War in Ukraine Why did Russia invade and whats happening now BBC Newsround

"In the short term," says Brig Ben Barry from the International Institute for Strategic Studies, "a successful Russian seizure of Kyiv would be a military and political success with strategic impact. They have been offered the opportunity to live in other countries like Germany, France, Poland and the UK, with a chance of safety, food, healthcare and education for young people. Since the invasion, the price of everyday items across the world has increased. This is because many countries are no longer using gas supplied by Russia, so there is greater demand and a higher cost for gas supplied from other places. Countries around Europe along with the United States, have also put significant limits on Russian trade and supplies, (called sanctions) with the aim of forcing Putin to stop his actions.

Meanwhile Russia's currency, the rouble, fell to an all-time low against the dollar and the euro. https://ambitious-camel-g3r4ks.mystrikingly.com/blog/ukraine-crisis-whats-at-stake-for-the-uk-22288706-6813-4fe5-bd2b-08fc522cf5ba were out on the streets last night in this city - they were waving the Ukrainian flag. They said this was their land. They were going nowhere," she reported. Russia has begun a large-scale military attack on Ukraine, its southern neighbour, on the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He said Russia was a "proud nation, and we love our country. We have not any other motherland, and we must protect it." Tyab asked the lawmaker, Popov, it the invasion had been worth it, given the loss of life and the international condemnation and sanctions Russia is now experiencing.

Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 698

A bus service has started up connecting the city to the local cemetery where growing numbers of soldiers killed in Ukraine are being buried. In Pskov, near the Estonian and Latvian borders, the atmosphere is gloomy and everyone pretends the war has nothing to do with them, I am told. If they are troubled by Russia bombing a city where many have friends and relatives, then they're trying not to show it. But surrounded by reminders of Russia's often relentlessly violent past I felt war was now inevitable. My daily walks were my way of saying goodbye to a world, and perhaps even a country, that could never be the same again.

On 24 February 2022, Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered his army to forcefully cross the border and invade neighbouring Ukraine. The situation in Ukraine is often fast moving and it is likely there will be times when there have been changes not reflected in the maps. To indicate which parts of Ukraine are under control by Russian troops we are using daily assessments published by the Institute for the Study of War with the American Enterprise Institute's Critical Threats Project.

Explosion at Kyiv TV tower leave five dead

However in Russian media there has been no mention of the thousands of arrested protesters, or of the many more who took to the streets in support of Ukraine. Last week the Kremlin sent out letters to ten publications, warning them not to use the words "invasion," "attack" or "declaration of war" in their coverage. Ukraine's armed forces have been fighting against the Russian military for a year now, and countries around the the world have been supporting Ukraine by supplying weapons and armed vehicles, such as tanks, to defend themselves.

• But clashes have also been taking place around Kyiv and the Black Sea port cities of Odesa and Mariupol.









• As the brutal war in Ukraine continues, many people inside Russia are hearing and seeing a very different narrative, one where words such as war or invasion do not exist.









• After eight years of fighting a Russian-backed breakaway insurgency in the east of their country they are now watching it being shelled, bombed and rocketed by their giant nuclear-armed neighbour.

A U.S. official told CBS News on Wednesday that between 5,000 and 6,000 Russian troops may already have been killed since fighting began in Ukraine on February 24. "You keep referring to it as a military operation, but this is an invasion, this is a war," Tyab challenged Popov. "Our government tells us that [the] military operation is going pretty well," he said.

War in Ukraine: More coverage

The gloves are off, the pretences dropped, diplomacy is dead - at least for now. Ukraine is under full-scale Russian invasion and is fighting for its very survival. It is not clear exactly how many refugees have travelled to the UK, but recent government figures show around 160,000 Ukrainian refugees have officially settled here.

In recent days, US President Joe Biden made a significant visit to the capital Kyiv, showing his full support for Ukraine and President Zelensky. When they first invaded, Russia's bigger and more powerful army was expected to have a much greater impact, but so far, the Ukrainian forces have managed to push them back in lots of areas. It is very hard to measure the total impact the war has had, but there have been many casualties and parts of the country will need totally rebuilding. However, power lines are often damaged during air strikes and electricity blackouts are common. For millions of children, staying in their home towns was not possible due to the Russian invasion. One year later, the war is still going on, and millions of children have been affected, with homes, public facilities and school buildings destroyed.

• Many people in Ukraine want the country to join Nato to avoid being dominated by Russia.









• Moscow recently made it a crime to spread what it calls false information about Russia's armed forces or to denigrate Russian soldiers in any way.









• “Not just us but all of Europe is living on this credit.” She added, “I want to mark my position as someone lacking objectivity.









• The Ukraine government is working with other nations, including the UK, to try to help young people continue their education as much as possible.









• On the next block, fragments had struck the façade of a neoclassical building that once housed Ukraine’s first sovereign Congress, during a previous, short-lived attempt at independence, just before the country’s absorption by the Soviet Union.

This could see states like Poland and the Baltics decide to aid Ukraine on their own, which "might leave NATO's eastern front vulnerable and cause a crisis within the EU and European NATO". "The nightmare scenario would be that the states close to Russia double down on aid to Ukraine while those farther west decide to force a deal on Putin's terms. Then Europe itself could fracture," he says. European countries have largely outsourced much of their military capacity and thinking on strategy and security to the States through NATO. A senior European Union official has denied that member states are discussing financial coercion to force Hungary to agree on financing for Ukraine.

• "Iran's allies and proxies have been undeterred by the huge show of US force in the region - if anything the warships and aircraft carriers have acted as a magnet for attack.









• Opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who has been serving prison time since 2021 after leading street protests and starting a nationwide opposition movement, was recently moved to a penal colony in Russia's far north.









• Western powers are unwilling to send troops to fight in the conflict but have sought to make the Kremlin’s actions unsustainable with tough economic punishments.









• So at a recent gathering in Vilnius, a slogan on stage called on those abroad to "be brave, like Ukraine", but the mood was subdued with a hint of helplessness.

Perhaps most significant is the activity around Avdiivka, a strategically important town on the front line in eastern Ukraine. Russia has also made advances north east of Kupiansk, north of Bakhmut, and south west of Avdiivka, according to the latest ISW assessment. The village of Robotyne in the Zaporizhzhia region could offer a similar stepping stone but Russian forces are reported to have made some advances in the area. Ukraine first announced it had made a breakthrough in mid-November - the river had separated Ukrainian and Russian forces since Moscow's troops withdrew from Kherson a year ago. A source familiar with the situation said the drone fell at about 7am local time but had not affected fuel output.

• Resistance has already begun, with a nationwide call-up of men of fighting age and 18,000 automatic weapons being handed out to the citizens of Kyiv, in addition to the uniformed army and reserves who are already putting up stiff resistance.









• "Nothing is inevitable, but the Ukraine invasion in particular has shown that Russia sees war as an instrument of policy, as a tool to change the world order in its favour, and not simply as a means of defence.









• Lithuania will consider cases individually, but the prime minister clarified that it was "not the duty of other countries to save Russians fleeing mobilisation".









• The fact that the majority of Russians tune in to TV news means they are inclined to at least hear the Kremlin's message - and possibly believe it.









• "In the short term," says Brig Ben Barry from the International Institute for Strategic Studies, "a successful Russian seizure of Kyiv would be a military and political success with strategic impact.









• Many who study and report on Russia, me included, believe a small percentage of people actively support the war, and a small percentage actively oppose it.

Lithuania will consider cases individually, but the prime minister clarified that it was "not the duty of other countries to save Russians fleeing mobilisation". Protesters came out in several cities shouting "no to war!" and even "Putin to the trenches!". More than a thousand people were detained and some were then served with call-up papers at the police station. Among the most prominent outlets are the Meduza and Mediazona websites - both have been blocked in Russia and both are labelled as "foreign agents" by the Russian government.