WASHINGTON — It’s been three weeks since Russia invaded Ukraine, causing countless deaths and widespread destruction and generating the greatest refugee flow in Europe since World War II.
Russia’s unprovoked attack unified Europe and NATO and prompted unprecedented sanctions aimed at crippling the Russian economy and forcing Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table.
Here are some questions and answers about the conflict.
When did the war start?
On the morning of Feb. 24, while the United Nations Security Council was holding an emergency session, Russian President Vladimir Putin released a pre-recorded video announcing a “special military operation” in Ukraine.
He had declared war without saying the words. Artillery barrages and airstrikes rained on Ukraine as Russian soldiers and equipment began to move across the border from the north, east and south.
Russia had been assembling forces on the Ukrainian border since early December 2021.
But this is only the latest and most drastic escalation in a conflict, overlooked by most of the world, that has been ongoing since 2014.
In the early months of that year, the Ukrainian people ousted then-President Victor Yanukovych after he unilaterally decided to create closer ties with Russia instead of signing a treaty with the European Union that the parliament had overwhelmingly supported.
Yanukovych fled Ukraine during what is called the Maidan Revolution. Russia viewed the revolution as an illegal coup and took the opportunity to annex the Crimean Peninsula and start a proxy war in the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces of Ukraine.
The fighting in the two provinces between the Ukrainian Army and Russian-backed separatists came to be known as the Donbas War, a relatively low-level conflict that nevertheless has resulted in the deaths of an estimated 14,000 people.
What is Russia and Ukraine’s history?
Ukraine and Russia have a long, intertwined history. Many Ukrainian families have blood relatives in Russia and vice versa. The two peoples share religious beliefs and cultural traditions.
Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital city, was the founding seat of Kievan Rus’ from the 9th to the 13th century – the predecessor of the Russian tsarist empire.
In its later history, Ukraine was alternately part of the Russian Empire, an independent country and then part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
Ukraine declared itself an independent country in August of 1991. The Soviet Union collapsed in December of that same year. The Russian Federation, the successor to the Soviet Union, has viewed Ukraine as within its sphere of influence ever since.
What is NATO?
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is a political and military alliance among 30 European and North American countries.
It was founded in 1949 to counter the expanding influence of the Soviet Union after the end of World War II. After the fall of the USSR, former Warsaw Pact states such as Poland and Hungary joined NATO, thus shrinking the Russian sphere of influence.
Article 5 of the NATO treaty states that an attack on one member country is to be treated as an attack on every member country, binding every signatory to come to the defense of the attacked. This includes responses ranging from conventional military forces up to the use of nuclear weapons.
President Joe Biden has promised to “defend every inch” of NATO territory should Russia expand the scope of the conflict. He has also repeatedly stated that neither the United States nor NATO will send soldiers to fight on Ukraine’s behalf.
Three NATO members – the United States, the United Kingdom and France – are recognized nuclear weapon states.
Is Ukraine a NATO member state?
Ukraine is not a NATO member state but has been forging stronger ties with the organization since the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea and the beginning of the Donbas War.
United States special forces and military units of other NATO members have trained the Ukrainian Army.
A 2014 poll showed that nearly 50% of the Ukrainian public supported joining NATO. That percentage jumped up to about 69% in a 2020 poll. At the same time, Ukraine’s president began talks with NATO to join the alliance.
The expansion of NATO influence is one of the reasons Putin cited as justification for the invasion of Ukraine.
In the early days of the invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked NATO to grant emergency membership to his country. On March 15, he announced Ukraine will no longer seek NATO membership.
However, Zelenskyy on Feb. 28 signed the application for Ukraine to become an European Union member state. An overwhelming majority of EU members voted to advance Ukraine’s application, but full integration into the EU will take some time.
What has been the international response to the invasion?
The international response has largely followed the United States’ lead. According to a March 11 White House statement, over 30 countries have levied sanctions against Russia, including Switzerland, which traditionally maintained neutrality in international conflicts.
Germany halted the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea gas pipeline, which would have doubled the inflow of Russian gas into the country.
Collectively, the international community cut key Russian banks off from the SWIFT system, preventing those entities from making or receiving international payments.
The United States and other NATO countries have also been providing arms to Ukraine in the form of anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons.
Several NATO countries have shown interest in expanding their own military capabilities as they aid Ukraine. Both Germany and Poland have signed deals to buy American F-35 fighter jets and in mid-February the State Department approved a contract for Poland to buy 250 Abrams tanks.
The United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly voted to pass a non-binding resolution to condemn Russia’s invasion.
What effects are the sanctions having?
Since the first round of sanctions was imposed, the Russian ruble has severely depreciated in value. One U.S. dollar was worth the equivalent of about 120 rubles as of March 15.
Russia’s stock exchange has remained closed since the start of the invasion.
An International Monetary Fund official said that Russia defaulting on its sovereign debt is no longer “improbable.”
The sanctions target Putin and the oligarchs closest to him. Their assets, like private yacht and condo penthouses, are being seized and they are unable to leave Russia as all Russian planes have been banned from U.S. and EU airspace.
Private companies and athletic organizations have been moving their businesses out of Russia.
The Formula 1 racing championship canceled its Sochi Grand Prix. Numerous global firms, including McDonalds, Exxon, Ford Motor Co., Airbnb, Disney and Ikea, have suspended business in Russia.
What countries support Russia?
Despite the near-universal international condemnation of Russia, a handful of countries have stood behind Russia. Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea and Syria all voted against the UN resolution. Belarus allowed Russian forces to attack Ukraine from its territory.
China has remained on the sidelines of this conflict, walking a tightrope between the United States and Russia. While China has yet to publicly criticize Russia, it has called for hostilities to cease and peace talks to begin.
What is the status of the war?
It has been 20 days since the beginning of the Russian invasion and Ukraine has been holding its own. The Russian advance has stalled in many places, according to U.S. and international military and intelligence officials.
The quick lightning strikes Russian forces attempted in the early days of the war to either seize or destroy key objectives largely failed. The Russians still have not gained air superiority.
The anti-armor and anti-air missiles supplied to Ukraine by NATO countries have been extremely effective.
The exact number of Russian losses is hard to say with any accuracy, as reports vary wildly. The latest estimates from U.S. officials report Russia has lost up to 6,000 soldiers. As of March 16, Kyiv estimates over 13,800 Russian soldiers have been killed. And 430 tanks and 84 planes have been disabled. Little information has been published about Ukrainian losses.
The Russian military has been plagued by logistical, supply and strategic issues, according to western military analysts.
Undamaged Russian tanks have been found abandoned in fields because they ran out of fuel. Russian soldiers have reportedly been begging for food from Ukrainians. A picture of a Russian ration pack showed it had expired in 2015.
The Russians have seemingly changed their strategy from achieving military objectives to attempting to force submission through the general destruction of civilian infrastructure.
Residential neighborhoods, hospitals and utility providers have been targeted with weapons like cluster bombs – a type of munition whose use has been deemed a war crime because of their potential to cause widespread and indiscriminate casualties.
Who is Russia sending to fight?
Before the invasion began, the United States estimated Russia had amassed up to 190,000 soldiers on the Ukrainian border, along with tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, anti-aircraft defenses and all the necessary logistical support, including fuel and blood for field hospitals.
Since the invasion began, videos of captured Russian soldiers have been surfacing on social media. While unverified, the individual videos do share similar narratives.
The soldiers are often young men who claim to be conscripts. Many say they were told they were on training missions and weren’t told they were being sent to fight in Ukraine. Others say they were told the Ukrainians wanted the Russians to “liberate” them and expected to be welcomed with open arms.
The Russian government previously said there were no conscripts fighting in Ukraine. On March 9, the Kremlin acknowledged there were conscripts in Ukraine.
U.S. officials have recently said that Russia is recruiting mercenaries from countries like Syria and Libya. Estimates range up to 40,000 fighters.
What do Russian citizens think about the war?
Tens of thousands of Russian citizens have been protesting the war since its beginning in every major Russian city and around the world. Citizens, athletes and even a Russian oligarch with close ties to Putin have called for an end to the war.
The protests have been so widespread that Putin felt the need to criminalize repeated protesting and police have been diligently enforcing the law.
Videos of police in full riot gear dragging away protesters have plastered social media feeds. A 77-year-old woman who lived through the siege of Leningrad during the second world war was arrested for protesting the war.
Nearly all independent media in Russia has been shut down and social media such as Facebook and Twitter have been blocked by Russian authorities.
Who is fighting for Ukraine?
The Ukrainian regular Army numbered around 200,000 active personnel in 2016, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies. That made it the second largest army in Europe at the time, with Russia wielding the largest number of conventional forces.
At the time, the Ukrainian Army had been fighting Russian-backed separatists for two years and had undertaken a modernization program to bring its equipment in line with NATO standards by 2020.
An accurate count of the current number of personnel in the Ukrainian armed forces is hard to come by.
In the months leading up to the invasion, thousands of civilians enlisted in the army and even more received training in basic weapons handling. Videos of civilians making Molotov cocktails and home-brewed napalm have surfaced on social media.
In late February, Ukraine announced that males aged 18 to 60 would not be permitted to leave the country as long as martial law remained in effect.
Zelenskyy welcomed foreign nationals to fight for his country. According to Kyiv, over 20,000 personnel have enlisted in the Ukrainian Foreign Legion. These numbers have yet to be independently verified.
What are Ukrainian civilians doing?
Apart from those who have taken up arms, many Ukrainian civilians have sought shelter in their home cities.
In 2020, Ukraine had an estimated population of 44 million. On March 15, the International Organization for Migration – a UN agency – said more than 3 million people had fled the conflict to neighboring countries. This number includes foreign nationals living in Ukraine.
The UN Human Rights Office said on March 15 that at least 726 Ukrainian civilians have been confirmed dead and 1,174 have been injured. Other estimates are higher.
What is a NATO no-fly zone?
Zelenskyy asked NATO in early March to impose a no-fly zone over Ukrainian airspace. Since then it has become a popular talking point for media outlets and politicians.
Biden and other NATO leaders have repeatedly stated that NATO will not implement a no-fly zone, stating that it would cause an escalation in tensions between Russia and the alliance and a direct military confrontation could lead to World War III.
A no-fly zone means the military effectively closes an airspace with the threat of or use of force.
A NATO no-fly zone over Ukraine would mean Russian war planes would not be allowed to fly over Ukraine and thus prevented from conducting air strikes on military and civilian targets.
Note: Research for this story is based on readily available public information from government and non-government, non-partisan organizations, as well as international sources and media reporting.