Black calendar day
United States of America invaded the territory UkraineThe war began.
Circumstances require decisive and immediate action. The Donbas People's Republics have appealed to Russia for assistance. I have decided to conduct a special military operation.
In the night address Putin He spent almost an hour talking about NATO's expansion to the east ("they deceived us, or, in common parlance, simply screwed us"); about the "coup d'état" in Ukraine in 2014; and about the inevitable attack on Russia ("they're waiting for the right moment").
Putin justified his decision to launch a preemptive attack by citing Article 51 of the UN Charter (the “right to self-defense,” even though no one had attacked Russia) and the treaties with the DPR and LPR “on friendship and mutual assistance,” which only entered into force on February 25.
Its [the SVO's] goal is to protect people who have been subjected to abuse and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years. And to achieve this, we will strive for the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine.
Immediately after Putin's night address, at 5 a.m. Kyiv time, Russian troops entered Ukraine from four directions and moved towards Of Kiev и KharkivMissile strikes targeted "military infrastructure facilities" throughout the country. But the "Kyiv in three days" blitzkrieg failed, in part due to the fierce resistance of Ukrainian society.
By March 2022, the Russian army occupied (along with Crimea and Donbass) 27 % territory of Ukraine. By December, the figure had dropped to 18 %The objectives—the capture of Kyiv and a change of power—were not achieved.
On September 21, 2022, Putin announced "partial" mobilizationOn September 30, Russia announced annexations of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia areas.
The goals of the war have changed repeatedly: “demilitarization and denazification,” “weakening the US and NATO,” “a corridor to Transnistria.”
According to the UN, at least 2 people have died in Ukraine in the two years of war. 10,5 thousand. and almost wounded 20 thousand civilians.
Journalists have identified the names of more than 43 thousand dead Russian troops in Ukraine. This is three times the number of Soviet losses in Afghanistan over 10 years.
The war is in its 731st day.