Vladimir Putin’s invasion followed years of tension between Russia and Ukraine as Ukraine moved toward closer ties with the West, which Putin viewed as a threat to Russia’s influence. Between October and November 2021, he amassed troops and military equipment along Russia’s border with Ukraine and made various demands that were rejected, including de facto veto power over NATO expansion. On February 21, 2022, Putin recognized the independence of the separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk and ordered Russian troops into Ukrainian territory as “peacekeepers,” and on February 24 he launched a full-scale invasion that he called a “special military operation.”
Putin’s stated reasons for the invasion included the false claim that Ukraine was committing genocide against Russian speakers in the Donbas. Putin’s reasons were widely discredited internationally, and his invasion was instead seen as an attempt to reassert Russian influence over Ukraine and prevent its further integration with the European Union and NATO.