Major Events in the Russia-Ukraine War from 2014 to 2026

Pre-War Background and Triggers

2014 - Crimea Annexation and Donbas Conflict

The Russian-Ukrainian war actually began after the 2014 Square Revolution, when Russia invaded and annexed Crimea, incited and supported pro-Russian armed forces in the Donbas region to launch an armed rebellion, and established two separatist regimes, the Luhansk People’s Republic and the Donetsk People’s Republic, and the Donbass War broke out.

2021-2022 Early - Military Buildup and Diplomatic Efforts

From March to April 2021 and from October onwards, Russian troops conducted large-scale military buildups near the Russian-Ukrainian border and in Belarus, with the second gathering of about 130,000 troops.

2022 - Year of Full-Scale Invasion

February 24 - War Begins

On February 24, 2022, at 5:50 a.m. Moscow time, Russian President Vladimir Putin officially announced a declaration of war on the Ukrainian government, authorizing the Russian army to carry out “special military operations” on Ukraine itself, with the mission purpose “demilitarizing Ukraine” and “denazifying Ukraine”. (Wikipedia, Al Jazeera, Kyiv Independent)

February-April 2022 - Battle of Kyiv

The Battle of Kyiv was fought from February 25 to April 2, 2022. The Russian army originally tried to use elite airborne forces to raid Antonov Airport in Hostomel, but was counterattacked by the Ukrainian army. In the end, the Russian army failed to capture the city of Kyiv and was forced to withdraw at the end of March, and Ukraine regained the entire territory of Kyiv Oblast. The retreat revealed evidence of the Bucha massacre.

February-May 2022 - First Battle of Kharkiv

The Battle of Kharkiv took place from February to May 2022. Kharkiv is Ukraine’s second largest city, located just 30 kilometers south of the Russian-Ukrainian border, and was a major target for Russian forces in the early stages of the invasion. By May 13, the Ukrainian army had pushed Russian troops back to the Ukrainian-Russian border.

February-May 2022 - Siege of Mariupol

The Siege of Mariupol lasted for several months and became one of the bloodiest battles in the early days of the war. On April 11, the forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic claimed to have occupied 80% of Mariupol. The mayor of Mariupol said more than 10,000 civilians were killed in Russia’s siege of its city, including victims of the Mariupol theatre airstrike. In the end, the Ukrainian army held out at the Azovstal Steel Plant until May, and the defenders surrendered.

September 2022 - Kharkiv Counteroffensive

On September 6, 2022, the Ukrainian armed forces launched a rapid counteroffensive in Kharkiv Oblast. The Ukrainian army unexpectedly penetrated deep into the Russian defense line and successively captured strategic locations such as Balakleya, Kupyansk, and Izyum. On September 10, these key cities were recaptured by the Ukrainian army. By the end of the counteroffensive, Ukraine had recaptured more than 500 settlements and 12,000 square kilometers of territory in Kharkiv Oblast.

September-November 2022 - Southern Counteroffensive and Russian Annexations

On September 20, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, which are actually controlled by Russia, announced a referendum on joining the Russian Federation. On September 30, the four eastern states of Ukraine were officially annexed to Russia, accounting for about 20% of Ukraine’s territory, but this move was condemned by the international community. On November 11, the Ukrainian army recaptured the city of Kherson after a southern counteroffensive.

2023 - The Bakhmut Meat Grinder

August 2022 - May 2023 - Battle of Bakhmut

The Battle of Bakhmut was the longest and bloodiest battle during the Russian-Ukrainian war. Russia’s shelling of Bakhmut began in May 2022, with the main attack beginning on August 1. The Russian attack force is mainly composed of personnel from the Wagner Group. As of January 2023, the Bakhmut front was the only Russian front line that was still on the offensive. (Al Jazeera coverage)

On May 20, 2023, Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group, announced that he had fully controlled Bakhmut, and the Russian army’s occupation of Bakhmut lasted for 224 days. Prigozhin claimed that about 20,000 Wagner soldiers died in the battle for Bakhmut, and the Ukrainian army killed 50,000 and injured about 70,000 people in the Battle of Bakhmut.

June 2023 - Wagner Mutiny

On June 23-24, 2023, the Wagner Group launched an armed rebellion that once advanced towards Moscow, but ended under the mediation of Belarusian President Lukashenko. On August 23, Prigozhin died in a plane crash. (Al Jazeera timeline)

June-September 2023 - Ukrainian Summer Counteroffensive

In June 2023, Ukraine launched another counteroffensive, mainly concentrated in Zaporizhzhia and southern Donetsk, but with little success, blocked by the Russian army’s deep defense positions and minefields, and the two sides entered a strategic stalemate.

2024 - Kursk Incursion

February 2024 - Fall of Avdiivka

On February 17, 2024, after months of fierce fighting, the Ukrainian army withdrew from Avdiivka, which was Russia’s biggest battlefield victory since Bakhmut.

August 6, 2024 - Ukraine’s Kursk Offensive

On August 6, 2024, around 8:00 a.m., the Ukrainian armed forces began operations from the Sumy direction towards Russia’s Kursk Oblast, attacking Russian troops stationed in villages such as Nikolayevo-Darino and Oreshnya. This was the first time Ukraine formally attacked Russian territory with regular forces, and the first time Russian territory has been occupied by foreign regular forces since World War II and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. (Al Jazeera analysis)

Ukrainian President Zelensky claimed that Kyiv controlled 1,250 square kilometers of land and 92 settlements in Kursk. The Ukrainian army also blew up three bridges over the Seym River, which are critical for supplying Russian troops stationed on the border.

October-December 2024 - Russian Advances in Donbas

In the second half of 2024, Russian forces resumed their advance in southeastern Ukraine, putting pressure on key cities such as Pokrovsk.

2025 - Peace Negotiations Dawn

January 2025 - Trump Returns to Presidency

On January 20, 2025, Donald Trump was inaugurated as President of the United States, promising to promote Russian-Ukrainian peace negotiations.

May 16, 2025 - Istanbul Negotiations

On May 16, 2025, Russia and Ukraine held the first direct peace negotiations in Turkey’s Istanbul since 2022. The meeting lasted less than two hours and reached an agreement to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war from each side, the largest prisoner exchange since the war. However, the two sides failed to reach a consensus on a ceasefire.

2026 - Current Situation

January-February 2026 - US-Mediated Negotiations

On February 5, 2026, under US mediation, Russia and Ukraine held a second round of peace talks in Abu Dhabi, initially agreeing to exchange 314 prisoners of war. However, territorial issues remain the biggest bottleneck, with Moscow insisting that Ukraine must give up Donbas. (Al Jazeera coverage, Kyiv Independent)

Zelensky announced a “20-point peace plan” jointly drafted with the United States, including providing Ukraine with “NATO-like” security guarantees, retaining an army of 800,000, and establishing an $800 billion reconstruction fund. Outstanding disputes currently include the allocation of jurisdiction over the Donetsk region and nuclear power plants.

February 2026 - Continued Fighting and Energy Crisis

The Russian army accelerated its advance in Ukraine in January this year, occupying 481 square kilometers of territory, almost twice as much as in December last year. Ukraine is facing severe damage to critical infrastructure caused by Russia’s continued bombing, and most people lack heating and electricity in the extreme cold. (Al Jazeera updates, Kyiv Independent)

As of February 16, 2026, the war has lasted for more than 1,450 days.

War Impacts and Consequences

Humanitarian Crisis

Russia’s invasion has caused hundreds of thousands of casualties on both sides and caused Europe’s largest refugee crisis since World War II, with 4.3 million refugees fleeing Ukraine and another 7.1 million displaced within Ukraine in the first six weeks of the war.

According to statistics from the Ukrainian General Staff, as of February 15, 2026, the Russian army has lost approximately 1.25 million soldiers since February 24, 2022. (Kyiv Independent tracker)

International Sanctions and Support

The international community widely condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia lost its membership in the Council of Europe and the United Nations Human Rights Council. The West has provided weapons and humanitarian support to Ukraine and imposed unprecedented sanctions on Russia.

In February 2026, the European Union proposed a comprehensive maritime service ban on Russian oil exports and added 43 tankers to the sanctions list of Russia’s “shadow fleet”, bringing the total to 640. (Al Jazeera report)

War Crimes

During the war, the Russian army was accused of committing a wide range of war crimes in Ukraine, including massacres, kidnapping of children, using prohibited weapons, etc., and the International Criminal Court issued a wanted warrant, requiring the parties to the Rome Convention to arrest six people, including Putin.

Key Battles and Operations Summary

Timeline Visualization

2014 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────► 2026
 │                                                                   │
 │ Crimea                                                            │
 │ Annexation                                                        │
 │                                                                   │
 2022-02-24 ──────────────────────────────────────────────►         │
        │                                                            │
        │ Full-Scale                                                 │
        │ Invasion                                                   │
        │                                                            │
        ├─► Kyiv Battle (Feb-Apr)                                   │
        ├─► Mariupol Siege (Feb-May)                                │
        ├─► Kharkiv Counteroffensive (Sep)                          │
        │                                                            │
        2023 ────────────────────────►                              │
            │                                                        │
            ├─► Bakhmut (Aug 2022-May 2023)                         │
            ├─► Wagner Mutiny (Jun)                                 │
            ├─► Summer Counteroffensive (Jun-Sep)                   │
            │                                                        │
            2024 ────────────────►                                  │
                │                                                    │
                ├─► Avdiivka Falls (Feb)                            │
                ├─► Kursk Incursion (Aug)                           │
                │                                                    │
                2025-2026 ────►                                     │
                    │                                                │
                    ├─► Istanbul Talks (May 2025)                   │
                    ├─► Abu Dhabi Talks (Feb 2026)                  │
                    │                                                │
                    └─► Ongoing (Day 1,453+)                        │