Russia-Ukraine conflict

FILE PHOTO: A Russian serviceman stands guard next to a BM-27 9K57 Uragan multiple launch rocket system. / Sputnik

Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, 2022, citing Kiev’s failure to implement the Minsk agreements, designed to give the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk special status within the Ukrainian state. The protocols, brokered by Germany and France, were first signed in 2014. Former Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko has since admitted that Kiev’s main goal was to use the ceasefire to buy time and “create powerful armed forces.” Russia also cited NATO’s military cooperation with Ukraine as one of the root causes of the current conflict. Kiev insists that the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked.

The People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, as well as Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions, joined Russia as a result of referendums in autumn 2022. Crimea did the same in 2014, following a Western-backed coup in Kiev.

Since late 2022, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has been promoting his so-called ‘peace formula’, which calls for Russia to withdraw from all territories claimed by Kiev and pay reparations, and for the formation of a war crimes tribunal. Russian officials called Zelensky’s plan unrealistic, while saying Moscow is ready for a diplomatic solution.