On February 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a surprise announcement confirming what until then was a rumor: Russia was going to invade Ukraine. Before the first Russian attacks, the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelensky, decided to declare martial law and the general mobilization of troops
In the first days of the bombing, one million Ukrainians fled the country. In addition, both the United States and the European Union announced economic sanctions against the Russian Federation.
In March 2022, Russia attempted to seize the Ukrainian capital, kyiv. But the local troops resisted. However, the one that was taken was the city of Kherson, very important geographically and very close to Crimea, a province that Russia had already annexed to its territory in 2014.
In April 2022, the Ukrainian government denounced that Russian troops had already caused the death of almost 500 civilians. In addition, the European Union banned coal imports from Russia. On the 14th of that month, Ukraine counterattacked by bombing the Russian ship Moskva.
On May 19, 2022, the United States Congress announced $40 billion in military aid to Ukraine. Two days later the battle for control of Severodonetsk, a major Ukrainian city in the Lugansk region, began.
June 2022 was a very important month, not only for the two countries involved in the war. Russia cut gas supplies to Europe by 40%. 40%! It was in that same month that NATO confirmed that it would increase its combat forces from 40,000 to 300,000 soldiers.
Like any war, the one between Russia and Ukraine began to cause not only destruction, but also hunger. Therefore, on July 22, 2022, the two countries negotiated an agreement to transport Ukrainian grains through the Black Sea. The first ship left the port of Odessa on the 1st of August.
In September 2022, referendums were held in four Ukrainian regions absorbed by Russia. Once these processes were finished, Vladimir Putin announced that those places would be annexed to the country he presides over.
By December 2022, the war had already left a balance of 8 million refugees and close to 7 million displaced people within Ukrainian territory. In addition, according to Mark Milley, head of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff, there are already 240,000 total deaths: around 100,000 soldiers per side, plus some 40,000 civilians.
A central theme to understand the first great European war of the 21st century is the use of technology. Facial recognition programs, artificial intelligence and drones are some of the new elements in relation to armed conflicts of the past decades.
One of the balances of the war is that from the first moment Russia is experiencing a large-scale boycott. Many products of Russian origin stopped being sold in various countries around the world, their artists are not invited to international events, and even athletes were banned from various competitions, as happened with the Russian National Team in the playoffs for the Qatar World Cup.
