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(Bloomberg) — Russian President Vladimir Putin launched Europe’s largest army assault since World Battle II together with his Feb. 24, 2022 invasion of Ukraine, killing 1000’s of individuals, driving tens of millions extra from their houses, shaking the post-Chilly Battle geopolitical order and roiling international markets.

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After initially shedding territory, Ukraine’s over-matched army unexpectedly fought Russian forces to a standstill within the north, prompting the Kremlin to refocus its assault on the japanese Donbas area. Then Kyiv’s forces launched counterassaults within the fall, taking again a fifth of territory first taken by Moscow.

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Right here’s a timeline of the primary occasions up to now.

FEBRUARYTroops Enter Ukraine

Feb. 24, 2022: Russia launches its assault from three instructions — Belarus within the north, the Donbas area within the east, and from Crimea, which Putin seized in 2014, in the south. The US and European Union announce sanctions focusing on Russia’s monetary sector, know-how imports and oligarchs. Russian shares and the ruble plunge.

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Feb. 25: President Volodymyr Zelenskiy rejects calls to flee Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, says his forces are combating again, and requires worldwide help and for weapons. The EU imposes sanctions on Putin and Russian International Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Feb. 27: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz proclaims plans for a large increase in protection spending in a historic coverage shift. Germany plegdges to channel €100 billion ($107 billion) to modernize the army and meet the NATO spending goal of two% of gross home product on protection by 2024.

Feb. 28: Ukraine applies for EU membership. Accession to the bloc is an extended and arduous course of that usually takes years and requires the candidate to undertake established EU legislation and enact reforms, together with to its judicial and financial methods. 

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MARCHSiege and Sanctions

March 1, 2022: Russian forces start the siege of Mariupol, a port metropolis with about 450,000 residents on the Sea of Azov.

March 2: The EU excludes seven Russian banks from the SWIFT worldwide funds system and suspends broadcasting by media shops Russia As we speak and Sputnik. 

March 4: Russian forces occupy the location of Europe’s largest nuclear energy plant in Zaporizhzhia, in an assault that Ukrainian officers say ignited a hearth and Lithuania’s president calls “nuclear terrorism.”  The variety of refugees displaced inside and outdoors Ukraine surpasses one million, a quantity that may develop to an estimated 16 million — or greater than a 3rd of the pre-war inhabitants, based on the UNHCR refugee company.

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March 8: The US and UK announce a ban on all imports of Russian oil.

March 10: The primary high-level talks between Ukrainian International Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Russia’s Lavrov fail to make progress, with Kuleba saying the Kremlin is demanding that Kyiv give up. The UK freezes the property of Roman Abramovich because the EU approves sanctions in opposition to extra rich Russians and greater than 140 Russian lawmakers. 

March 13: Russian missiles hit a Ukrainian army coaching facility that had been utilized by NATO forces earlier than the invasion. The assault close to the western metropolis of Lviv near the Polish frontier killed 35 and wounded 134, and raised concern the warfare may spill over Ukraine’s borders.

Learn Extra: Monitoring the Sanctions Imposed on Russia Over Ukraine Invasion

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March 16: At the very least 300 persons are killed by a Russian air strike on the Mariupol Drama Theater, based on Ukrainian authorities.

Learn Extra: Panicked Russians Don’t Purchase Official Recommendation That Financial system Is Wonderful

March 25: Germany’s authorities proclaims plans to cease nearly all Russian oil imports this yr and broadly wean itself off of the nation’s gasoline by mid-2024. 

March 29: After Ukrainian forces halt Russia’s advance towards Kyiv, inflicting 1000’s of casualties and destroying lots of of plane, armored autos, and different weapons, the Kremlin says it can sharply reduce army operations close to the capital. 

APRILEvidence of Battle Crimes

April 1, 2022: Russia pulls again its forces from the decommissioned nuclear energy plant in Chernobyl and accuses Ukraine of elevating radiation publicity dangers. Kyiv blames Russia after digging trenches on the extremely contaminated website.  

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April 3: Proof of mass killings and different atrocities surfaces after Russian troops withdraw from Bucha and different areas round Kyiv. The EU condemns what it says could also be warfare crimes and begins work on new sanctions. The Kremlin repeatedly denies focusing on civilians.

April 8: At the very least 52 persons are killed and greater than 100 wounded when a minimum of one Russian cruise missile carrying cluster munitions hit the primary practice station within the japanese metropolis of Kramatorsk, Ukrainian officers mentioned. 

April 10: Ukraine is investigating 1000’s suspected warfare crimes linked to Russia’s invasion, Prosecutor Basic Iryna Venediktova says, calling Putin “the primary warfare felony of the twenty first century.” Round this time Russia appoints Basic Alexander Dvornikov, who oversaw Moscow’s forces in Syria in 2015 and 2016, as high commander for the warfare.

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April 12: Putin says peace talks with Ukraine are “at a lifeless finish” and the invasion is continuing “based on plan.”  

Learn Extra: Russian Troops Danger Repeating Blunders If They Attempt for Could 9 Win

April 13: Biden for the primary time accuses Putin of committing “genocide” in Ukraine. 

April 14: Russia’s Black Sea flagship, the missile cruiser Moskva, is sunk.

MAYFood Shortages

Could 4, 2022: The EU proclaims plans to ban Russian crude oil over the subsequent six months as a part of a sixth spherical of sanctions. 

Could 14: German International Minister Annalena Baerbock accuses Russia of intentionally scary a worldwide meals disaster to attempt to weaken the worldwide alliance in opposition to its warfare by destroying transport routes and storage amenities for Ukrainian grain and Moscow’s blockade on Ukraine’s sea ports for the reason that warfare began.

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Could 15: NATO members rally round Finland and Sweden after they introduced plans to be part of the alliance. 

Could 17: The EU considers issuing joint debt and explores utilizing proceeds from property that had been seized from sanctioned oligarchs to fund the reconstruction of Ukraine. 

Could 21: Russia takes the Sea of Azov port metropolis of Mariupol, with the give up of the final defenders of the Azovstal metal plant. Biden indicators a $40 billion support package deal for Ukraine.

JUNENATO and EU Growth 

June 16, 2022: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italy’s then-Premier Mario Draghi go to Kyiv because the EU prepares to make Ukraine an official candidate for membership.

June 23: EU leaders grant Ukraine candidate standing in a historic step for the war-torn nation on the lengthy and tough path to membership. 

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June 29: NATO leaders at a summit in Madrid formally invite Sweden and Finland to affix the army alliance. Turkey warns that it might veto membership if the 2 Nordic international locations don’t fulfill guarantees to extradite suspects it considers to be “terrorists.”

June 30: Ukraine regains management of Snake Island within the Black Sea in a significant victory.

JULYThe Price of Reconstruction

July 3, 2022: Ukrainian troops withdraw from the japanese Ukrainian metropolis of Lysychansk, the final city holdout underneath Kyiv’s management within the embattled Luhansk area.

July 4: Ukraine unveils a blueprint for reconstruction through which it signifies it wants greater than $750 billion over the subsequent 10 years.

July 22: Russia assaults the port of Odesa with cruise missiles simply hours after signing a deal to unblock Ukrainian grain exports from three Black Sea terminals that was hailed as an important step towards assuaging a worldwide meals disaster.

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AUGUSTThe Ukrainian Counteroffensive 

Aug. 30: Ukraine begins an assault within the southern Kherson area that later turns into a full counteroffensive within the fall, pushing Russian troops into retreat. 

SEPTEMBERThe Russian Mobilization

Sept. 2, 2022: The Group of Seven most industrialized international locations agree to impose a value cap for international purchases of Russian oil.

Sept. 11: Ukraine retakes 1000’s of sq. kilometers of occupied territory within the northern Kharkiv area in a counteroffensive that exploits a unprecedented collapse of Russian defenses.

Sept. 21: Tens of 1000’s of Russian males and their households flood to the border and sporadic protests break out as Putin orders the mobilization of one other 300,000 troops. 

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Sept. 23: Russia holds “referendums” to annex the 4 areas of Ukraine it partially occupies that United Nations Secretary-Basic Antonio Guterres calls a “violation of the UN Constitution and worldwide legislation.”

Sept. 27: Two highly effective underwater explosions harm the Nord Stream pipeline that transports Russian gasoline to Germany. 

Sept. 30: The worldwide neighborhood denounces Putin after he claims he has annexed the 4 occupied areas of Ukraine, together with territory he doesn’t totally management, making them a part of Russia “without end.” Ukraine formally applies to affix NATO.  

OCTOBERNew Russian Commander

Oct. 8, 2022: A blast focusing on a gas practice damages Putin’s flagship bridge to Crimea, inflicting a partial collapse of the one highway hyperlink operating from the Russian mainland to the occupied Black Sea peninsula.

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Oct. 9: Putin for the primary time publicly places a single common — Sergei Surovikin — accountable for your complete Ukraine operation.

Oct. 10: Russia hits Kyiv and different Ukrainian cities in essentially the most intense barrage of missile strikes for the reason that earliest days of the warfare, in a marketing campaign of assaults in opposition to the power grid and different civilian infrastructure in a bid to crush Ukrainians’ will to battle.

NOVEMBERPolish Missile Scare 

Nov. 9, 2022: Russia orders its troops to depart the Ukrainian metropolis of Kherson, the primary main regional middle seized in its invasion, in a extremely symbolic setback for Putin.

Nov. 14: Biden and Chinese language President Xi Jinping agree earlier than a gathering of Group of 20 nations to renew cooperation on local weather change and meals safety whereas collectively chastising the Kremlin for free speak of nuclear warfare. 

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Nov. 15: Two persons are killed by a missile that lands in Polish territory. The incident threatens to escalate the battle between Russia and NATO international locations, however leaders from the alliance and Poland defuse the state of affairs by saying there was no indication it was an intentional assault.

Nov. 24: Huge Russian shelling of Ukraine’s important power infrastructure by Russia leaves tens of millions of individuals with out energy and warmth.

DECEMBERZelenskiy in Washington

Dec. 16, 2022: EU member states attain a deal on a ninth package deal of sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, focusing on Moscow’s entry to drones, further banks in addition to officers liable for allegedly abducting 1000’s of Ukrainian youngsters. 

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Dec. 19: European nations attain a deal to cap pure gasoline costs at €180.

Dec. 22: On a go to to Washington, Zelenskiy presses US Congress for tanks, planes, air-defnese capabilities and extra money to assist repel Russia’s invasion. The Biden administration proclaims $1.85 billion in further army support to Ukraine, together with a Patriot missile battery.

JANUARYBattle Tanks for Ukraine

Jan. 2, 2023: A Ukrainian strike on a Russian army facility within the occupied japanese city of Makiyivka kills 89 troops being housed there, Russia’s Protection Ministry says, making it one of many deadliest losses acknowledged by Moscow.

Jan. 5: The US says it can present Ukraine with scores of Bradley Combating Automobiles whereas Germany is sending Marder autos. Germany additionally will present Ukraine with an extra Patriot battery.

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Learn Extra: Ukraine’s Mud Is Freezing. Right here’s What That Means for the Battle

Jan. 11: The Putin administration appoints Valery Gerasimov, Russia’s chief of the Basic Employees, as head of the nation’s mixed forces.

Jan. 13: Russia claims its troops take Soledar, a salt-mining city that has restricted strategic worth however has been the location of weeks of fierce and lethal combating, a uncommon triumph after months of setbacks.

Jan. 14: The UK proclaims it can ship Challenger 2 battle tanks to Ukraine, changing into the primary NATO member to agree to offer the alliance’s most fashionable armored weapons.

Jan. 15: A Russian missile strike on a nine-story condominium constructing within the japanese Ukrainian metropolis of Dnipro kills a minimum of 36 individuals and wounds 75, officers mentioned.

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Jan. 24: Zelenskiy dismisses a minimum of 10 officers in a authorities shakeup following an outcry over perceived graft and excesses by civil servants amid the nation’s efforts to battle off Russia’s invasion. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan guidelines out supporting Sweden’s NATO bid after an activist burned Islam’s holy e-book in Stockholm on the weekend.

Jan. 25: The US proclaims it can  ship Kyiv 31 of its M1 Abrams battle tanks, including to a German dedication to provide a few of its top-line Leopard 2 A6 tanks and infusing Ukraine with a significant new functionality because it appears to be like to pry Russian forces from the east.

Jan. 27: The US designates Russia’s Wagner Group a transnational felony group.

FEBRUARYZelenskiy Appeals for Fighter Jets

Feb. 8, 2023: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak proclaims the UK is contemplating sending Ukraine long-range missiles and fighter jets and can start coaching Ukrainian pilots within the spring. He spoke as Zelenskiy made a shock go to to London earlier than assembly EU leaders in Brussels.

—With help from Karolina Sekula and Patricia Suzara.