The Beginning

• October 2021 - Russia brought troops to the border for a training.

• War was then declared on Ukraine in February 24, 2022.

• Russia annexed 4 areas of Ukraine on September 30th, 2022:

  • Luhansk and Donetsk - annexed by Russia and now claim themselves as Russian territory. Some would argue they weren't annexed at all because they claimed independence from Ukraine in 2014 as the Luhansk People's Republic and the Donetsk People's Republic and Ukraine refused to recognize their independence.

  • Zaporizhia and Kherson - 2 other areas annexed by Russia

    • *All annexed areas are located on the border side closest to Russia (see images below)

    • **Crimea was annexed by Russia in 2014 and is still under Russian control

• Helpful Info: Annexed means incorporation of a new territory into a larger political entity (which is legal)

What's Happening Now?

• No significantly large pieces of land have been taken since 2024. 

• Peace talks and treaties have been constantly brought to Russia from Ukraine and its allies from as early as February 28, 2022, but none of them have ever resulted in anything significant.

• Like most wars in this day and age, this is fought mostly electronically/with drones, but there are still infantry and civilian casualties (seen below).

Statistics

• Russia is estimated to have around 250,000 soldiers killed and 800,000 wounded.  

• Ukraine is estimated to have around 80,000 soldiers killed and 320,000 wounded, but the government will not release official numbers.

• Russia - most likely over 400 civilians killed

• Ukraine - around 50,000 civilians either killed or wounded 

• Russia - Over $200 billion is estimated to have been spent.

• Ukraine - Over $500 billion is estimated to have been lost on the war due to the military and infrastructure and economic losses.