The war in Ukraine did not actually begin in 2022
While the world watched the full-scale invasion of February 2022, the conflict had already been simmering for years. From the annexation of Crimea to the Donbas war, the roots of this European crisis stretch back to 2014 and the collapse of the Yanukovych government.
The current phase of the war, recognized as the largest conflict in Europe since World War II, began with Russia's full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022. However, historians and political scientists argue the war's origins lie much earlier. Many scholars point to the February 2014 Russian occupation of Crimea, specifically the 27 February storming of the Crimean parliament, as the true starting point. Others, like Professor Floribert Baudet, suggest Russia had been subverting Ukrainian sovereignty long before the 2014 annexation.
The path to conflict was paved by the Euromaidan protests and the Revolution of Dignity. In late 2013, President Viktor Yanukovych withdrew from a free trade agreement with the European Union following pressure from the Kremlin, sparking massive demonstrations in Kyiv. These protests culminated in the removal of Yanukovych in early 2014. Shortly after, unmarked Russian troops occupied Crimea, leading to its annexation following a controversial referendum. By April 2014, the conflict expanded into the Donbas region, where Russian-backed militants seized territory, establishing the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics.
The motivations behind the escalation are complex. Analysts suggest Russia sought to regain control over Ukraine, viewing a democratic Ukraine as a threat to its authoritarian regime. Additionally, a security dilemma emerged as Russia perceived NATO's eastward expansion as a threat. While the 2015 Minsk II agreements attempted to find a resolution, the conflict remained active, characterized by years of trench warfare and broken ceasefires, until the 2022 invasion fundamentally altered the scale of the violence.
Source: Russo-Ukrainian war
