On February 20, 2014, Russia launched a military operation to annex Crimea. The capture of the peninsula became the first part of the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine and ended with the annexation of Crimea. After the occupation of the peninsula, the Russian Federation started a war in eastern Ukraine.

Euromaidan, November 30, 2013 – February 2014. The intervention of Russia was preceded by Maidan – national-patriotic protest actions in Ukraine, primarily against corruption, arbitrariness of law enforcement agencies and special forces, as well as in support of the European direction of Ukraine’s foreign policy.

The final stage of the Revolution of Dignity was the events in Kyiv on February 18-20, during which more than a hundred protesters were killed and several thousand wounded.

Armed occupation of the Crimean Peninsula on February 20, 2014. The invasion began at the final stage of the Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine. This was part of the implementation of the Russian leadership’s plan to establish occupation control over Ukraine.

The war in eastern Ukraine or the war in Donbas began on April 12, 2014. The Russian army invaded the territory of Donbas. In terms of geographic scope, the armed conflict was local and covered parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine.

The battle for Ilovaisk took place near the city of Ilovaisk in Donetsk region in August 2014. At the initial stage, Ukrainian troops surrounded pro-Russian militants, and from August 24, a significant number of regular Russian troops entered the rear of the Ukrainian group, changing the course of the fighting. The Ukrainian army lost 366 soldiers, 429 were wounded, and 300 captured. This prompted the Ukrainian side to agree to the terms of the Minsk ceasefire signed on September 5, 2014.

The fighting for the Donetsk airport lasted from September 2014 to January 23, 2015. Pro-Russian forces carried out systematic assaults on the airport premises. On January 22, 2015, the surviving Ukrainian defenders left the airport, but many wounded Ukrainian soldiers were captured. The defense of the airport lasted 242 days. The battle for the Donetsk airport became a symbol of the indomitability and fighting spirit of the Ukrainian army.

On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a full-scale war against Ukraine. At about 4:00 am Kyiv time on February 24, Russian president Vladimir Putin announced a military operation; a few minutes later, missile strikes began all over Ukraine. Russian troops crossed the border of Ukraine near Kharkiv, Kherson, Chernihiv, Sumy, Chernobyl, entering from the territory of Russia, Belarus and temporarily occupied Crimea.