War in Ukraine

 The war in Ukraine started in 20th of February 2014.On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, 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.[15][16][17] 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 World24 February 2022Russo-Ukrainian War

Part of the conflicts in territory of the former Soviet Union

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bucha._Faces_of_War._-_Ukraine_War_Photo_Exhibition_2023_(52703004165).jpg

Clockwise from top left:

Ukrainian troops during the war in Donbas, 2014Russian T-64 tank with Z markings, 2022Russian-backed Donetsk People's Republic forces, 2015Residential building damaged by a Russian missile in Avdiivka, 2023DestroyedAfter the dissolution of the Soviet Union (USSR) in 1991, Ukraine and Russia maintained close ties. In 1994, Ukraine signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and agreed to give up the former Soviet nuclear weapons in Ukraine.[14][15] In return, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States agreed to uphold the territorial integrity and political independence of Ukraine through the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances.[16][17] In 1999, Russia was one of the signatories of the Charter for European Security, which guaranteed the right of each state "to choose or change its security arrangements" and to join alliances if they wish.[18] In the years after the dissolution of the USSR, several former Eastern Bloc countries joined NATO, partly in response to regional security threats involving Russia such as the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis, the War in Abkhazia (1992–1993) and the First Chechen War (1994–1996). Putin said Western powers broke promises not to let any Eastern European countries join.[19][20]

Protesters in Independence Square in Kyiv during the Orange Revolution, November 2004

The 2004 Ukrainian presidential election was controversial. During the election campaign, opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko was poisoned by TCDD dioxin;[21][22] he later accused Russia of involvement.[23] Viktor Yanukovych was declared the winner, despite allegations of vote-rigging by election observers.[24] During a two-month period which became known as the Orange Revolution, large peaceful protests successfully challenged the outcome, and the Supreme Court of Ukraine annulled the result due to widespread electoral fraud. A re-run election was won by Yushchenko, leaving Yanukovych in opposition.[25] The Orange Revolution is often grouped with other early-21st century protest movements within the former USSR, known as colour revolutions. According to Anthony Cordesman, Russian military officers viewed such colour revolutions as attempts by the US and European states to undermine Russia.[26]

Russo-Georgian War

Main article: Russo-Georgian War

At the 2008 Bucharest summit, Ukraine and Georgia sought to join NATO, but NATO members were split. Western European countries opposed offering Membership Action Plans (MAP) to Ukraine and Georgia, fearing it would unsettle Russia.[27] NATO refused to offer Ukraine and Georgia MAPs, but also issued a statement agreeing that "these countries will become members of NATO" at some point. Putin strongly opposed their NATO membership bids.[28]

Russia invaded Georgia in August 2008 and took control of the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, demonstrating Russia's willingness to use military force to attain its political objectives.[29] Political scientist Paul D'Anieri says the United States "was accused of appeasement and naivete" over its reaction to the invasion.[30] The West's weak response in 2008—and later in 2014—contributed to Russia's assessment of Western warnings against 2022 invasion as not serious,[31][32] and, according to political scientist Samuel Ramani, encouraged further Russian aggression.[33]

Yanukovych won the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election.[34]

By January 2022, the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO remained remote.[35]

Euromaidan and Revolution of Dignity