Minutes later, missiles and airstrikes hit across Ukraine, including the
capital, Kyiv.
A large ground invasion from multiple directions followed.[32][33]
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy enacted martial law and a
general mobilization of all male Ukrainian citizens between the ages of
18 and 60, who were barred from leaving the country.[34][35] Russian
attacks were initially launched on a northern front from Belarus
towards Kyiv, a north-eastern front towards Kharkiv, a southern front
from Crimea, and a south-eastern