War between Russia and Ukraine: origin and key dates of the conflict

President Vladimir Putin has ordered this Thursday to attack Donbas.

The Russian leader has defended in his message that the clashes between the Ukrainian and Russian forces are "inevitable" and "only a matter of time".

"The expansion of NATO and the military development of the territory of Ukraine by the alliance is unacceptable to Russia," the Kremlin chief said.

The recent moves raise the specter of the Cold War.

The background to this crisis is Russia's refusal to accept the rapprochement of NATO and the European Union with the former Soviet republic, which Moscow considers part of its identity and space of influence and whose control it deems vital for its security.

Putin believes that both countries make up "one people".

November of 2013

The president of Ukraine, the pro-Russian Victor Yanukovych, suspends the signing of an association agreement with the European Union, scheduled for November 29, due to pressure from Russia, which also offers him significant economic compensation for it, such as the reduction of the price of gas.

This announcement catalyzes the discontent of the population, especially in the west of the country.

On November 24, tens of thousands of Ukrainians demonstrate against the government in Kiev's Independence Square (Maidan).

A demonstrator uses a slingshot during the protests that degenerated into violent clashes between opponents and riot police in the center of Kiev, on February 19, 2014. SERGEY DOLZHENKO (EFE)

February 2014

Ukrainian security forces kill at least 100 people in protests.

Popular outrage and brutal repression force Yanukovych to flee.

Meanwhile, in Simferopol, the capital of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, pro-Russian militants are facing supporters of the unity of Ukraine.

At the same time, camouflaged Russian soldiers and Kremlin espionage agents penetrate Crimea to force its annexation to Russia.

A fighter from the self-proclaimed Republic of Donetsk, Friday in a trench near the town of Yasne.Alexei Alexandrov (AP)

March 16, 2014

A referendum is held in Crimea in which — amid accusations of fraud — Russia's annexation wins by more than 97% of the vote.

Two days later, Putin signs the incorporation of the Ukrainian peninsula into his territory, which the international community does not recognize.

NATO freezes its collaboration with Moscow, and the US and the EU impose sanctions on it.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, on the right of the image, signs the annexation of Crimea with representatives of the peninsula, on March 18, 2014 in Moscow.

KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV (AFP)

April-May 2014

The events in Crimea are reproduced in the Ukrainian region of Donbas.

In May, separatist groups in Donetsk and Lugansk proclaimed themselves "people's republics" and demanded integration into Russia.

Eastern Ukraine thus becomes the scene of the last war in Europe between pro-Russian separatists, with political and military support from Moscow, and the Ukrainian Army.

July 17, 2014

A Russian-made Buk missile shoots down Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, killing all 298 on board as the plane overflew the Donetsk region.

Flowers, letters and tribute gifts at the MH17 crash site in Donetsk in July 2014. MAXIM ZMEYEV (REUTERS)

September 5, 2015

Ukraine, Russia and separatist representatives from Donetsk and Luhansk sign an agreement in Minsk to end the war under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

A week-long ceasefire goes into effect.

October 19, 2016

The meeting in Berlin of the Normandy Quartet —sponsored by France and Germany to resolve this conflict— ends without progress.

December 10, 2019

Putin and the new Ukrainian president, Volodímir Zelenski, agree in Paris to resume the peace process in Ukraine.

On December 29, Kiev and separatist representatives exchange 200 prisoners.

01:07

The exchange of 200 prisoners thaws relations between Ukraine and Russia

Photo: Atlas |

Video: Ukrainian prisoners are escorted by pro-Russian rebels in December 2019, near Donetsk (Ukraine).

January-April 2021

Russia begins to move troops to its borders with Ukraine and to the Crimean peninsula.

On April 13, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg defines the deployment as "the largest accumulation of Russian troops since the annexation of Crimea."

August 23, 2021

46 States and organizations, including NATO, sign the Crimean Platform in Kiev, in which the West demands that Russia return the Ukrainian peninsula.

The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, during the summit of the Crimea Platform, in Kiev, on August 23, 2021.- (AFP)

December 3, 2021

The United States believes that Moscow is preparing an invasion of Ukraine "in early 2022," according to

According to the US, the deployment of Russia on the borders with that country can reach 175,000 soldiers.

December 16, 2021

The EU threatens Russia with "enormous sanctions" if it invades Ukraine.

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in an appearance in Brussels on December 16. POOL (Reuters)

January 11 and 12, 2022

A meeting between Washington and Moscow —on January 11 in Geneva (Switzerland)— and another held the following day between NATO and Russia ended without progress.

Moscow reports the start of military maneuvers in southern Russia, the Caucasus and Crimea.

A Russian T-72B3 tank fired its cannon during military exercises at the Kadamovskiy firing range in southern Russia's Rostov region on January 12. AP

January 14, 2022

The US warns that Russia is planning "a false flag attack": a sabotage against its forces in eastern Ukraine to attribute it to Kiev and justify an invasion.

The previous morning, a massive cyber attack disabled the Ukrainian government's computer system for hours.

01:20

The Russian army conducts maneuvers near the border with Ukraine

Transport of Russian military vehicles on Tuesday to carry out maneuvers in Belarus, a country bordering Ukraine. Photo: AFP |

Video: REUTERS

January 18, 2022

Russia sends troops to Belarus for joint exercises near the Ukrainian borders.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken begins a new round of meetings that will culminate on Friday with a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, this Wednesday in Kiev. POOL (REUTERS)

January 24, 2022

The US State Department is ordering relatives of diplomats from its embassy in Kiev to leave the country, given the threat of an invasion by Russia.

It also authorizes non-essential workers to leave.

He also asks the rest of his fellow citizens to consider "the opportunity to leave Ukraine using commercial flights or other private means", since the embassy will not be in a position to help them in the event of an attack.

January 27, 2022

China sides with Russia over Ukraine.

The Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, breaks the administrative silence ―that of “he who is silent, grants”― of his country regarding Russia's threat to Ukraine.

And he does it to make it clear – as clear as diplomatic protocols allow, and just in case there was any doubt – that Beijing's sympathies are with Moscow.

In a telephone conversation with the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, Wang assures that "Russia's security concerns must be taken into account and receive a solution".

On the other hand, those days Russia staged a remarkable rapprochement with Cuba, its former ally, and it does so in an atmosphere of growing tension.

A man wearing a cap with an American flag in Beijing on January 27. Andy Wong (AP)

January 28, 2022

To try to prevent Europe's energy dependency on Russia and grim supply shortage prospects from adding further tension to the Ukrainian crisis, US President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen are holding a joint statement in which they display unity to send a message of calm: there will be no shortages.

January 29, 2022

Joe Biden says he plans to deploy troops to Eastern Europe and NATO countries "in the short term," though it won't be a large number.

The Pentagon puts the number of troops at 8,500 soldiers, who are on "high alert" to move if necessary, as a result of the crisis in Ukraine.

“I will send troops to Eastern Europe and NATO countries at short notice.

Not too many”, assures the American president.

February 3, 2022

The United States and NATO refuse to sign a bilateral treaty on security in Europe with Russia and also close the door to a future incorporation of Ukraine into the Atlantic Alliance.

Those were two of the main demands put forward by Moscow to end the Ukraine crisis.

Instead, both Washington and the Alliance offer Putin to negotiate disarmament agreements and confidence-building measures in different forums (such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, OSCE, the US-Russia Strategic Stability Dialogue and the NATO Council). -Russia), whose success conditions the start of a de-escalation in the Russian military threat over Ukraine.

This is how it appears in two confidential documents sent by Washington and NATO to Moscow, to which EL PAÍS had access.

On day 3,

the Kremlin expels the German channel Deutsche Welle from Russia after the Berlin veto of Russia Today.

DW will not be able to broadcast in Russia and will be declared by the authorities as a “foreign agent”.

A camera records in front of the headquarters of the German channel Deutsche Welle on February 3 in Moscow. YURI KOCHETKOV (EFE)

February 7, 2022

Macron asks Putin to avoid war: "The next few days will be decisive."

Separated by a huge table — almost as big as the distance that today separates Moscow from NATO — the presidents of Russia and France meet in search of an answer to the Ukrainian hornet's nest.

Putin acted as host and listened to Emmanuel Macron's attempt to achieve a de-escalation that would remove the threat of war.

The French president's visit to Moscow failed to win any firm concessions from the Kremlin on Ukraine.

February 12, 2022

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommends that Spanish residents in Ukraine temporarily leave the country by their own means.

“Spaniards currently in that country are recommended to seriously consider the possibility of temporarily leaving it through the available commercial means, while the current circumstances persist,” the Foreign Ministry statement said.

At the same time, it reiterates the recommendation not to travel to the country "given the volatile security situation."

The day before, the US, as well as other Western countries, had made a similar announcement.

February 15, 2022

The Russian Parliament passes a resolution urging President Vladimir Putin to recognize the independence of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, self-proclaimed republics in 2014. The decision of the State Duma (the Russian lower house) to “immediately send” Putin of the initiative is not binding, only the head of the Kremlin can dictate that Russia recognize the independence of the territories, but it offers a contradictory signal of the Russian position: on the same day Moscow announces the withdrawal of part of the troops deployed along with the Ukraine's borders and assures that the answers offered by the United States and NATO to its demands on the security architecture in Europe —and which EL PAÍS exclusively advanced— are an acceptable starting point for negotiations.

Putin and Scholz, during their meeting on February 15 in the Kremlin. Mikhail Klimentyev (AP)

February 17, 2022

The Ukrainian government and Moscow-backed pro-Russian separatists trade accusations of attacks along the Donbas front line.

Thus, artillery shells hit a nursery in the city of Stanytsia Luganska, in the part of the Lugansk region controlled by the Kiev government.

They wounded three civilians, according to the Ukrainian Army, which reported another 47 attacks in twenty points throughout the conflict zone and in which two more people suffered injuries.

In turn, leaders of the secessionist regions of Donetsk and Lugansk denounced attacks by Ukrainian forces.

February 18, 2022

The United States intelligence services reported that the Kremlin had already ordered the invasion of Ukraine, according to sources from the Joe Biden Administration cited by

and

.

This fact is what led the president to point out, for the first time, that he considered that Vladimir Putin had already "made the decision" to attack the former Soviet republic.

That same day, the pro-Russian separatists gave the order to evacuate civilians in Donbas.

A resident of Stanytsia Luganska, in the eastern part controlled by Kiev, looks at her house being destroyed by a bombing on February 18. ALEKSEY FILIPPOV (AFP)

February 21, 2022

Putin signs the recognition of the pro-Russian Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Lugansk and orders the sending of Russian troops to the area.

The reaction of the West is not long in coming.

The EU condemns the movement as a whole and announces the launch of the mechanism to activate strong sanctions against Russia.

The US makes a similar move.

Putin's announcement intensifies the conflict in Ukraine and raises tension with the West, which was already at a critical point.

Putin, who had fervently defended the peace agreements for Donbas, dynamites part of the diplomatic action with this signature.

February 22, 2022

Germany suspends the certification of the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline after the announcement of Moscow's recognition of the breakaway regions of Ukraine.

Berlin announces that it will stop the approval of the infrastructure, controlled by the Russian gas giant Gazprom.

Chancellor Scholz announces that he has asked his Minister for the Economy, Robert Habeck, to take the necessary administrative measures to paralyze the gas pipeline certification process.

“Without this certification, Nord Stream cannot go into operation,” says Scholz.

Workers on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, in an image taken on a pipeline in 2019 near the Russian town of Kingisepp. Anton Vaganov (Reuters)

February 24th

A few minutes before six in the morning on Thursday, February 24, the Russian leader announces a "special military operation" in Donbas.

Just a few minutes after the Kremlin chief's speech, broadcast on all Russian state channels, large explosions were recorded at various points in eastern Ukraine, from Sloviansk and Kramatorsk to Kharkov, 30 kilometers from the Russian border;

even in Kiev, the capital.

Russia begins its attack against Ukraine.

Moscow defends that it is an operation to "demilitarize" the neighboring country, but it does not intend the occupation.

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