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Russian forces have slowly amassed control of areas north of Kyiv and Kharkiv, the Crimean Peninsula, and parts of Donetsk and Luhansk, according to the Institute for the Study of War. They’ve made attempts to encircle many major cities.
Ukraine is situated in eastern Europe and shares a border with Belarus, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, and Russia. The Russian attack has come from the South, in Crimea, from the East, in Russia, and from the North, in Russia and Belarus.
In 2014, pro-Russian separatists took control of parts of Luhansk and Donetsk in eastern Ukraine after Russian forces invaded and annexed the Crimean Peninsula. The conflict calmed down and flared up several times in the years since. The general line of control had, prior to the invasion, stood here.
On Monday, Putin recognized the Luhansk and Donetsk regions of Ukraine as independent states, ordering troops there for what he claimed was a peace-keeping operation in the east of the country.
Fewer than 72 hours later, Putin launched a full-scale attack on Ukraine.
Russia is invading Ukraine from multiple directions, according to reports from Ukrainian officials as well as press reports from Reuters, The New York Times, and Insider.
Over multiple months, Russia gathered its forces in Belarus, western Russia, and the Black Sea — a force the US estimated to be over 150,000 troops and with the vehicles, artillery, tanks, and field hospitals to launch a massive assault.
On February 24 and 25, 2022, Russian forces drove towards Ukraine’s capital city, Kyiv. There were missile strikes seen on video reports from the area, and officials reported troops were advancing toward the city of Chernihiv.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on February 24, 2022, that Russian forces attacked through the Chernobyl exclusion zone and had taken control of it. Zelensky also said that “enemy sabotage groups” had entered Kyiv.
The Associated Press reported Russian missile strikes across Ukraine, hitting regions that include the nation’s capital of Kyiv and the country’s second-largest city, Kharkiv.
There are 15 nuclear reactors inside Ukraine that are spread across four power stations.
On March 3, 2022, Russian troops seized control of Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant, Zaporizhzhia, which is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. It’s unclear if Russia aims to capture or attack Ukraine’s remaining nuclear power stations.
According to the UK Ministry of Defense, Russian forces were relatively far away from the other plants as of March 4, 2022.
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