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UKRAINE WAR

A brief timeline
February: Russian forces march into Ukraine from the north, in an attempt to gain control of Kyiv and with the intention of overthrowing the Ukrainian government. Contrary to the expectations of many people, Ukrainian resistance stops Russia. Russian troops also face logistical challenges, according to an assessment by several non-Russian analysts.
March: Russian forces move into Ukraine from the South and take control of Kherson. The goal is to gain control of Russia’s Black Sea Coast, and to make Ukraine a land-locked nation. Kherson became the first and only regional capital to be captured by Russian forces.
April: Russia begins an offensive to take control of Donetsk and Luhansk, two territories which have witnessed conflict since 2014. The majority of people in these provinces are Russian by ethnicity and Moscow believes they want to be with Russia.
May: Russian forces start an operation to take control of Mariupol. Mariupol suffers heavy artillery bombing, resulting in the death of numerous civilians. After heavy urban warfare in the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works Plant, Ukrainian fighters surrender to Russian forces.
June: Ukrainian forces regain control of Snake Island, which is a tiny island in the Black Sea, near the Ukrainian port city of Odesa. Odessa is an important industrial hub as it supplies neon gas to numerous countries, which is essential in semiconductor manufacturing. After recapturing Snake Island, the morale of the Ukrainians goes up.
July: Russia starts heavy artillery bombardment, targeting eastern Ukraine. Lysychansk, which was the last city in Luhansk under the control of Ukrainians, finally falls to Russia. Moscow attempts to gain control of Donbas but makes little progress.
August: Ukraine finally launches its much-awaited counter-offensive. The counter-offensive was expected to be directed towards Kherson, which is in southern Ukraine, but Ukrainian forces launched a surprise counter-offensive in northeastern Ukraine, towards the Kharkiv region. Russian forces are caught by surprise and they start pulling back without putting up a fight.
September: The surprise Ukrainian counter-offensive directed towards Kharkiv succeeds. Ukrainian forces recapture major chunks of the Kharkiv oblast, including the strategically important city of Izium, which is a key logistics hub. Russia starts partial mobilisation, to boost the number of soldiers at the front. Russian President Vladimir Putin formally annexes four occupied regions of Ukraine — Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia.
October: After the attack on the Crimean bridge, which connects the Crimean peninsula with the Russian mainland, Russian forces start bombing cities across Ukraine. The goal of the bombardments is to damage Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, such as power grids and water storage facilities. Russian forces rely on Iranian Shahed drones, to carry out the strikes, as per the analysis of western intelligence agencies.
November: Russian forces start retreating from Kherson. General Sergey Shoygu, the Russian defence minister, states in a televised address that protecting the lives of Russian soldiers is important, adding that Kherson is not defensible. Some reports in American publications such as the Washington Post claim that the US administration is urging Ukraine to consider negotiation with Russia.
December: Russia intensifies attack on Ukrainian power grid leaving millions without power as winter sets in. EU agrees a price cap for natural gas in the bloc. Russia bans oil sales to countries and companies that comply with a price cap agreed by Western nations. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky secures $45 billion in aid for Ukraine in a half-day visit to Washington. President Biden vows to support “as long it takes”. Several Western leaders fear that the war in Ukraine may not end soon.