Russia launches full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022

On 24 February 2022, Russian forces invaded Ukraine on a broad front. Troops advanced from Russia, from Belarus and from Russian-held Crimea, while missiles struck cities and military sites across the country. Russian President Vladimir Putin had announced a "special military operation" in a televised address hours earlier, citing aims such as the "demilitarisation" of Ukraine. Kyiv and most Western governments rejected these claims and called the attack unprovoked aggression.

The invasion followed the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and years of fighting in the eastern Donbas region, as well as a large Russian military build-up near Ukraine's borders in late 2021. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared martial law and ordered general mobilisation.

The war became the largest conflict in Europe since the Second World War. It has displaced millions of people, killed thousands of civilians and destroyed towns and infrastructure. It also led to wide Western sanctions on Russia, large-scale military aid for Ukraine and repeated, so far unsuccessful, attempts at negotiation and ceasefires.