Two years of Russia’s Ukraine war LITHUANIA RUS. BELARUS RUSSIA Moscow UKRAINE Kyiv Bucha MOLDOVA ROMANIA POLAND LUHANSK DONETS ZAPORIZHYA Dnipro Odesa KHERSON Kherson BLACK SEA Mariupol Rostov-on-Don Kerch Bridge Crimea Annexed by Russia in 2014 Russian control before Feb 24, 2022 Russian control 200km 125 miles Feb 24, 2022: Russia launches full-scale invasion of Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin (top left) says “special military operation” is to “demilitarise and denazify Ukraine” Feb 27: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky (below) fifiles lawsuit against Russia in UN International Court of Justice (ICJ) Mar 16: ICJ orders Kremlin to end its invasion. Russia strikes theatre in Mariupol killing hundreds of civilians Mar 19: Russia deploys Kinzhal hypersonic missiles to destroy weapons storage site in Ukraine’s west Mar 21: Russian defence ministry data reveals 9,861 Russian soldiers killed in action and 16,153 wounded Mar 30: UN refugee agency reports 4 million people have flfled Ukraine – further 6.5 million people are internally displaced Apr 7: UN General Assembly votes to suspend Russia’s membership of Human Rights Council Apr 9: Hundreds of dead civilians are found in mass graves or streets of Bucha Apr 14: Russian Black Sea Fleet’s flagship, missile cruiser Moskva, sinks after being hit by Ukrainian missiles May 16: More than 260 Ukrainian defenders of Mariupol’s Azovstal steel factory surrender to Russian forces Jun 30: Ukranian forces liberate Snake Island from Russian occupation Jul 22: Russia and Ukraine agree UN-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative to release food supplies blocked in Ukraine’s ports Sep 21: Putin orders call-up of 300,000 reserve soldiers Sep 30: Putin signs “accession treaties” annexing Ukraine’s regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhya and Kherson Nov 9: In humiliating Russian retreat, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu (above) withdraws some 30,000 troops from Kherson Dec 21: Zelensky visits United States. President Joe Biden (top right) announces $1.85 billion aid package, including Patriot missiles Jan 14, 2023: Russian missile destroys apartment building in city of Dnipro, killing 45 people Jan 25: U.S. and Germany pledge M1 Abrams and Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine Feb 20: President Biden visits Ukraine Jun 23: Wagner Group mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin (above) stages short-lived armed mutiny against Putin’s general staff in Rostov-on-Don Jul 17: Ukraine attacks 19km Kerch Bridge in major blow to Putin. Russia ends Black Sea Grain Initiative Aug 23: Wagner leader Prigozhin killed in plane crash Oct 10: Moscow defeated in attempt to regain seat on UN Human Rights Council Nov 11-25: Russia launches massive drone strikes on Kyiv and Kherson Nov 26: Ukraine retaliates to strikes with intense kamikaze drone attacks. Three of Moscow’s international airports – Domodedovo, Vnukovo and Zhukovsky – are forced to close Dec 26: Ukrainian fighter jets destroy Russian landing ship Novocherkassk in attack bearing hallmarks of British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles Jan 4, 2024: Putin issues decree offering foreigners Russian citizenship if they fight in Ukraine Jan 18: Ukraine claims its forces flew drone over Putin’s residence during attacks on St Petersburg Jan 26: Kyiv and Moscow allege that opposing side shot down Ilyushin-76 aircraft carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war Feb 7: Russia fires more than 60 missiles and drones at six regions of Ukraine, including Kyiv Feb 8: Top army general Valerii Zaluzhnyi – who liberated Kherson – replaced by Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi (inset) Feb 17: Despite suffering huge losses, Russia captures Avdiivka as Ukrainian forces retreat Ukraine’s Armed Forces report that Russia has lost 392,380 troops since beginning of invasion. Ukraine has suffered more than 10,000 civilian deaths and 18,500 injured Sources: Associated Press, BBC, Commons Library Research Briefing, European Council, NPR, Reuters Pictures: Getty Images © GRAPHIC NEWS