Ukraine conflict escalates again: This is how bad relations with Russia came about

Created: 01/26/2022, 14:46

Official press photo of the Russian Ministry of Defense on the country's military exercises.

© Uncredited/Russian Defense Ministry Press Service/AP/dpa

Ever since pro-Western forces prevailed in Ukraine, relations with Russia have been in permanent crisis mode.

A chronology of events.

Moscow/Kiev - A change of power in Ukraine more than eight years ago sparked the conflict with neighboring Russia.

The crisis continued to escalate and continues to this day.

According to UN estimates, there are more than 14,000 in the eastern Ukrainian separatist areas.

people died.

A review.

Ukraine Conflict: A Chronology of Events

December 2013

: Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians protest in the capital Kiev against the pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych because his government overturned the partnership agreement with the EU.

Independence Square (Maidan) becomes a symbol.

February 2014: Yanukovych flees to Russia.

Moscow militarily occupies the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula of Crimea.

March 2014

: Russia holds an internationally unrecognized referendum in Crimea and incorporates it as part of the country.

US and EU impose sanctions on Moscow.

April 2014: In the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbass, Moscow-backed separatists proclaim the “Donetsk People's Republic”, followed by Luhansk.

The Western defense alliance NATO is suspending its military cooperation with Russia because of the Crimean crisis.

June 2014

: In eastern Ukraine, rebels shot down a military plane during a night landing maneuver at Luhansk airport.

All 49 soldiers on board are killed.

July 2014: A Malaysia Airlines passenger plane was shot down by a Russian missile over separatist territory.

All 298 people on board die.

The West is tightening its sanctions against Russia.

Ukraine conflict: special status for Donetsk and Luhansk

August 2014

: NATO accuses Russia of military intervention in Ukraine.

More than 1,000 soldiers with heavy weapons were sent to eastern Ukraine.

Moscow denies the allegations.

October 2014

: The Ukrainian parliament grants special status to Donetsk and Luhansk regions as part of the peace plan for eastern Ukraine.

Their rights to self-government should be strengthened.

November 2014

: The eastern Ukrainian separatists have their own parliaments elected for the first time.

Kiev condemns this as unconstitutional.

Ukraine conflict: Kiev officially declares Moscow to be the enemy

December 2014

: Ukraine ends its political neutrality, paving the way for NATO membership.

NATO decides to keep soldiers in the east of the alliance permanently ready to counter any threats from Russia.

In addition, a rapid reaction force will be set up with up to 40,000 soldiers today.

February 2015

: A peace plan is being negotiated in Belarus with German mediation, among others.

The West ties the lifting of sanctions against Russia to the so-called Minsk Agreement.

Among other things, this agreement provides for autonomy for the separatist areas in the Ukrainian constitution and for Ukraine to control its border with Russia.

September 2015

: Ukraine's Security Council officially declares neighboring Russia an enemy in a military doctrine.

July 2017

: The pro-Russian separatists in Luhansk and Donetsk unilaterally proclaim their new state "Little Russia".

Ukraine conflict: work on Nord Stream 2 begins

September 2017

: Ukraine's Association Agreement with the EU enters into force.

January 2018

: Kiev reclassifies the breakaway territories in the east as occupied by Russia.

Ukrainians who fight against government forces or work for the authorities of the areas concerned are therefore subject to criminal prosecution.

March 2018

: After Nord Stream 1 has been transporting gas from Russia through the Baltic Sea to Germany since 2011, work on the controversial Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 2 begins.

Ukraine conflict: Moscow gathers troops in border area

November 2018

: The Russian Coast Guard detains three Ukrainian Navy ships with 24 sailors on board in the Kerch Strait.

Meanwhile, Kiev declares martial law.

The elections in the separatist areas are not recognized internationally.

June 2019

: Russia issues first passports to Ukrainians in separatist-controlled parts of the Donbass region.

According to Moscow, around 160,000 people applied for Russian citizenship just six months later.

April 2021

: Moscow is massing troops in the border area with eastern Ukraine and is threatening military intervention.

Russia's military doctrine allows for intervention to protect its citizens abroad.

Ukraine conflict: Putin declares Russians and Ukrainians to be one people

June 2021

: In Geneva, Switzerland, US President Joe Biden and his Russian colleague Vladimir Putin talk about the Ukraine conflict, among other things.

There is no breakthrough.

July 2021

: In an essay, Putin argues that Russians and Ukrainians are one people.

This is read as Russia's claim on its neighbors.

September 2021

: Nord Stream 2 is completed.

In the future, the pipeline will deliver 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year from Russia through the Baltic Sea to Germany.

In November, the German Federal Network Agency temporarily suspended its approval process.

Ukraine conflict: Dispute between Kiev and Berlin over arms deliveries

November 2021

: Once again, unusually large contingents of troops and modern weapons are concentrated in the Russian border area with Ukraine.

Later there is talk of up to 100,000 soldiers.

NATO and EU warn Moscow against military attacks.

December 2021

: Ukraine accuses Germany of blocking arms deliveries, Berlin maintains its no.

Russia is again demanding that NATO refrain from further eastward expansion, and Ukraine must not be admitted as a member.

January 2022

: Diplomatic attempts at various levels - such as bilateral US-Russia talks, the NATO-Russia Council or a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) - still do not bring any solution to the tensions.