The international delegation, headed by Ana Lucía Bueno, ICRC Public Health Coordinator, and Sujit Panda, Head of the Physical Rehabilitation…
On 19 February 2014, the Russian Federation, grossly violating international law, launched a military operation against Ukraine.
The aggressor’s first actions were the occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. From this moment, the invasion of Russian troops onto Ukrainian territory began.
These events marked the start of Russia’s prolonged war against Ukraine, which continues to this day. The official name of this armed conflict is the War for Ukraine’s Independence.
In an exclusive commentary for ArmiaInform, Vladlen Maraiev, a senior researcher of the Research Center for Humanitarian Issues of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Candidate of Historical Sciences, and co-author and host of the popular science YouTube channel “History Without Myths”, emphasized the importance of paying attention to this date.
“The beginning of the armed aggression and the war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine remains in the shadows. Whether we want it or not, for most Ukrainians the war that drastically changed their lives began in February 2022. Only a minority was actively involved in the events of 2014–2022”, — he noted.
Despite this, attention to the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine specifically in February 2014 is extremely important for many reasons.
Foremost, in recognition of the heroic actions of those Ukrainian patriots — military personnel, volunteers, and activists — who decisively defended the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian state.
They protected Ukraine at a critical moment and won Ukrainians the time and opportunity to prepare for the full-scale aggression of the Russian Federation, which began on 24 February 2022.
“This ‘remaining in the shadows’ of the beginning of Russia’s war against Ukraine is extremely unfair to that proactive minority who stood up to defend Ukraine as early as 2014 and thwarted Russia’s plan to spread aggression across the entire country. Let me remind you that in 2014 there were attempts to proclaim a ‘Kharkiv People’s Republic,’ a ‘Kyiv People’s Republic’, and to detach all of eastern and southern Ukraine under the guise of the so-called ‘Novorossiya’”, — the expert pointed out.
Thus, attention to the fact that the Russian Federation launched armed aggression and started a war against the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian state already in February 2014 is crucial.
“The first act of aggression — occupation and annexation — of Ukrainian territory by Russia occurred not in 2022 but in February–March 2014 in Crimea.
The first casualties of the war died in Crimea during its occupation (Reshat Ametov, Serhii Kokurin, Stanislav Karachevskyi). Therefore, given all this, it is necessary at all levels to remind and promote the assertion that the war began precisely in February 2014. This is the responsibility of both the state and independent media”, — emphasized Vladlen Maraiev.
On 21 August 2025, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted Law No. 4579-IX “On the Fundamentals of State Policy of National Memory of the Ukrainian People.”
It states:
“The War for Independence of Ukraine is the struggle for the independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and inviolability of Ukraine against the aggression of the Russian Federation, which began on 19 February 2014.
The war resulted from the consistent Russian imperial policy aimed at denying and destroying Ukrainian statehood and the identity of the Ukrainian people.
It encompasses the temporary occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol by the Russian Federation; the resistance to aggression through an anti-terrorist operation; the implementation of measures to ensure national security and defense; the repulsion and containment of armed aggression of the Russian Federation in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
It also includes all actions necessary to defend Ukraine, protect the safety of the population, and safeguard the interests of the state in connection with the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine”.
