Axios Explains: Ukraine
Updated 4 hours ago - World
People hold a huge Ukrainian flag while attending a march on the country's Independence Day in Krakow, Poland on Aug. 24, 2022. Photo: Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images
The latest:
- Zelensky: At least 22 killed on Ukraine's Independence Day
- Boris Johnson makes surprise Kyiv visit on Ukraine's Independence Day
- In photos: Ukraine marks six months of war on independence day
- Majority of Americans say U.S. should back Ukraine until Russia withdraws
- U.S. announces $3B in aid as Ukraine marks 6 months of war
- Russian oligarch superyacht sold at auction in Gibraltar
- U.S. warns Russia "stepping up efforts" against civilians in Ukraine
- First seized superyacht to be sold at auction
- Putin agreed to IAEA mission to Ukraine nuclear plant, Macron's office says
How we got here:
- The crisis in eastern Ukraine escalated drastically on Feb. 21 when Putin recognized two pro-Russian separatist "republics" and sent Russian "peacekeepers" to the territories.
- Ukraine has been battling Russian-backed separatists in the east since 2014, when Russia also occupied and annexed the Crimean Peninsula. U.S. officials began warning in November that Putin could be planning another incursion, possibly to topple the pro-Western government in Kyiv.
- The U.S. and its European allies had met with Russian officials in a variety of settings to try to build a diplomatic off-ramp, while also warning that an invasion could be imminent.
- Russia had issued a series of demands, including a legal guarantee that Ukraine will never join NATO. At the same time, Putin amassed more than 150,000 troops along Ukraine's borders and conducted unprecedented military drills — preparing the option to take military action if Russia didn't secure the concessions it was seeking.
Axios explains Ukraine:
- What counts as a war crime and why they're so hard to prosecute
- Why Ukraine wants a no-fly zone — but is unlikely to get one
- The "kamikaze" drones the U.S. is giving to Ukraine
- What Russia's war in Ukraine means for global economic growth
- What global companies are abandoning Russia, and why
- Divesting from Russia is easier said than done
- How Russia's invasion of Ukraine is changing air travel
- What to know about Ukraine's wartime president
- Why SWIFT matters to Russia
- Here are the Russian oligarchs speaking out against invading Ukraine
- Economic warfare's collateral damage
- Why it's so hard to quit Russian energy
- Why gas prices are so high and what Biden can do about it
