Russian Invasion of Ukraine 2022

Russo-Ukraine Crisis

Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine, its neighbour to the southwest, on February 24, 2022, marking a dramatic escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014.

The invasion was preceded by a Russian military buildup that began in early 2021, during which Russian President Vladimir Putin criticised NATO's post-1997 enlargement as a threat to Russian security and demanded that Ukraine be legally barred from joining the military alliance; he also expressed irredentist views. Russia officially recognised the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic, two self-proclaimed states in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region, on February 21, 2022, and dispatched troops to the territories. The Russian Federation Council unequivocally authorised Putin to use military force outside Russia's borders the next day.

Background

Ukraine and Russia maintained close ties following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Ukraine agreed to abandon its nuclear arsenal in 1994, signing the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances on the condition that Russia, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (US) provide commitments against threats or use of force against Ukraine's territorial sovereignty or political independence. Five years later, Russia signed the Charter for European Security, which "reaffirmed each and every participating State's inherent right to choose or change its safeguards, including treaties of alliance, as they evolve."

According to Al Jazeera News Reports, The Russian military on Friday said it had encircled the cities of Sumy and Konotop in northeastern Ukraine but was “taking steps to ensure civilians’ safety”.

Russian Defence Ministry Spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said their forces have so far knocked out 211 Ukrainian military installations, including 17 command centres, 19 air defence missile systems, 39 radar units, 67 tanks and six warplanes.

The Russian military also said it seized a strategic airport outside Kyiv, allowing it to quickly build up forces to take the capital.

Late on Friday, the Russian military said it has taken over Melitopol, a city near the Azov Sea. The claim could not immediately be independently verified.

Ukraine’s military reported shooting down an II-76 Russian transport plane carrying paratroopers near Vasylkiv, a city 40km (25 miles) south of Kyiv. It was unclear how many were on board, but the II-76 is able to carry up to 125 paratroopers.

What does Putin want?

Russia is not just focused on Ukraine. It demands that NATO return to its pre-1997 borders.

Mr Putin wants Nato to withdraw its forces and military capabilities from member countries that joined the alliance after 1997 and to refrain from deploying "strike weapons near Russia's borders." That includes Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the Baltic states.

According to President Putin, the West promised in 1990 that Nato would not expand "even an inch to the east," but did so anyway.

However, because the promise was made to then Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev before the Soviet Union's demise, it only referred to East Germany in the context of a reunified Germany. Mr Gorbachev later stated that at the time, "the topic of Nato expansion was never discussed."