One year of Russia-Ukraine crisis: Key moments in the conflict

The crisis in Ukraine, which began a year ago, has killed thousands, forced millions to flee their homes, reduced entire cities to rubble and fueled fears the confrontation could slide into an open conflict between Russia and NATO. Here we take a look at some of the main events in the conflict.

One year of Russia-Ukraine crisis: Key moments in the conflict

February 2022: Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine from the north, east and south on 24th. Credit: AFP Photo

March 2022: On the 2nd, Russia claimed control of the southern city of Kherson. In the opening days of March, Russian forces also seized the rest of the Kherson region and occupied a large part of the neighbouring Zaporizhzhia region, including the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe’s largest. Credit: Reuters Photo

April 2022: On 9th, a Russian missile strike on a train station in the eastern city of Kramatorsk killed 52 civilians and wounded over 100. The Russian pullback from Kyiv revealed hundreds of bodies of civilians left in the streets of the town of Bucha, many of them bearing signs of torture in scenes that prompted world leaders to say Russia should be held accountable for possible war crimes. Credit: AFP Photo

May 2022: On the 16th, Ukrainian defenders of the giant Azovstal steel mill, the last remaining Ukrainian stronghold in Mariupol, agreed to surrender to Russian forces after a nearly three-month siege. Mariupol’s fall cut Ukraine off from the Azov coast and secureed a land corridor from the Russian border to Crimea. Credit: Reuters Photo

June 2022: More Western weapons flew into Ukraine, including US supplied HIMARS multiple rocket launchers. Credit: AFP Photo

July 2022: On 22nd, Russia and Ukraine, with mediation by Turkey and the United Nations, agreed on a deal to unblock supplies of grain stuck in Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, ending a standoff that threatened global food security. Credit: AFP Photo

August 2022: On 9th, powerful explosions struck an air base in Crimea. More blasts hit a power substation and ammunition depots there a week later. signalling the vulnerability of the Moscow-annexed Black Sea peninsula that Russia used as a major supply hub for the war. Ukraine’s top military officer later acknowledged that the attacks on Crimea were launched by Kyiv’s forces. Credit: Reuters Photo

September 2022: On the 6th, the Ukrainian forces launched a surprise counteroffensive in the northeastern Kharkiv region, quickly forcing Russia to pull back from broad areas held for months. Credit: AP Photo

October 2022: On the 8th, a truck laden with explosives blew up on the bridge linking Crimea to Russia’s mainland in an attack that Putin blames on Ukraine. Russia responded with missile strikes on Ukraine’s power plants and other key infrastructure. Credit: AFP Photo

November 2022: On the 9th, Russia announced a pullback from the city of Kherson under a Ukrainian counteroffensive, abandoning the only regional centre Moscow captured, in a humiliating retreat for the Kremlin. Credit: Reuters Photo

December 2022: On the 5th, the Russian military said Ukraine used drones to target two bases for long-range bombers deep inside Russian territory. Another strike took place later in the month, underlining Ukraine’s readiness to up the ante and revealing gaps in Russian defences. Credit: AP Photo

January 2023: On the 1st, just moments into the New Year, scores of freshly mobilized Russian soldiers were killed by a Ukrainian missile strike on the city of Makiivka. Russia’s Defense Ministry said 89 troops were killed, while Ukrainian officials put the death toll in the hundreds. Credit: AP Photo

February 2023: On the 20th, US President Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Kyiv where he met Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a remarkable and defiant display of solidarity. Credit: Reuters Photo