Short answers, pulled from the story.
Vladimir Putin announced the special military operation on the 24th of February 2022. This announcement marked the start of the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II.
As of December 2025, about 8 million Ukrainians are internally displaced and 6.7 million have fled the country. These figures create Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II from a population of 41 million.
Russia claimed its goal was to demilitarise and denazify Ukraine while supporting Russian-backed breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. Putin baselessly claimed the Ukrainian government were neo-Nazis committing genocide against the Russian minority in the Donbas.
Ukrainian forces entered Bucha on the 1st of April and recaptured the region around Kyiv. This operation uncovered evidence of war crimes committed by Russian troops in the area.
Ukraine launched their first direct offensive into Russian territory on the 6th of August 2024. The main axis of this incursion centred on Sudzha within the bordering Kursk Oblast.