Russo-Ukrainian war

Independent Ukraine and the Orange Revolution , Russian president Yeltsin, and Ukrainian president Kravchuk after signing the Trilateral Statement (1994). Russia and the US agreed to respect Ukraine's sovereignty in return for Ukraine giving up its nuclear weapons. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union (USSR) in 1991, Ukraine and Russia maintained 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. In return, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States agreed to uphold the territorial integrity and independence of Ukraine through the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances. In 1997, Russia signed the NATO-Russia Founding Act. It affirmed that "NATO and Russia do not consider each other as adversaries" and would work together. It acknowledged that "NATO has expanded and will continue to expand its political functions". In 1999, Russia was one of the signatories of the Charter for European Security, affirming the right of each state "to choose or change its security arrangements" and to join military alliances if they wish. Several former Eastern Bloc countries joined NATO, partly in response to regional security threats involving Russia. In 2005, Putin said that if Ukraine and other former Soviet states wanted to join NATO, "we will respect their choice, because it is their sovereign right to decide their own defense policy, and this will not worsen relations between our countries". Putin later said Western powers broke promises not to let any Eastern European countries join. in Kyiv during the Orange Revolution, November 2004 The 2004 Ukrainian presidential election was controversial. During the election campaign, pro-Western opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko was poisoned by TCDD dioxin; he later accused Russia of involvement. The more Russia-friendly candidate Viktor Yanukovych was declared the winner, despite allegations of vote-rigging by election observers. 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. The Russian government sees the Orange Revolution as one of the "colour revolutions" in former Soviet states. According to Anthony Cordesman, Russian military officers viewed such "colour revolutions" as attempts by the US and European countries to undermine Russia. 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. 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. 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. Political scientist Paul D'Anieri says the United States "was accused of appeasement and naivete" over its reaction to the invasion. 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, and, according to political scientist Samuel Ramani, encouraged further Russian aggression. Euromaidan and Revolution of Dignity , 29 December 2013 Viktor Yanukovych won the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election. In early 2013, the Ukrainian parliament overwhelmingly approved of finalising a free trade and association agreement with the European Union (EU). The Kremlin pressured Ukraine to reject this agreement; Russia imposed embargoes on Ukrainian goods and threatened further sanctions. Kremlin adviser Sergey Glazyev warned that Russia might no longer acknowledge Ukraine's borders if the agreement was signed. Under pressure from Russia, in November 2013, Ukrainian president Yanukovych suddenly withdrew from signing the agreement. This sparked a wave of massive protests, known as the "Euromaidan". The protesters opposed Russian interference, government corruption, abuse of power, and human rights violations, including new anti-protest laws. The protests led to the Revolution of Dignity. On 28 January 2014, Ukraine's government resigned. On 18–20 February, more than 100 protesters were killed in clashes with Berkut special riot police; most were shot by the Berkut. On 21 February, President Yanukovych and the opposition leaders signed an agreement to bring about an interim unity government, urgent constitutional changes (which needed to be signed by the president), and early elections. However, Yanukovych secretly fled the capital that evening and did not inform parliament of his whereabouts. The next day, Ukraine's parliament unanimously voted to remove Yanukovych from office. About 73% of the parliament and members of all parties voted to remove him, including members of his own party and of the pro-Russian Communist Party. On 27 February, an interim government was established and early presidential elections were scheduled. The following day, Yanukovych resurfaced in Russia and declared that he remained the president of Ukraine. Some political leaders in the mainly Russian-speaking eastern regions declared continuing loyalty to Yanukovych. Pro-Russian protests , 6 April 2014, with flags of Russia, the Russian Empire, and the Eurasianist Movement. From late February 2014, demonstrations by pro-Russian, separatist and counter-revolutionary groups took place in several cities in eastern and southern Ukraine. Most of the protests were in the Donbas region, made up of Donetsk Oblast and Luhansk Oblast. In the last census, the population of the Donbas was about 58% ethnic Ukrainian and 38% ethnic Russian (Donetsk was 57% Ukrainian and 38% Russian, while Luhansk was 58% Ukrainian and 39% Russian). A national survey held in March–April 2014 found that 58% of respondents in the Donbas wanted to remain part of a unitary or federal Ukraine, while 31% wanted the region to separate from Ukraine. There were smaller protests in Kharkiv and Odesa. The first protests were largely native expressions of discontent with the new Ukrainian government. On 23 February 2014, Ukraine's parliament adopted a bill to revoke the status of Russian as an official state language. The bill was not enacted, but the proposal caused anger among some Russian speakers in Ukraine. In the last census, 75% of people in Donetsk Oblast and 69% of people in Luhansk Oblast had Russian as their mother tongue, although most Ukrainian citizens spoke both Ukrainian and Russian. These regions mostly consumed Russia-based media, which promoted the narrative that Ukraine's new government was an illegitimate "fascist junta" and that ethnic Russians were in imminent danger. Russia used the protests to launch a campaign of political warfare, information warfare, and irregular warfare against Ukraine. Leaked e-mails and telephone calls later revealed that the Russian state had funded the separatists and had organised separatist protests, mainly through Kremlin advisers Vladislav Surkov and Sergey Glazyev. Ukrainian authorities arrested local separatist leaders in early March. Those leaders were replaced by men with ties to the Russian security services and Russian business interests. On 6 April 2014, hundreds of masked men stormed and seized weapons from the Security Service buildings in the cities of Donetsk and Luhansk. Protesters then stormed and occupied the Donetsk regional government headquarters, raising the Russian flag and demanding a referendum on joining Russia. The next day, the activists held a meeting in the building and proclaimed the "Donetsk People's Republic" an independent state. On 29 April, armed pro-Russian activists stormed and occupied the Luhansk regional government headquarters, proclaiming the "Luhansk People's Republic". == Causes ==

According to political scientist Paul D'Anieri, Russia had the following four causes to start its war with Ukraine in 2014, as well as for the 2022 war: • Russia's desire to regain control of Ukraine and turn it into a puppet regime. • Russia's conception of itself as a great power entitled to a sphere of influence over the former Soviet Republics. • The security dilemma in Europe, with Russia perceiving the expansion of NATO as a threat, and other East European states desiring guarantees against Russian expansionism. • Democratic Ukraine being perceived by Russia as a political threat to the authoritarian regime in Russia. == History ==

The Russian occupation of Crimea is usually deemed to be the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war. This was followed by the War in Donbas (2014–2022) and then the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, which started the current phase of the war. Historiography Different start-dates for the conflict have been identified. According to a number of scholars, the war began with the February 2014 Russian occupation of Crimea, in particular the 27 February storming of the Crimean parliament. The Ukrainian government declared 26 February the "Day of Resistance to the Occupation of Crimea", as on that day in 2014 a Crimean Tatar rally was held to oppose Russian interference. Some, including political scientist Andreas Umland, prefer 20 February – the day Russia supposedly issued orders to prepare for the invasion of Crimea, which is also the date engraved on the Russian Crimea campaign medal. Dutch Professor of Military History, Floribert Baudet, asserted that "Russia's war against Ukraine did not start in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea" because Russia had been subverting Ukrainian sovereignty long before this. Analysts also differ over the nature of the conflict. Paul D'Anieri describes "a limited war in 2014, and then [a] much less limited war in 2022". In contrast, Ukrainian-American historian Serhii Plokhy said in 2023 of the then-ongoing war that "I decline the temptation to identify the date of February 24, 2022, as its beginning, no matter the shock and drama of the all- out Russian assault on Ukraine, for the simple reason that the war began eight years earlier, on February 27, 2014". At first, Russia denied that the soldiers were theirs, instead claiming they were local "self-defense" units. Later, Putin admitted that they were Russian special forces, and said that he decided to "return" Crimea to Russia when the revolution happened. Russia took advantage of the uncertainty in Ukraine immediately after the ousting of Yanukovych. The unmarked Russian soldiers seized the Crimean parliament and government buildings in Simferopol, as well as setting up checkpoints to restrict movement and cut off the Crimean peninsula from the rest of Ukraine. While the armed men occupied Crimea's parliament, it dismissed the Crimean government and installed a pro-Russian government under Sergey Aksyonov, whose party won only 4% of votes in the last election. Historian Andrew Wilson and journalist Luke Harding called this the "Crimean coup". The parliament then announced a referendum on Crimea's status. No journalists had been allowed inside, and some MPs said votes had been cast for them even though they were not present. Russian rebel commander Igor 'Strelkov' Girkin later admitted:"Unfortunately, I saw no support from public authorities in Simferopol ... Rebels assembled lawmakers to corral them into the hall so that they could vote. I was one of the commanders of those rebels. I saw that from the inside". Ukraine's prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, said that Russian military intervention would be the beginning of war, and Ukraine's representative told the UN Security Council that Russia was committing "an act of aggression against the state of Ukraine". Unmarked Russian special forces occupied airports and communications centers, The referendum was held under Russian occupation on 16 March 2014. According to the Russian-installed authorities, the result was in favour of joining Russia. It annexed Crimea on 18 March 2014. It was the first time since World War II that a European country had annexed part of another. Following this, Russian forces seized Ukrainian military bases in Crimea and captured their personnel. On 24 March, Ukraine ordered its remaining troops to withdraw. On 15 April, Ukraine's parliament declared Crimea temporarily occupied by Russia. Russia militarized the peninsula and made nuclear threats. In his Crimean speech, Putin said Crimea had always been Russian and should never have become part of an independent Ukraine. He claimed that Russia did not want to take any other regions of Ukraine. When Russia invaded Crimea, Ukraine was a neutral country under its Constitution, and Ukraine's post-revolutionary government was not seeking NATO membership. In response to Russia's annexation and further attacks on Ukraine, some NATO members agreed to begin training the Ukrainian army. War in the Donbas (2014–2021) In April 2014, the anti-government protests in the Donbas developed into armed conflict between Russian-backed separatists and Ukraine. Russian citizens with links to its security forces had taken control of the separatist movement by this stage. Russia deployed 30,000–40,000 troops near Ukraine's eastern border in early April. First months of the war On 12 April 2014, a heavily armed paramilitary unit crossed the border from Russia into Ukraine and took over Sloviansk and Kramatorsk in Donetsk Oblast. They raided the police and Security Service (SBU) buildings, seizing a large amount of weapons, which were given to local pro-Russian separatists. commanded by former GRU colonel Igor 'Strelkov' Girkin. The first conflict deaths in the Donbas occurred on 13 April, when the Russian paramilitaries fired on Ukrainian SBU officers outside Sloviansk. Ukrainian officer Gennady Bilichenko was killed and several wounded, while at least one Russian militant was killed by return fire. In response, on 15 April, the interim Ukrainian government launched an "Anti-Terrorist Operation" (ATO) in the Donbas. However, Ukrainian forces were poorly prepared, and the operation soon stalled. Russian separatist commander Strelkov said that Ukrainian forces were "extremely cautious" at first, as they did not know how Russia would respond. soldiers in the war zone, August 2014 Pro-Russian forces carried out their first civilian killings in the Donbas on 17 April. They kidnapped local councillor Volodymyr Rybak after he tried to re-raise the Ukrainian flag in Horlivka. His body was dumped in a river along with those of Maidan activists Yuri Popravko and Yuri Diakovskyi – all had been tortured and mutilated. Russian paramilitaries kidnapped more than two dozen people in the first month of the war, and journalists such as Simon Ostrovsky. Putin gave legitimacy to the separatists when he described the Donbas as part of the historical imperial territory of "New Russia" (Novorossiya), and suggested it should never have become part of Ukraine. The separatists then began attempting to create a new entity called "Novorossiya". The First Battle of Donetsk Airport was the first between Ukrainian and separatist forces that involved large numbers of Russian "volunteers". territory. Fighting in Donbas escalated significantly from 17 February 2022 onwards. The Ukrainians and the pro-Russian separatists each accused the other of attacks. There was a sharp increase in artillery shelling by the Russian-led militants in Donbas. Ukraine and its supporters believed this to be an attempt to provoke the Ukrainian army to retaliate, to give Russia a pretext for invading. Ukraine's president Zelenskyy said that his military would not respond to the provocations. Separatist leaders warned that Ukraine was about to launch an offensive, but gave no evidence, and The Guardian noted that it would be "exceedingly risky" for Ukraine to assault the Donbas while Russian troops were massed on its borders. although observers noted that full evacuations would take months. The Russian government intensified its disinformation campaign, with Russian state media airing videos on a nearly hourly basis purporting to show Ukrainian forces attacking Russia. Evidence showed that Russia was staging false flag attacks. On 21 February at 22:35 (UTC+3), Putin announced that the Russian government would diplomatically recognise the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics. The same evening, Putin directed that Russian troops deploy into Donbas, in what Russia referred to as a "peacekeeping mission". On 22 February, the Federation Council unanimously authorised Putin to use military force outside Russia. In response, Zelenskyy ordered the conscription of army reservists; The following day, Ukraine's parliament proclaimed a 30-day nationwide state of emergency and ordered the mobilisation of all reservists. Russia began to evacuate its embassy in Kyiv. On the night of 23 February, Zelenskyy gave a speech in Russian in which he appealed to the citizens of Russia to prevent war. He rejected Russia's claims about neo-Nazis and stated that he had no intention of attacking the Donbas. Full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine (2022) Russia began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on the morning of 24 February 2022 in a major escalation of the war. It began following Putin's announcement of a "special military operation" to "demilitarise and denazify" Ukraine. Minutes later, missiles and airstrikes hit across Ukraine, including Kyiv, shortly followed by a large ground invasion along multiple fronts. Zelenskyy declared martial law and a general mobilisation of all male Ukrainian citizens between 18 and 60, who were banned from leaving the country. Russian attacks were initially launched on a northern front from Belarus towards Kyiv, a southern front from Crimea, and a south-eastern front from Luhansk and Donetsk and towards Kharkiv. In the northern front, amidst heavy losses and strong Ukrainian resistance surrounding Kyiv, Russia's advance stalled in March, and by April its troops retreated. On 8 April, Russia placed its forces in southern and eastern Ukraine under the command of General Aleksandr Dvornikov, and some units withdrawn from the north were redeployed to the Donbas. On 19 April, Russia launched a renewed attack across a long front extending from Kharkiv to Donetsk and Luhansk. By 13 May, a Ukraine counter-offensive had driven back Russian forces near Kharkiv. By 20 May, Mariupol fell to Russian troops following a prolonged siege of the Azovstal steel works. Russian forces continued to bomb both military and civilian targets far from the frontline. The war caused the largest refugee and humanitarian crisis within Europe since the Yugoslav Wars in the 1990s; the UN described it as the fastest-growing such crisis since World War II. In the first week of the invasion, the UN reported over a million refugees had fled Ukraine; this subsequently rose to over 7,405,590 by 24 September, a reduction from over eight million due to some refugees' return. The invasion was internationally condemned as a war of aggression. A United Nations General Assembly resolution demanded a full withdrawal of Russian forces, the International Court of Justice ordered Russia to suspend military operations and the Council of Europe expelled Russia. Many countries imposed new sanctions, which affected the economies of Russia and the world, and provided humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine. In September 2022, Putin signed a law that would punish anyone who resists conscription with a 10-year prison sentence resulting in an international push to allow asylum for Russians fleeing conscription. Ukrainian counteroffensives and stalemate (2022–2023) Russian Army column on 27 February in Bucha Ukrainian forces launched counteroffensives in the south in August 2022, and in the northeast in September 2022. On 30 September, Russia annexed four oblasts of Ukraine which it had partially conquered during the invasion. This annexation was generally unrecognised and condemned by the countries of the world. After Putin announced that he would begin conscription drawn from the 300,000 citizens with military training and potentially the pool of about 25 million Russians who could be eligible for conscription, one-way tickets out of the country nearly or completely sold out. The Ukrainian offensive in the northeast successfully recaptured the majority of Kharkiv Oblast in September. In the course of the southern counteroffensive, Ukraine retook the city of Kherson in November and Russian forces withdrew to the east bank of the Dnieper River. As of August 2023, the total number of Russian and Ukrainian soldiers killed or wounded during the Russian invasion of Ukraine was nearly 500,000. In November 2023, the UN said that more than 10,000 civilians had been killed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with about half the deaths in the three months prior to the report taking place far behind the front lines. The UN attributed the deaths far behind the front to Russian use of long-range missiles and explosions of abandoned ordinance. According to a declassified US intelligence assessment, as of December 2023, Russia had lost 315,000 of the 360,000 troops that made up Russia's pre-invasion ground force, and 2,200 of the 3,500 tanks. Russian campaigns and Ukrainian Kursk offensive (2023–present) Between December 2023 and May 2024, Russia was assessed to have increased its drone and missile attacks, firing harder-to-hit weapons, such as ballistic missiles. By the same measure, Ukraine forces were seen to be low on ammunition, particularly the Patriot systems that have been "its best defense against such attacks". By 19 August, Ukraine had captured hundreds of Russian soldiers during the incursion. In late October 2024, the US said it had seen evidence that North Korea had sent 3,000 soldiers to Russia for possible deployment to Ukraine. On 28 October, NATO chief Mark Rutte confirmed earlier Ukrainian intelligence that North Korean troops had been deployed to Kursk Oblast, and the Pentagon reported an increased number of 10,000 North Korean soldiers sent to train in Russia and fight in the war. On 13 November, both the US and South Korea confirmed that North Korean troops had begun engaging in combat against Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region. On 26 April 2025, Russia officially confirmed the participation of North Korean troops, noting their ″significant assistance″ to the Russian military in Kursk, which on the same day Russia claimed to have retaken. == War crimes and human rights violations ==

, 3 April 2022 Violations of human rights and atrocity crimes have occurred during the war. From 2014 to 2021, there were more than 3,000 civilian casualties, with most occurring in 2014 and 2015. The right of movement was impeded for the inhabitants of the conflict zone. Arbitrary detention was practiced by both sides in the first years of the conflict. It decreased after 2016 in government-held areas, while in the separatist-held ones it continued. Investigations into the abuses committed by both sides made little progress. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russian authorities and armed forces have committed multiple war crimes in the form of deliberate attacks against civilian targets, massacres of civilians, torture and rape of women and children, and many indiscriminate attacks in densely populated areas. After the Russian withdrawal from areas north of Kyiv, overwhelming evidence of war crimes by Russian forces was discovered. In particular, in the city of Bucha, evidence emerged of a massacre of civilians perpetrated by Russian troops, including torture, mutilation, rape, looting and deliberate killings of civilians. The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (OHCHR) has documented the murder of at least 73 civilians—mostly men, but also women and children—in Bucha. More than 1,200 bodies of civilians were found in the Kyiv region after Russian forces withdrew, some of them summarily executed. There were reports of forced deportations of thousands of civilians, including children, to Russia, mainly from Russian-occupied Mariupol, as well as sexual violence, including cases of rape, sexual assault and gang rape, and deliberate killing of Ukrainian civilians by Russian forces. Russia has also systematically attacked Ukrainian medical infrastructure, with the World Health Organization reporting 1,422 attacks as of 21 December 2023. Many Russian soldiers confessed of raping, looting and torturing Ukrainian civilians and soldiers in intercepted phone calls which were regularly published online and showcased in a 2024 documentary film Intercepted. Ukrainian forces have also been accused of committing various war crimes, including mistreatment of detainees. , a Russian missile strike that killed more than 60 people In 2024, the UN Human Rights Office reported that Russia is committing severe human rights violations in occupied Ukraine, including arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, torture, crackdown on protests and freedom of speech, enforced Russification, indoctrination of children, and suppression of Ukrainian language and culture. Ukrainians have been coerced into taking Russian passports and becoming Russian citizens. Those who refuse are denied healthcare and other rights, According to Artem Lysohor, Ukraine's head of the Luhansk Regional Military Administration, starting from May 2024, mothers who give birth in Russian-occupied Luhansk must prove that one of the newborn's parents have Russian citizenship, otherwise they will not be allowed to leave the hospital with their child. In addition, Russian occupation officials attempt to militarise and indoctrinate Ukrainian youth by developing a new textbook in accordance with Russian educational standards, and children participation in Russian ″military-patriotic games″. In August 2024, UN official Danielle Bell claimed that 95% of Ukrainian prisoners of war had suffered from Russian torture (e.g. beating, electric shock, or being stripped naked). == Related issues ==

Spillover On 19 September 2023, CNN reported that it was "likely" that Ukrainian Special Operations Forces were behind a series of drone strikes and a ground operation directed against the Wagner-backed RSF near Khartoum on 8 September. Kyrylo Budanov, chief of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, stated in an interview on 22 September that he could neither deny nor confirm the involvement of Ukraine in the conflict in Sudan, but said that Ukraine would punish Russian war criminals anywhere in the world. In September and October 2023, a series of fragments were reported found in Romania, a NATO member state, which were suspected to have been the remains of a Russian drone attack near the Romanian border with Ukraine. Control of natural resources Control of natural resources was a motive for Russia's annexation of Crimea and southeastern Ukraine. Ukraine holds Europe's second-largest reserves of natural gas, coal, and titanium, and some of the world's largest reserves of iron ore and uranium. The value of lithium and rare-earths in Ukraine is estimated at $11.5 trillion. Control of Ukrainian lithium and grain would give Russia a "monopoly on the world market". Ukraine and Europe were heavily dependent on Russian natural gas when the war began. But Ukraine was trying to move towards energy independence by weaning itself off imports of Russian oil and gas, instead developing its own production. Ukraine had been trying to develop oil and gas production there. In August 2012, Ukraine's government had granted a consortium (Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, OMV Romania and the Ukrainian state-owned NAK Nadra Ukrainy) rights to extract oil and gas in the Ukrainian part of the Black Sea. The Exxon-led consortium had outbid the Russian company Lukoil. When Russia annexed Crimea, it seized 80% of Ukraine's oil and gas deposits in the Black Sea. Russia also seized billions worth of property from Chornomornaftogaz, the Crimean branch of Ukraine's national gas company, including offshore gas drilling platforms. About 80% of Ukraine's oil, natural gas and coal fields are found in the Donbas-Dnipro region. In January 2024, the Russian occupation administration in Donetsk Oblast granted the Russian Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources a "permission" to mine lithium in the Shevchenko deposit near Kurakhovo, estimated to be worth hundreds of billions of US dollars. Following Russia's launch of the Nord Stream pipeline, which bypasses Ukraine, gas transit volumes steadily decreased. The subsequent outbreak of war in the Donbas region forced the suspension of a project to develop Ukraine's own shale gas reserves at the Yuzivska gas field, which had been planned as a way to reduce Ukrainian dependence on Russian gas imports. Eventually, the EU commissioner for energy Günther Oettinger was called in to broker a deal securing supplies to Ukraine and transit to the EU. In 2015, Russian state media reported that Russia planned to completely abandon gas supplies to Europe through Ukraine after 2018. Russia's state-owned energy giant Gazprom had already substantially reduced the volumes of gas transited across Ukraine, and expressed its intention to reduce the level further by means of transit-diversification pipelines (Turkish Stream, Nord Stream, etc.). Gazprom and Ukraine agreed to a five-year deal on Russian gas transit to Europe at the end of 2019. In 2020, the TurkStream natural gas pipeline running from Russia to Turkey changed the regional gas flows in South-East Europe by diverting the transit through Ukraine and the Trans Balkan Pipeline system. In May 2021, the Biden administration waived Trump's CAATSA sanctions on the company behind Russia's Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany. Ukrainian president Zelenskyy said he was "surprised" and "disappointed" by Joe Biden's decision. In July 2021, the U.S. urged Ukraine not to criticise a forthcoming agreement with Germany over the pipeline. In July 2021, Biden and German Chancellor Angela Merkel concluded a deal that the U.S. might trigger sanctions if Russia used Nord Stream as a "political weapon". The deal aimed to prevent Poland and Ukraine from being cut off from Russian gas supplies. Ukraine will get a $50 million loan for green technology until 2024 and Germany will set up a billion dollar fund to promote Ukraine's transition to green energy to compensate for the loss of the gas-transit fees. The contract for transiting Russian gas through Ukraine will be prolonged until 2034, if the Russian government agrees. In August 2021, Zelenskyy warned that the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline between Russia and Germany was "a dangerous weapon, not only for Ukraine but for the whole of Europe." In September 2021, Ukraine's Naftogaz CEO Yuriy Vitrenko accused Russia of using natural gas as a "geopolitical weapon". Vitrenko stated that "A joint statement from the United States and Germany said that if the Kremlin used gas as a weapon, there would be an appropriate response. We are now waiting for the imposition of sanctions on a 100% subsidiary of Gazprom, the operator of Nord Stream 2." On 7 February 2022, at a joint conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Biden said that if Russia invades Ukraine, the US would ″bring an end″ to Nordstream 2. On 26 September 2022, a series of underwater explosions and consequent gas leaks occurred on the Nord Stream 1 (NS1) and Nord Stream 2 (NS2) natural gas pipelines. The investigations by Sweden and Denmark described the explosions as sabotage, and were closed without identifying perpetrators in February 2024. The German government refused to publish the preliminary results of its own investigation in July 2024. Hybrid warfare The Russo-Ukrainian conflict has also included elements of hybrid warfare using non-traditional means. Cyberwarfare has been used by Russia in operations including successful attacks on the Ukrainian power grid in December 2015 and in December 2016, which was the first successful cyber attack on a power grid, and the Mass hacker supply-chain attack in June 2017, which the US claimed was the largest known cyber attack. In retaliation, Ukrainian operations have included the Surkov leaks in October 2016 which released 2,337 e-mails in relation to Russian plans for seizing Crimea from Ukraine and fomenting separatist unrest in Donbas. The Russian information war against Ukraine has been another front of hybrid warfare waged by Russia. A Russian fifth column in Ukraine has also been claimed to exist among the Party of Regions, the Communist Party, the Progressive Socialist Party and the Russian Orthodox Church. Russian propaganda and disinformation campaigns , officially known in Russia as a rally "For a world without Nazism" The Russian state falsely claims that Ukraine's government and society are dominated by neo-Nazism, invoking the history of collaboration in German-occupied Ukraine during World War II. These Nazi allegations are widely rejected as untrue and part of a disinformation campaign to justify the invasion. Ukraine's president Zelenskyy is Jewish, his grandfather served in the Soviet army fighting against the Nazis, and three of his ancestors were killed in the Holocaust. Some commentators point out that Russia claims to be "denazifying" Ukraine despite Russian neo-Nazi groups (such as Rusich) taking part in the war, and despite Putin's Russia being likened to a fascist state (see Ruscism). voiced support for his country's invasion of Ukraine. flash mob in Khabarovsk Putin called Russians and Ukrainians "one people" and claimed there is "no historical basis" for the "idea of Ukrainian people as a nation separate from the Russians". Putin repeatedly denied Ukraine's right to exist, claiming that it was created by the Russian Bolsheviks and that it never had "real statehood". A poll conducted in April 2022 by "Rating" found that the vast majority (91%) of Ukrainians do not support the thesis that "Russians and Ukrainians are one people". In 2020, Vladislav Surkov, who served as an adviser to Putin on Ukraine, said "There is no Ukraine. There is Ukrainianism ... it is a specific disorder of the mind". Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia and former Russian president, publicly wrote that "Ukraine is NOT a country, but artificially collected territories" and that Ukrainian "is NOT a language" but a "mongrel dialect" of Russian. In 2024, Medvedev called Ukraine part of Russia and said the Russian Army will seize what he called the "Russian cities" of Kyiv and Odesa. Medvedev has also said that Ukraine should not exist in any form and that Russia will continue to wage war against any independent Ukrainian state. Moreover, Medvedev warned that Russia would use a nuclear weapon if the 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive succeeded. He said Ukrainians had to choose between joining Russia or "death". Fake stories have been used to provoke public outrage against Ukraine. In April 2014, a Russian news channel showed a man saying he was attacked by a fascist Ukrainian gang, while another channel showed the same man claiming to be a Ukrainian funding far-right anti-Russia radicals. A third segment portrayed the man as a neo-Nazi surgeon. In July 2014, Channel One Russia broadcast a fake story about a 3-year-old Russian boy who was allegedly crucified by Ukrainian nationalists. Russian state news outlets have sometimes aired stories about alleged Ukrainian atrocities using footage from other unrelated conflicts. In announcing the 2022 invasion, Putin baselessly claimed that Ukraine had been carrying out genocide in the mainly Russian-speaking Donbas region for eight years. Ukraine brought a case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to challenge Russia's claim. The ICJ said it had not seen any evidence of genocide by Ukraine. Altogether, about 14,300 people were killed by both sides in the Donbas War. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, less than a quarter of them were civilians, and at least half of those were killed by mines and unexploded ordnance. and ordered media and schools to describe the war as a "special military operation". On 4 March 2022, Putin signed into law a bill introducing prison sentences of up to 15 years for those who publish "fake news" about the Russian military and its operations, leading to some media outlets to stop reporting on Ukraine. Russia's opposition politician Alexei Navalny said the "monstrosity of lies" in the Russian state media "is unimaginable. And, unfortunately, so is its persuasiveness for those who have no access to alternative information." He tweeted that "warmongers" among Russian state media personalities "should be treated as war criminals. From the editors-in-chief to the talk show hosts to the news editors, [they] should be sanctioned now and tried someday." rally in Berlin, one of the signs saying "Denazify Putin" Islamic State claimed responsibility for the 22 March Crocus City Hall attack, a terrorist attack in a music venue in Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast, Russia, and published a corroborating video. Putin and the Russian security service, the FSB, blamed Ukraine for the attack, without evidence. On 3 April 2024, Russia's Defense Ministry announced that "around 16,000 citizens" had signed military contracts in the last 10 days to fight as contract soldiers in the war against Ukraine, with most of them saying they were motivated to "avenge those killed" in the Crocus City Hall attack. NAFO (North Atlantic Fella Organization), a loose cadre of online shitposters vowing to fight Russian disinformation, gained notoriety after June 2022. In June 2025, despite months of peace negotiations in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Putin declared that "I consider the Russian and Ukrainian people to be one nation. In this sense, all of Ukraine is ours" and continued threatening to use nuclear weapons on Ukraine. Role of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine , which previously had a mosaic depicting the 2014 annexation of Crimea and featured Putin and Shoigu, but it was later removed The Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) and its hierarch Patriarch Kirill of Moscow have shown their full support of the war against Ukraine. The Russian Orthodox Church officially deems the invasion of Ukraine to be a "holy war". During the World Russian People's Council in March 2024, the Russian Orthodox Church approved a document stating that this "holy war" was to defend "Holy Russia" and to protect the world from globalism and the West, which it said had "fallen into Satanism". Patriarch Kirill also issued a prayer for victory in the war. Russian Orthodox priests who condemned or did not support the invasion were punished. The role of the Russian Orthodox Church in advancing Putin's war messaging is a vivid illustration of the complex interplay between religion and politics. A Russia expert and fellow of Germany's University of Bremen, told Al Jazeera that the ROC's participation in the war means it "faces the prospect of losing its 'universal character' and clout, and of reducing its borders to those of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's political empire". On 27 March 2024 the World Russian People's Council took place in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow where was adopted a "Nakaz" (decree) of the council "The Present and the Future of the Russian World". According to some experts such as the ROC protodeacon Andrei Kurayev it has similarities with the program articles of the German Christians. The decree talks about the so-called "Special Military Operation" in Ukraine, development of the Russian World globally and other issues. Russia–NATO relations The conflict has harmed relations between Russia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a defensive alliance of European and North American states. Russia and NATO had co-operated until Russia annexed Crimea and invaded the Donbas in 2014. and later resumed its bid for eventual NATO membership. To deter further Russian aggression, a small NATO tripwire force was deployed in the Baltic states and Poland for the first time ever, at the request of those countries. A few NATO members began training Ukraine's military of their own accord. In his February 2022 speeches justifying the invasion of Ukraine, Putin falsely claimed that NATO was building up military infrastructure in Ukraine and threatening Russia, and that the Ukrainian military was under NATO control. Putin said that Ukraine's potential membership of NATO would be a threat, warning that NATO would use Ukraine to launch a surprise attack on Russia. Political scientists Michael McFaul and Robert Person said Russia's occupation of Crimea and the Donbas since 2014 had already blocked Ukraine's NATO membership, suggesting that Putin was using NATO as an excuse. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov characterised the conflict as a proxy war started by NATO. NATO says it is not at war with Russia; but rather its members support Ukraine in "its right to self-defense, as enshrined in the UN Charter". NATO condemned Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine in "the strongest possible terms", and calls it "the biggest security threat in a generation". It led to the deployment of additional NATO units in its eastern member states. Former CIA director Leon Panetta told the ABC that the U.S. is 'without question' involved in a proxy war with Russia. Lawrence Freedman wrote that calling Ukraine a NATO "proxy" wrongly implied that "Ukrainians are only fighting because NATO put them up to it, rather than because of the more obvious reason that they have been subjected to a vicious invasion". Steven Pifer argues that Russia's own aggressive actions since 2014 have done the most to push Ukraine towards the West and NATO. Russia's invasion led Finland to join NATO, doubling the length of Russia's border with NATO. Putin said that Finland's membership was not a threat, unlike Ukraine's, "but the expansion of military infrastructure into this territory would certainly provoke our response". An article published by the Institute for the Study of War concluded:Putin didn't invade Ukraine in 2022 because he feared NATO. He invaded because he believed that NATO was weak, that his efforts to regain control of Ukraine by other means had failed, and that installing a pro-Russian government in Kyiv would be safe and easy. His aim was not to defend Russia against some non-existent threat but rather to expand Russia's power, eradicate Ukraine's statehood, and destroy NATO. Countering claims that NATO started and is waging a proxy war against Russia, it is pointed out that NATO states only sent Ukraine military aid in response to Russian aggression. NATO states have actually been slow in sending Ukraine offensive weaponry, and they prevented Ukraine from firing those weapons into Russia. It was not until May 2024, more than two years into the invasion, that NATO states allowed Ukraine to fire Western-supplied weapons at military targets inside Russia, and only then in self-defense. NATO has refused Ukrainian calls to enforce a no-fly zone over Ukraine, Since the invasion of Ukraine, there has been an increase in Russian hybrid warfare against NATO and other European countries, aimed at destabilizing the alliance and disrupting support to Ukraine. This has included Russian sabotage operations in Europe, assassination plots, airspace violations, cyberattacks, electronic warfare, and disinformation operations. Russian military bases in Crimea (centre) at Sevastopol Bay in 2012 When the Russian occupation of Crimea began, Russia had roughly 12,000 military personnel from the Black Sea Fleet, Russian presence was allowed by the basing and transit agreement with Ukraine. Under this agreement, the Russian military in Crimea was constrained to a maximum of 25,000 troops. Russia was required to respect the sovereignty of Ukraine, honour its legislation, not interfere in the internal affairs of the country, and show their "military identification cards" when crossing the international border. Early in the conflict, the agreement's generous troop limit allowed Russia to significantly strengthen its military presence, deploy special forces and other required capabilities to conduct the operation in Crimea, under the pretext of addressing security concerns. Non-state actors and mercenaries On 4 August 2025, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky alleged that foreign mercenaries, including individuals from Pakistan and China, were fighting alongside Russian forces in northeastern Ukraine. During a visit to the frontline in the Kharkiv region, Zelensky stated, "Our warriors in this sector are reporting the participation of mercenaries from China, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, and African countries in the war. We will respond." He had previously accused Moscow of recruiting Chinese fighters for its war effort, a claim that Beijing denied. Third-party arms suppliers China in Moscow in May 2025 Samuel Bendett, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, stated that China has become a key contributor to Russia's military supply chain. Legality and declaration of war No formal declaration of war has been issued in the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War. When Putin announced the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he claimed to commence a "special military operation", side-stepping a formal declaration of war. The statement was, however, regarded by the Ukrainian government as a declaration of war and reported as such by many international news sources. While the Ukrainian parliament refers to Russia as a "terrorist state" in regard to its military actions in Ukraine, it has not issued a formal declaration of war on its behalf. The Russian invasion of Ukraine violated international law (including the Charter of the United Nations). The invasion has also been called a crime of aggression under international criminal law and under some countries' domestic criminal codes—including those of Ukraine and Russia—although procedural obstacles exist to prosecutions under these laws. == Reactions ==

Reactions to the Russian annexation of Crimea Ukrainian response , which provided 85% of Crimea's drinking and irrigation water. Interim Ukrainian president Oleksandr Turchynov accused Russia of "provoking a conflict" by backing the seizure of the Crimean parliament building and other government offices on the Crimean peninsula. He compared Russia's military actions to the 2008 Russo-Georgian War, when Russian troops occupied parts of the Republic of Georgia and the breakaway enclaves of Abkhazia and South Ossetia were established under the control of Russian-backed administrations. He called on Putin to withdraw Russian troops from Crimea and stated that Ukraine will "preserve its territory" and "defend its independence". On 1 March, he warned, "Military intervention would be the beginning of war and the end of any relations between Ukraine and Russia." On 1 March, Acting President Oleksandr Turchynov placed the Armed Forces of Ukraine on full alert and combat readiness. The Ministry of Temporarily Occupied Territories and IDPs was established by Ukrainian government on 20 April 2016 to manage occupied parts of Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea regions affected by Russian military intervention of 2014. NATO and United States military response , Germany during Operation Atlantic Resolve, NATO's efforts to reassert its military presence in central and eastern Europe that began in April 2014. On 4 March 2014, the United States pledged $1 billion in aid to Ukraine. Russia's actions increased tensions in nearby countries historically within its sphere of influence, particularly the Baltic and Moldova. All have large Russian-speaking populations, and Russian troops are stationed in the breakaway Moldovan territory of Transnistria. Some devoted resources to increasing defensive capabilities, and many requested increased support from the U.S. and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which they had joined in recent years. In addition to diplomatic support in its conflict with Russia, the U.S. provided Ukraine with US$1.5 billion in military aid during the 2010s. In 2018 the U.S. House of Representatives passed a provision blocking any training of Azov Battalion of the Ukrainian National Guard by American forces. In previous years, between 2014 and 2017, the U.S. House of Representatives passed amendments banning support of Azov, but due to pressure from the Pentagon, the amendments were quietly lifted. Financial markets /RUB exchange rate /Russian Ruble Exchange Rate s as the government sought to tame inflation during the Russo-Ukrainian War and 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine The initial reaction to the escalation of tensions in Crimea caused the Russian and European stock market to tumble. The intervention caused the Swiss franc to climb to a 2-year high against the dollar and 1-year high against the Euro. The Euro and the US dollar both rose, as did the Australian dollar. The Russian central bank hiked interest rates and intervened in the foreign exchange markets to the tune of $12 billion to try to stabilise its currency. Prices for wheat and grain rose, with Ukraine being a major exporter of both crops. Later in March 2014, the reaction of the financial markets to the Crimea annexation was surprisingly mellow, with global financial markets rising immediately after the referendum held in Crimea, one explanation being that the sanctions were already priced in following the earlier Russian incursion. Other observers considered that the positive reaction of the global financial markets on Monday 17 March 2014, after the announcement of sanctions against Russia by the EU and the US, revealed that these sanctions were too weak to hurt Russia. In early August 2014, the German DAX was down by 6 percent for the year, and 11 percent since June, over concerns Russia, Germany's 13th biggest trade partner, would retaliate against sanctions. Reactions to the war in Donbas Ukrainian public opinion , 20 December 2014 A poll of the Ukrainian public, excluding Russian-annexed Crimea, was taken by the International Republican Institute from 12 to 25 September 2014. 89% of those polled opposed 2014 Russian military intervention in Ukraine. As broken down by region, 78% of those polled from Eastern Ukraine (including Dnipropetrovsk Oblast) opposed said intervention, along with 89% in Southern Ukraine, 93% in Central Ukraine, and 99% in Western Ukraine. A joint poll conducted by Levada and the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology from September to October 2020 found that in the breakaway regions controlled by the DPR/LPR, just over half of the respondents wanted to join Russia (either with or without some autonomous status) while less than one-tenth wanted independence and 12% wanted reintegration into Ukraine. It contrasted with respondents in Kyiv-controlled Donbas, where a vast majority felt the separatist regions should be returned to Ukraine. According to results from Levada in January 2022, roughly 70% of those in the breakaway regions said their territories should become part of the Russian Federation. Russian public opinion , 21 September 2014 An August 2014 survey by the Levada Centre reported that only 13% of those Russians polled would support the Russian government in an open war with Ukraine. Street protests against the war in Ukraine arose in Russia. Notable protests first occurred in March and large protests occurred in September when "tens of thousands" protested the war in Ukraine with a peace march in downtown Moscow on Sunday, 21 September 2014, "under heavy police supervision". Reactions to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Ukrainian public opinion in Kraków protest against the war, 6 March 2022 In March 2022, a week after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 98% of Ukrainians—including 82% of ethnic Russians living in Ukraine—said they did not believe that any part of Ukraine was rightfully part of Russia, according to Lord Ashcroft's polls which did not include Crimea and the separatist-controlled part of Donbas. 97% of Ukrainians said they had an unfavourable view of Russian president Vladimir Putin, with a further 94% saying they had an unfavourable view of the Russian Armed Forces. At the end of 2021, 75% of Ukrainians said they had a positive attitude toward ordinary Russians, while in May 2022, 82% of Ukrainians said they had a negative attitude toward ordinary Russians. A Razumkov Centre poll conducted from 19 to 25 January 2024, found that Russia was the most negatively viewed country in Ukraine, with it being viewed negatively by 95% of Ukrainian respondents. The second, third and fourth most negatively viewed countries were Belarus (87%), Iran (82%) and China (72.5%) respectively. Ukrainian respondents were most positive towards Lithuania (91%), Latvia (90.5%), the UK (90%), Germany (89%), Estonia (89%), Canada (88%) and the US (87%). Gallup opinion polls on whether Ukrainians want a negotiated end to the war as soon as possible, rather than fighting until Ukraine wins, have increased from 22% at the start of the war to 69% in 2025, with it becoming the majority opinion in late 2023. Russian public opinion ". The list includes countries that have imposed sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. An April 2022 survey by the Levada Centre reported that approximately 74% of the Russians polled supported the "special military operation" in Ukraine, suggesting that Russian public opinion has shifted considerably since 2014. According to some sources, a reason many Russians supported the "special military operation" has to do with the propaganda and disinformation. In addition, it has been suggested that some respondents did not want to answer pollsters' questions for fear of negative consequences. At the end of March, a poll conducted in Russia by the Levada Center concluded the following: When asked why they think the military operation is taking place, respondents said it was to protect and defend civilians, ethnic Russians or Russian speakers in Ukraine (43%), to prevent an attack on Russia (25%), to get rid of nationalists and "denazify" Ukraine (21%), and to incorporate Ukraine or the Donbas region into Russia (3%)." According to polls, the Russian president's rating rose from 71% on the eve of the invasion to 82% in March 2023. The Kremlin's analysis concluded that public support for the war was broad but not deep, and that most Russians would accept anything Putin would call a victory. In September 2023, the head of the VTsIOM state pollster Valery Fyodorov said in an interview that only 10–15% of Russians actively supported the war, and that "most Russians are not demanding the conquest of Kyiv or Odesa." On the accuracy of public opinion polls, Russian-born political activist Vladimir Kara-Murza said: "I see Russian pollsters say that the average response-rate to polls in Russia average from five to seven per-cent; some 90% of the people refuse to say in polls, and [for] very good reasons. It is impossible to judge the true state of public opinion in a country that imprisons you for expressing it. ...The Putin propaganda machine tries to pretend that Russian society is a monolith, that all Russians support this war, that all Russians support this regime, and this is a lie, needless to say." In 2023, Oleg Orlov, the chairman of the Board of Human Rights Center "Memorial", claimed that Russia under Vladimir Putin had descended into fascism and that the army is committing "mass murder". United States holding a Ukrainian refugee at Warsaw's Kazimierz Górski National Stadium in a meeting where he described Russian president Vladimir Putin as "butcher", 26 March 2022 On 28 April 2022, US president Joe Biden asked Congress for an additional $33 billion to assist Ukraine, including $20 billion to provide weapons to Ukraine. On 5 May, Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced that Ukraine had received more than $12 billion worth of weapons and financial aid from Western countries since the start of Russia's invasion on 24 February. On 21 May 2022, the United States passed legislation providing $40 billion in new military and humanitarian foreign aid to Ukraine, marking a historically large commitment of funds. In August 2022, U.S. defense spending to counter the Russian war effort exceeded the first 5 years of war costs in Afghanistan. The Washington Post reported that new U.S. weapons delivered to the Ukrainian war front suggest a closer combat scenario with more casualties. The United States looks to build "enduring strength in Ukraine" with increased arms shipments and a record-breaking $3 billion military aid package. Following the second inauguration of Donald Trump, the American administration's support to Ukraine decreased, and in March 2025 the United States paused military aid to Ukraine after the 2025 Trump–Zelenskyy Oval Office meeting; the aid was later resumed. On 22 May 2025, after months of peace negotiations without a bilateral agreement between Russia and Ukraine, the United States together with other G7 countries united to condemn Russia's continued brutal war against Ukraine. The G7 also declared its continued commitment to supporting Ukraine in defending the country's territorial integrity and right to exist, as well as its freedom, sovereignty and independence, all with the aim of a just and durable peace. Russian military suppliers and Putin meeting at Vostochny Cosmodrome in 2023 where Kim gave his support for Russia's "sacred fight" against the "hegemonic forces that oppose Russia" After expending large amounts of heavy weapons and munitions over months, Russia received combat drones, loitering munitions, and large amounts of artillery from Iran, deliveries of tanks and other armoured vehicles from Belarus, and reportedly planned to trade for artillery ammunition from North Korea and ballistic missiles from Iran. The U.S. has accused China of providing Russia with technology it needs for high-tech weapons, allegations which China has denied. The U.S. sanctioned a Chinese firm for providing satellite imagery to Russian mercenary forces fighting in Ukraine. In March 2023, Western nations had pressed the United Arab Emirates to halt re-exports of goods to Russia which had military uses, amidst allegations that the Gulf country exported 158 drones to Russia in 2022. In May 2023, the U.S. accused South Africa of supplying arms to Russia in a covert naval operation, allegations which have been denied by South African president Cyril Ramaphosa. United Nations and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy delegations meeting in April 2022 On 25 February 2022, the Security Council failed to adopt a draft resolution which would have "deplored, in the strongest terms, the Russian Federation's aggression" on Ukraine. Of the 15 member states on the Security Council, 11 were in support, whilst three abstained from voting. The draft resolution failed due to a Russian veto. Due to the deadlock, the Security Council passed a resolution to convene the General Assembly for the eleventh emergency special session. On 2 March 2022, the General Assembly voted to deplore "in the strongest possible terms" Russia's aggression against Ukraine by a vote of 141 to 5, with 35 abstentions. The resolution also called for the Russian Federation to "immediately cease its use of force against Ukraine" and "immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces." On 4 March 2022, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution by a vote of 32 to 2, with 13 abstentions, calling for the withdrawal of Russian troops and Russian-backed armed groups from Ukraine and humanitarian access to people in need. The resolution also established a commission to investigate alleged rights violations committed during Russia's military attack on Ukraine. In October 2022, the United Nations General Assembly had adopted a resolution condemning the 2022 annexation referendums in Russian-occupied Ukraine with 143 supporting votes, 5 opposing votes (Belarus, North Korea, Nicaragua, Russia, Syria), and 35 abstentions. == See also ==