On Feb 24, 2022, Russia began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the largest military attack on a European state since World War II. Journalism is the first rough draft of history, high school journalists know, and this war will mark our high school years.  We wanted to understand the historical context of this war–the relationship between Russia and Ukraine and the events that led up to this attack–so we created the following timeline.  

1. 1932-33 : A famine is caused by Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin’s policy of collectivization, a policy that requires that all production is led by the government, and kills millions of people, known as the breadbasket of the Soviet Union. The disaster is known as the Holodomor.

1. 1941-44 : In Sept. 1939, the Soviet Union invades Poland and occupies Galician lands, a historical region inhabited by Ukrainians. During the same time in World War II, the Soviet Union lost about 8.6 million combatants and around 18 million civilians, of which 6.8 million were Ukrainian. 

1. 1991 : The Soviet Union is disbanded via a treaty due to factors such as a weakened economy after World War II, weakened military, and public dissatisfaction. Ukraine becomes independent, promises to have fair elections, and begins a transition to a market economy and a democratic republic. 

1. 2010: The Kharkiv Pact is signed between Russia and Ukraine: Russia agrees to allow for a 30 percent drop in the price of natural gas sold to Ukraine in exchange for the extension of Russia’s use of a major naval base in the Black Sea. 

1. 2013 : In February, the Ukrainian government announced that it will suspend plans to sign an official agreement with the European Union. Ukrainians pour into the streets in protest–these protests have come to be known as the Maidan Revolution. Protesters believed that the Ukrainian president, Viktor Yanukovych, was trying to establish closer ties with Russia. 

1. 2014 : In February and March 2014, Russia invades and subsequently annexes the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. As a result of Russia’s illegal and illegitimate annexation of Crimea, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies decide to suspend all civilian and military cooperation with Russia Peninsula from the side of Ukraine.

1. 2015: The Minsk agreements, two international agreements which sought to end the war in the Donbas region of Ukraine, were signed on Sept. 5, 2014 in order to end the ongoing fighting and tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Both failed. The first agreement breaks down after the ceasefire is violated.  The second agreement breaks down because Russia does not believe the terms apply to them. As of 2022, Russia declares the agreements no longer exist.

1. 2017: The NotPetya ransomware cyberattack occurs. Computer systems, government, and financial/energy institutions in Ukraine have their data wiped and lost over $300 million. Other nations around the world become collateral damage and the US government states that it was part of Russia’s scheme to destabilize Ukraine.  

1. 2018: The US continues to impose new sanctions on Russian officials and companies in condemnation of the invasion of  Ukraine. The state department approves the sale of anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, which was the first sale of lethal weaponry since the conflict began. 

1. 2021 : In April, Russia sends about 100,000 troops to Ukraine’s borders, supposedly for military exercises. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, urges NATO leadership to place Ukraine on a timeline for membership. Later that month, Russia says it will withdraw the troops, but tens of thousands remain.