Key Events During the War in Ukraine
Chronology of Main Events During Russian Special Military Operation in Ukraine
Languages: UA | RU || BG | CS | DE | EL | ES | FR | HR | HU | IT | PL | RM | TR |
We keep on updating this page regularly, so come back here to keep up to date with the developments in Ukraine.
You can also check out the Timelines on Wikipedia:
2022: February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2023: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
February 2022
· 21 February 2022 Russian President Putin speech in which he announced the recognition of LPR’s and DPR’s independence[+]
· 24 February 2022 Russian President Putin speech in which he announced and justified the full military launch of the SMO[+]
· 24 February 2022 Russia starts SMO[+]
· 24 February 2022 Russian forces established control over many towns, villages, and the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant
March 2022
· 25 February – 1 March, Russia won the battle of Melitopol[+]
· 2 March, Russia won the battle of Kherson[+]
· 3 March 2022 Russian forces seized Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant[+] and Enerhodar city[+]
· 6 March – Russia captured Novoselivske village[+]
· 25 February – 12 March, Russia won the major battle of Volnovakha[+] city in Donetsk
April 2022
· March – 2 April, Russia and Ukraine agree on a framework that would end the war, including Ukraine pledging not to join NATO. The US and UK blocked it.
· 2 April, Bucha massacre[+]
· 4 April, Kyiv retreat – the Russian army left Kyiv Oblast (Kyiv city left on 2 April)
· 6 April, Chernihiv retreat – the Russian army left Chernihiv Oblast
· 7 April, Sumy retreat – the governor of Sumy Oblast said that Russian troops were gone
· 9 April, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson flies to Kyiv to tell Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to stop negotiating with Russia.
· 14 April – Ukrainian missile sinks the Moskva warship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet[+]
· 18–19 April – Russia won the battle of Kreminna[+]
May 2022
· 3 March – 7 May – Russia won the battle of Popasna[+] (PMC Wagner)
· 21 May – Zelenskyy: “Ukraine had 700.000 servicemembers on active duty”[+]
· 26 February – 20 May 2022, Russia won the battle of Mariupol[+]
On 20 April, Putin said that the siege of Mariupol could be considered tactically complete. Only Azovstal with 500 Ukrainian troops and estimated 1.000 civilians but they were entrenched in bunkers and completely sealed off[+]
· 18 May – Sweden and Finland unveil their bids to join NATO but there was political opposition from Turkey and Hungary. Finland formally became a member of NATO on 4 April 2023, Sweden on 7 March 2024
June 2022
· 9 May – 21 June – Russia won the major battle of Toshkivka[+]
· 6 May – 25 June – Russia won the major battle of Sievierodonetsk[+]
· 30 June – Russia withdrew from the Snake Island
July 2022
· 25 June – 3 July 2022 – Russia won the battle of Lysychansk[+][+]
· Ukraine and Russia agree to a landmark grain deal[+] allowing Ukrainian grain to be exported across the Black Sea.
August 2022
· 4 August – Amnesty International publishes a report[+] that accuses Ukraine of risking civilian life by placing its military in residential areas.
· 20 August – Russian TV commentator Darya Dugina was assassinated by Ukrainian SBU with a car bomb in Moscow (the intended target may have been her father Aleksandr Dugin[+] – dubbed ‘Putin’s brain’).
· 28 July – 24 August – Russia won the battle of Pisky[+]
· 31 August – all Russian gas exports to Europe are halted (but some resume later)
September 2022
· 6 September 2022, Ukrainian forces launched a surprise counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region[+], Russia retreated immediately to regroup with no fighting back
2 October 2022 counteroffensive ended (3 weeks and 5 days)
· 10 September – Zelenskyy raises the Ukrainian flag in the city of Izium, occupied by Russia for six months, it is a big strategic win for Kyiv.
· 21 September 2022, Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization – 300.000 reservists were called on a compulsory basis. Almost 1.200 protestors were arrested in cities across Russia after the mobilization call-up.
· 26 September 2022 – Nord Stream pipeline sabotage[+] by the US and Norway
· 30 September 2022, Vladimir Putin announced the annexation of Ukraine's Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions[+] in an address to both houses of the Russian parliament following referendums of those regions, which overwhelmingly voted to join the Russian Federation.
October 2022
· 2 October – Ukraine reseized Lyman city in Donetsk region
· 8 October – the Crimean Bridge[+] (the Kerch Strait road-and-rail bridge) was hit by an explosion[+] (the 2nd attack was on17 July) caused by Ukrainian SBU.
· 10 October – Kyiv blackout – Russia retaliated for bridge attack with missile strikes on Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure
· 11 October – Ukrainian forces re-entered Kherson city after Russians retreated
November 2022
· 29 August – 11 November 2022 Kherson counteroffensive[+] – Russian retreat
· 11 November – Russia captured Opytne[+]
· 15 November – Poland (the village of Przewodów) was hit by a Ukrainian air defense missile near the Ukrainian border killing two
· 15 November – the European Parliament declared Russia a "state sponsor of terrorism" calling for more sanctions
December 2022
· 9 December – Russia re-occupied the Dnipro river island of Ostriv Velykyi Potomkin close to Kherson
· 13 December – Denis Pushilin, Acting head of Donetsk's People of Republic claimed[+] that half of Donetsk Oblast was under Russian control
· 25 Dec – Putin stated that Russia was ready for negotiation but Kyiv refused[+]
· 30 December – Ukraine captured Novoselivske village[+]
Jan 2023
· 5–7 January – Russian Christmas truce proposal[+] – rejected by Ukrainian leaders. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, called on both sides of the war in Ukraine for an Eastern Orthodox Christmas truce.
· 11 January 2023 – general Valery Gerasimov was appointed as the overall commander of the Russian military (the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces)
· 3 August 2022 – 16 January 2023 – Russia won the major battle of Soledar[+] (PMC Wagner). The Russian military stated that it captured Soledar on 13 January
· 17 January 2023 – UN concerned by restrictions to freedom of religion across Ukraine[+] Kyiv’s campaign against the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church – a total ban on the UOC, including the Zelensky regime’s decision to evict its clergy from the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.[+]
· 18 January 2023 – a helicopter crashed in Brovary on the eastern outskirts of the Kyiv region, killing the entire leadership of the Ukrainian Department of the Interior[+]
Feb 2023
· 1 February – Russia captured Sakko I Vantsetti village (PMC Wagner). Also, a big corruption scandal[+] hits Ukraine's Defence Ministry
· 8 February – Seymour Hersh publishes the article “How America Took Out The Nord Stream Pipeline” [+] On 15 February – Seymour Hersh published the article “The Crap on the Wall”[+], which is a follow-up to his previous article on the topic of the Nord Stream
· 12 February – Russia captured the village of Krasna Hora north of Bakhmut (PMC Wagner)[+]
· 24 February – China presented a 12-point plan for a cease-fire and peace talks to end the war. Ukraine rejected it.
Mar 2023
· 10 March 2023 – two Kinzhal missiles hit NATO’s Western Command Center near Lvov 80 meters underground, killing 300, incl. 40 high ranking NATO officers.
· 17 March 2023 – the ICC issued a warrant for Putin's arrest, alleging that Putin held criminal responsibility for the illegal deportation and transfer of children from Ukraine to Russia[+][+]
· 18-19 March – Russian President Putin visits Sevastopol and Mariupol
· 20-22 March 2023, Chinese president Xi Jinping visits Russia[+]
· 22 March – Seymour Hersh publishes the article “Cover Up”[+], which is a follow-up to his February article on How America Took Out The Nord Stream Pipeline[+], which is followed by his other article on 5 April “The Nord Stream Ghost Ship”[+]
· 28 March – Ukraine gets its first delivery of Western heavy tanks -14 British Challengers and 85 German Leopard 2s. Polish fighter jets also arrive.
· On 29 March – religious persecution – the clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) was ordered by Zelensky to leave the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on the lower grounds of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra[+][+] (UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1990). They refused to do so and have therefore filed a lawsuit against the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve. Ukrainian authorities have arrested 30 clergymen on charges relating to support for the Kremlin and treason.
Apr 2023
· 1 April – religious persecution – a court in Kyiv ordered[+] the house arrest of Metropolitan Pavlo (born Petro Lebid) of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) for allegedly supporting the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He was later taken under police custody on 14 July and released in early August for further house arrest[+].
· 2 April – Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky was killed by an Ukrainian SBU explosion in a cafe in St Petersburg. The explosion injured around 24 people of which 6 were in critical condition. The cafe where the explosion occurred belonged to Yevgeny Prigozhin (leader of PMC Wagner).
· 4 April – Finland formally became a member of NATO[+], finalizing the fastest accession process in the treaty's history. Finland has a 1,340 km (832 mi) border with Russia, which more than doubles NATO's border with Russia.
· 12 April – Seymour Hersh publishes the article “Trading With The Enemy”[+], which reveals rampant corruption in Kyiv, in particular by Zelensky and many generals
· 16 April – Pentagon document leaksleaks – classified documents of US–NATO counter-offensive plan details[+]
· 15-17 April – Poland, Hungary and Slovakia banned the import of grain from Ukraine
· 17 April – Russian President Putin visited military commanders in the Russian-occupied part of the Kherson Oblast and troops in Luhansk.
· 26 April – Zelensky holds first war phone call with China's President Xi Jinping
Ma 2023
· 3 May – failed drone attack on Kremlin[+]
· 8 May – Russia launched the largest attack on Kyiv with nearly 60 drones
· 12 May – UK supplied Storm Shadow long-range missiles to Ukraine
· 17 January-21 May – Russia won the major battle of Bakhmut[+] (PMC Wagner)
· 30 May – Russia destroyed the HQ of the Main Directorate of Intelligence (GUR) of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry in Kyiv. Moscow was attacked by at least eight drones, causing minor damage to several buildings.
Jun 2023
· 4 June – Ukrainian counteroffensive started in South Donetsk
· 6 June – destruction of the Kakhovka dam/Hydroelectric Power Plant[+] after Ukraine lost a 3-day battle of Vremevka ledge in South Donetsk[+]
· 7 June – counteroffensive started in the Orekhovsky sector in Zaporizhzhia
· 11-12 June – Ukraine captured 7 villages: Blahodatne, Makarivka and Neskuchne in South Donetsk as well as Lobkove, Levadne, Novodarivka and Storozheve in Zaporizhzhia – totaling around 90 km2
· 16 June – African leaders came to Kyiv as part of a peace mission. Ukraine rejected their peace proposal.
· 15–18 June 2022 – St. Petersburg International Economic Forum[+] was attended by participants from 130 countries[+], showing support for Russia despite threats from NATO leaders pushing for Russia's isolation
· 16 June – Ukraine captured Piatykhatky village (in Zaporizhzhia)
· 22 June – Zelenskyy signed a law banning the import and distribution of books from Russia and Belarus
· 24 June – Wagner mutiny (“march of justice”) fails after 24 hours. Wagner leader Yevegny Prigozhin takes a deal to go into exile in Belarus. The Wagner army is absorbed into the Russian army.
· 26 June – Ukraine captured Rivnopil village in South Donetsk
Jul 2023
· 11 July – NATO's 2023 Vilnius summit (major disappointment for Ukraine)
· 17 July – the Crimean Bridge attack[+] (the Kerch Strait road-and-rail bridge) was hit by an explosion (the 1st attack was on 10 October) – it was a special operation by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Ukrainian Navy[+]
18-23 July – Odesa missile and drone attacks[+][+][+] – Russia retaliated for the Crimean Bridge attack with airstrikes in Odesa and many other places
· 17 July – Russia suspended participation in the grain deal[+] (Black Sea Grain Initiative that let Ukraine ship its grain through its ports on the Black Sea)
· 27 July – Ukraine captured Staromaiorske village (in South Donetsk)
· 27–28 July – The Russia-Africa Summit[+] attended by official delegations from 48 African countries
· 30 July – a Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow damaged two office buildings
Aug 2023
· 5 August – Russia re-captured Novoselivske village[+], Luhansk Oblast, in the Kupiansk sector
· 16 August – Ukraine captured Urozhaine village (in South Donetsk)
· 23 August – Wagner Group leaders Yevgeny Prigozhin, Dmitry Utkin and Valery Chekalov died in a plane crash
· 22-24 August – BRICS summit[+], 6 more countries joined
· 28 August – Ukraine captured Robotyne village (in Zaporizhzhia)
Sept 2023
· 3 September – Ukraine president Zelensky fired Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov – replaced by Rustem Umierov
· 9 September – the G20 issued a joint declaration at the end of its summit in New Delhi, which was favorable to Russia
· 17 September – Ukraine captured Klishchiivka and Andriivka villages in Donetsk (Ukraine recaptured altogether 14 villages in Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia in 2023, with a total pre-war population of around 5.000, over 370 km2 of territory, less than half of what Russia captured in all of 2023[+][+])
· 22 September – scandal at the Canadian parliament, Zelensky and all parliamentarians gave a standing ovation[»] to Ukrainian veteran Nazi[+][*], Yaroslav Hunka, calling him a hero
· 25 September – Ukraine receives the first batch out of 31 Abrams tanks
Oct 2023
· 5 October – North Korea begun delivering artillery shells to Russia
· 7 October – Hamas attack on Israel; Israel declares war against Hamas
· 16 October – Ukraine receives the rest of 31 Abrams tanks and ATACMS missiles
· 26 October – the new Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico officially announced that Slovakia would provide no further military aid to Ukraine and oppose further sanctions against Russia
Nov 2023
· 6 November – Polish truckers had blocked several crossings on the Poland-Ukraine border in protest over falling revenues, blocking aid to Ukraine
· 29 November – Russia captured Khromove village (next to Bakhmut) in Donetsk
Dec 2023
· 1 December – Russia won the battle of Timkovka village[»]
· 6 December – the US Senate blocked a funding bill that included aid for Ukraine, with every Republican senator voting against it.
· 11 December – Slovak truckers began blockading the Slovakia–Ukraine border demanding that the EU restore entry restrictions on Ukrainian trucking firms that were removed following the Russian invasion
· 15 December – Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, was placed on Ukraine's wanted list for "abetting the conflict"[+]
· 25 December – Russia won the battle of Maryinka town[+]
Januar 2024
· Russia captured villages of Vesele (Donetsk, north of Soledar) as well as Krohmalne/Krahmalnoye and Tabayevka (Kupyansk front in Kharkiv region)
Februar 2024
· 8 February – Zelensky fired Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi and replaced him by (Russian) General Oleksandr Syrskyi
· 17 February – Russia won the battle of Avdeevka town[+] and by the end of the month Russia won the battles of several villages west of Avdeevka – Stepove, Severnoye, Lastochkino, as well as half of Tonenkoye, Orlovka, and Berdychi
· Russia won the battles for villages Pobeda (south of Marynka, Donetsk), Krynky (in Kherson), and Andriivka (in Donetsk), Makiivka (Kupyansk front)
Marc 2024
· 7 March – Sweden joined NATO
· Russia won the battles of several villages Nevelske/Nevelskoye (Donetsk; UAF retook it later), Myrne/Mirnoye[+] (Zaporozhye), Tonenkoye, Orlovka, and Vodyane[+] (near Avdeevka), Ivanovske/Krasny (near Bakhmut /Artemovsk), and dacha village “Rassvet”[+][+]
· 12-21 March – Russia won the battles in Kursk and Belgorod regions where Ukrainian and pro-Ukrainian terrorists invaded villages in Russia but failed
· 15-17 March – Russian Presidential election – Putin won with 88% of votes
· 22 March – terrorist attack[+] at Krasnogorsk concert venue "Crocus City Hall" and the adjacent shopping mall north west of Moscow killing 145 civilians and injuring more than 500 others
· 22 March-May – Russian attacks on Ukraine energy system (thermal and hydropower stations as well as main networks) caused $1 bln in damages
Apri 2024
· Russia won the battles of 10 villages: Pervomaiske, Vodyanoye, Semenivka, Novomykhailivka, Bohdanivka, Novobakhmutovka, Ocheretyne, Solovieve, Berdychi, Keramik, and Novokalinovo
· 7 and 9 April – the IAEA reported three direct strikes on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (by Ukraine since Russia occupies it)
· 20 April – the US House of Representatives passed an aid package for Ukraine ($61 billion), which was then passed by the Senate and signed into law by President Biden. The Ukraine aid bill was passed on Adolf Hitler’s 135th birthday.
· 25 April – Zelensky arrested Bishop/Metropolitan Arseny of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church on suspicion of revealing[+] the locations of Ukraine Army checkpoints in Donetsk. He faces up to 8 years in prison
Mai 2024
· Russia won the battles of Paraskoviivka, Berdychi, Kyselivka, Kotlyarivka, Arkhanhelske, Umanske, Robotyne
· 1 May Day - Trophy Exhibition of captured NATO equipment opened at Victory Parade in Moscow (huge embarrassment to NATO)
· 4 May – Moscow puts Zelensky, Poroshenko (former President) and Alexander Pavlyuk (Commander of Ukraine’s ground forces) on the wanted list on criminal charges[+]
· 10 May – Russian 2024 Kharkiv offensive[+] started – Russia won the battles of villages: Strilecha, Pylna, Borysivka, Ohirtseve, Pletenivka, Hoptivka, Kochubeivka, Krasne, Morokhovets, Oliinykove, Zelene, Hatyshche, Zybyne, Hlyboke, Luk'yantsi, Buhruvatka
· 12 May – Upon reelection and right after inauguration, as usual, old government resigned allowing a reshuffle[+] – Putin replaced Russian defense and security chiefs, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu was replaced by Andrei Belousov and promoted/appointed as Secretary of Russia's Security Council (replacing Patrushev), while Nikolai Patrushev was promoted to the post of Aide to the President of Russia
We base the data on most of all territorial gains on the reports from independent, neutral Military Summary YouTube channel[»], which has a several channels in different languages[de][ru][rs]. They report based on geolocated evidence (such as video footage from drone operators from both sides — so, if Ukrainian drones attack a location, it means that this location is under Russians and vice versa, as well as footage of a flag raised on a final point of a town or village).
Russian Ministry of Defense officially confirms[+] a capture of individual towns and villages a few days later than they are actually captured because oftentimes Ukrainians counterattack and then in some rare cases Russians withdraw from their new positions if they don’t have the time to consolidate their control, no time to build fortifications. So, Russian MoD confirms late, when they’re sure no counterattack will occur anymore. That implies that the Russian units already moved on further. It seems like they're playing it super safe before they make any calls. Probably don't want to jump the gun and end up look foolish if things flip back.
Ukrainian authorities such as Ministry of Defense officially confirm[+] a capture of individual towns and villages even before they are fully captured. They also do not report if Russians retaken some positions afterwards by counterattacking, leaving impression a settlement is further fully captured by AFU when it is not.
This is why we rely more on independent, neutral sources such as Military Summary YouTube channel[»].