The Russia-Ukraine conflict is an ongoing international armed conflict, or war, between the Russian Federation and Ukraine, which began in February 2014. The conflict originated following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity (Euromaidan), when Russia covertly invaded and subsequently annexed the Ukrainian autonomous republic of Crimea. The core problem driving the conflict is Russia's opposition to Ukraine's post-Soviet drift toward Western political and military blocs, particularly the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which Russia views as a threat to its sphere of influence.
The conflict has two main phases: the initial phase (2014–2022) involved the annexation of Crimea and the War in Donbas, where Russian-backed separatists seized territory in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. This phase was punctuated by ceasefire attempts, such as the Minsk Agreements of 2014 and 2015. The conflict escalated dramatically on February 24, 2022, when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which it termed a "special military operation".
A key recent change was Russia's illegal annexation of four partly-occupied Ukrainian oblasts—Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia—on September 30, 2022, following internationally unrecognized referendums. This action, which claims about 15% of Ukraine's territory, was condemned by the United Nations. The conflict connects to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has opened an investigation into alleged war crimes. The war has resulted in Russia becoming the most heavily sanctioned country globally, with Western nations providing extensive military and financial aid to Ukraine.