The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has now lasted 180 days. The footsteps of the war began to be heard after Russian forces massed on the Ukrainian border last year. Satellite images showed that 100,000 Russian soldiers, along with tanks and military equipment, had gathered at the border by the end of 2021. On February 21, the Moscow administration recognized Luhansk and Donetsk, two pro-Russian separatist regions in eastern Ukraine, as “independent states” and sent troops to the region as part of “peacekeeping operations”. On February 24, by order of Russian President Vladimir Putin, attacks against Ukraine began under the name of “military operation”.
Most of the fighting in recent months has concentrated on the eastern and southern fronts around Kharkiv, Sievierodonetsk and Izium, and in Mykolaiv, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia where the feared nuclear power plant is located. While Russian forces attempt to advance in Donetsk, Ukrainian forces continue their fight to retake territory in Kherson.
A third of Ukrainians have had to leave their homes since the start of the war. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there are 6,657,918 refugees across Europe and about 7 million internally displaced refugees in Ukraine.