2022-02-24
: Russia Launches Full-Scale Invasion — Russia launches a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on multiple fronts — from Belarus toward Kyiv, from Crimea toward Kherson, and from the east into Donbas. The attack marks the largest land war in Europe since World War II.
2022-04-02
: Russia Retreats from Kyiv — Russian forces withdraw from the Kyiv region after failing to capture the capital, marking a decisive early turning point in the war.
2022-04-14
: Ukraine Sinks Russian Flagship Moskva — Ukraine strikes and sinks the Moskva, the flagship of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, using Neptune anti-ship missiles — the largest warship lost in combat since the Falklands War.
2022-05-20
: Mariupol Falls After Siege — After a brutal three-month siege, the last Ukrainian defenders at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol surrender, giving Russia full control of the strategically vital port city.
2022-09-30
: Russia Annexes Four Ukrainian Regions — Putin formally annexes Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson — four Ukrainian regions — in a ceremony condemned by the West as illegal under international law.
2022-11-11
: Ukraine Liberates Kherson City — Ukrainian forces enter Kherson city after Russian troops withdraw across the Dnipro River, marking the liberation of the only regional capital Russia had captured during the invasion.
2023-05-20
: Bakhmut Falls to Wagner Group — After nearly a year of the bloodiest urban fighting of the war, Russian mercenary group Wagner captures Bakhmut — Putin's most-sought symbolic prize of the conflict.
2023-06-23
: Wagner Group Stages Armed Mutiny — Wagner Group mercenaries seize the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and march armored columns toward Moscow in an unprecedented mutiny against Russia's military leadership, before halting in a Belarus-brokered deal.
2024-08-06
: Ukraine Launches Kursk Offensive — Ukraine launches a surprise large-scale incursion into Russia's Kursk Oblast, seizing hundreds of square kilometers of Russian territory in the war's boldest reversal — taking the war to Russian soil.
2025-08-15
: Trump and Putin Meet in Alaska — US President Trump and Russian President Putin hold their first summit in Alaska — the first Russia-US summit in four years — to discuss ending the war in Ukraine.
2026-04-14
: Trump Proposes Crimea Recognition Deal — The Trump administration formally proposes a framework for ending the Ukraine war that would require Kyiv to formally recognize Crimea as Russian territory in exchange for a ceasefire and partial sanctions relief on Russia.
2026-04-16
: EU Rejects Trump Crimea Proposal — EU foreign ministers hold an emergency session in Brussels, unanimously rejecting Trump's Crimea recognition framework and pledging an additional €40 billion in military aid to Ukraine.
2026-04-18
: Ukraine Hits Kerch Bridge Again — Ukrainian forces launch a coordinated drone and missile strike that severely damages the Kerch Strait Bridge for the second time, severing Russia's primary supply corridor to occupied Crimea and forcing a total halt to vehicle traffic.
2026-04-19
: Russia Strikes Ukraine Power Grid — Russia launches its largest missile barrage since the 2025 winter campaign — 68 ballistic missiles and 41 Shahed-136 drones targeting Ukraine's electricity infrastructure in direct retaliation for the April 18 Kerch Bridge strike, destroying two major substations and leaving 4.3 million Ukrainians without power.
2026-04-21
: EU Accelerates Air Defense Delivery — Germany and France jointly announce the immediate forward-deployment of two additional Patriot PAC-3 batteries to Ukraine — moving up deliveries previously scheduled for June — after the NATO North Atlantic Council emergency session convened following Russia's April 19 grid strike determined the threat threshold had been crossed.
2026-04-29
: G7 Approves New Ukraine Defense Package — G7 foreign ministers meeting in Rome finalize a $17 billion Ukraine defense and budget support package — including 30 Patriot interceptors, explicit ATACMS authorization for strikes in Crimea, and a $5 billion direct budget transfer — the largest single G7 Ukraine commitment since the war began.
2026-04-30
: Ukraine Launches First ATACMS Crimea Strike — Ukraine fires ATACMS missiles at a Russian air defense battery and logistics hub at Dzhankoi in northern Crimea — the first ATACMS strike in Crimea since the G7's explicit authorization the previous day — destroying two S-400 launchers and a fuel depot in what Kyiv calls the opening of a new operational phase targeting Crimean military infrastructure.