This timeline of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine covers the period from 24 February 2022, when Russia launched a military invasion of Ukraine, to 7 April 2022, when fighting focused away from the north and towards the south and east of Ukraine.
February 2022
24 February
Russian president Vladimir Putin announced his decision to launch a "special military operation" in eastern Ukraine. He stated there were no plans to occupy Ukrainian territory and that he supported the right of the peoples of Ukraine to self-determination. Putin also stated that Russia sought the "demilitarisation and denazification" of Ukraine, and that "all responsibility for possible bloodshed will be entirely on the conscience of the regime ruling on the territory of Ukraine." The Russian Ministry of Defence asked air traffic control units of Ukraine to stop flights, and Ukrainian airspace was deemed an active conflict zone by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, restricting civilian air traffic.
Within minutes of Putin's announcement, explosions were reported in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, and the Donbas. Ukrainian officials said that Russian troops had landed in Mariupol and Odesa, and launched cruise and ballistic missiles at airfields, military headquarters, and military depots in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Dnipro. Military vehicles entered Ukraine through Senkivka, where Ukraine meets Belarus and Russia. A video captured Russian troops entering Ukraine from Russian-annexed Crimea.
The Kremlin planned initially to target artillery and missiles at command and control centres and then send fighter jets and helicopters to quickly gain air superiority. The Center for Naval Analyses said that Russia would create a pincer movement to encircle Kyiv and envelop Ukraine's forces in the east, with the Center for Strategic and International Studies identifying three axes of advance: from Belarus in the north, from Donetsk in the center, and from Crimea in the south. The US said it believed that Russia intended to "decapitate" Ukraine's government and install its own, and US intelligence officials believed that Kyiv would fall within 96 hours.
Russian forces began invading near Kharkiv, and large-scale amphibious landings were reported in Mariupol. Troops also entered the country from Belarus. The Ukrainian Border Force reported attacks on Luhansk Oblast, Sumy Oblast, Kharkiv Oblast, Chernihiv Oblast, and Zhytomyr Oblast, as well as from Crimea. The Ukrainian interior ministry reported that Russian forces had captured the villages of Horodyshche and Milove in Luhansk. The Ukrainian Centre for Strategic Communication reported that the Ukrainian army had repelled an attack at Shchastia (near Luhansk) and retaken control of the town, claiming nearly 50 Russian lives.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy proclaimed martial law the night of the invasion. He also broke off Russia–Ukraine relations, effective immediately. Russian missiles targeted Ukrainian infrastructure, including Boryspil International Airport, Ukraine's largest airport, east of Kyiv.
A briefing by the Ukrainian presidential administration reported that Russian troops had invaded Ukraine from the north (up to south of the border), and Russian troops were active in Kharkiv Oblast, Chernihiv Oblast, and near Sumy. The press briefing also reported that Ukraine had repulsed an attack in Volyn Oblast. The Ukrainian Defence Ministry reported that they had stopped Russian troops in Chernihiv Oblast, a major battle near Kharkiv was in progress, and Mariupol and Shchastia had been fully retaken.
In the Battle of Antonov Airport, Russian airborne troops seized Hostomel Airport in Hostomel, a suburb of Kyiv, arriving in helicopters early in the morning; a Ukrainian counteroffensive to recapture the airport launched later in the day. The Rapid Response Brigade of the Ukrainian National Guard stated that it had fought at the airfield, shooting down three of 34 Russian helicopters.
Belarus allowed Russian troops to invade Ukraine from the north, at 11:00 (UTC+2). Ukrainian border guards reported a border breach in Vilcha (Kyiv Oblast), and border guards in Zhytomyr Oblast were bombarded by Russian rocket launchers. A helicopter without markings reportedly bombed border posts in Slavutych from Belarus. A second wave of Russian missile bombings targeted the cities of Kyiv, Odesa, Kharkiv, and Lviv. Heavy ground fighting was reported in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.
Russian troops advancing from Crimea moved towards the city of Nova Kakhovka in Kherson Oblast. Later that day, Russian troops entered the city of Kherson and took control of the North Crimean Canal, which allowed them to resume water supply to the peninsula.
Ukrainian border guards and Armed Forces reported two new clashes near Sumy ("in the direction of Konotop") and Starobilsk in Luhansk Oblast. Valerii Zaluzhnyi reported four ballistic missiles launched from Belarus in a southwestern direction. Several stations of the Kyiv Metro and Kharkiv Metro were used as bomb shelters for the local population. A local hospital in Vuhledar (Donetsk Oblast) was reportedly bombed, with four civilians dead and 10 wounded, including six physicians.
Zelenskyy said that fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces had erupted in the ghost cities of Chernobyl and Pripyat. The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant came under Russian control, as well as the surrounding areas.
Vitali Klitschko, mayor of Kyiv, proclaimed a curfew from 22:00 to 07:00.
The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine announced that Russian forces had captured Snake Island following naval and air bombardment. All thirteen border guards on the island were assumed to have been killed, after refusing to surrender to a Russian warship and a recording of the guards refusing an offer to surrender went viral on social media. Zelenskyy announced that they would be posthumously granted the title of Hero of Ukraine, the country's highest honour. Seventeen civilians were confirmed killed, including thirteen killed in Southern Ukraine, three in Mariupol, and one in Kharkiv. Zelenskyy said that 137 Ukrainian citizens (both soldiers and civilians) died on the first day of the invasion, whilst claiming that over 1,000 Russian soldiers had also been killed in the same period. He ordered a general mobilisation of all Ukrainian males between 18 and 60 years old, who were also banned from leaving Ukraine.
25 February
At 04:00 local time, Kyiv was rocked by two explosions from cruise and ballistic missiles. The Ukrainian government said that it had shot down an enemy aircraft over Kyiv, which crashed into a residential building, setting it on fire. Ukraine's Deputy Interior Minister Evgeny Yenin later clarified Russia had shot down a Sukhoi Su-27 aircraft, part of Ukraine's military.
Independent military analysts noted that Russian forces in the north of the country appeared to be heavily engaged by the Ukrainian military. Russian units attempting to encircle Kyiv and advance into Kharkiv were bogged down in heavy fighting, with social media images suggesting that some Russian armoured columns were ambushed.
Russian operations in the east and south were more effective. The Russian units outside Donbas appeared to have manoeuvred around the prepared defensive trenches and attacked Ukrainian defensive positions in the rear. Meanwhile, Russian military forces advancing from Crimea divided into two columns, with analysts suggesting that they may have been attempting to encircle and entrap the Ukrainian defenders at Donbas, forcing the Ukrainians to abandon their prepared defences and fight in the open.
Zelenskyy accused Russia of targeting civilian sites; Ukrainian Interior Ministry representative Vadym Denysenko said that 33 civilian sites had been hit in the previous 24 hours.
Ukraine's Defence Ministry stated that Russian forces had entered Obolon, Kyiv, and were approximately from the Verkhovna Rada building, seat of the parliament of Ukraine. Russia's Spetsnaz troops infiltrated the city with the intention of "hunting" government officials. An unmarked armored vehicle was filmed veering across a road and crushing a civilian car in northern Kyiv. Although widely captioned as the act of a Russian tank, experts suggested it was unclear who operated the military vehicle or why the incident occurred. The civilian driving the car, an elderly man, survived and was helped out by locals.
The mayor of Horlivka in the Russian-backed Donetsk People's Republic said that the Ukrainian military had hit a local school building, killing two teachers.
As Russian troops approached Kyiv, Zelenskyy posted a video of him still being in Kyiv and in another asking residents to prepare any means, like Molotov cocktails, to "neutralise" the enemy. Putin, meanwhile, called on the Ukrainian military to overthrow the government. Ukraine distributed 18,000 guns to Kyiv residents who expressed a willingness to fight and deployed the Territorial Defence Forces, the reserves of the Ukrainian military, to defend Kyiv. The Defence Ministry also announced that all Ukrainian civilians were eligible to volunteer for military service regardless of their age.
By the evening, the Pentagon stated that Russia had not established air supremacy over Ukrainian airspace, as US analysts had predicted. Ukrainian air defence capabilities had been degraded by Russian attacks, but remained operational. Military aircraft from both nations continued to fly over Ukraine. The Pentagon also said that Russian troops were not advancing as quickly as either US intelligence or Moscow had believed they would, that Russia had not taken any population centres, and that Ukrainian command and control was still intact. The Pentagon warned that Russia had sent into Ukraine only 30 percent of the 150,000–190,000 troops it had massed at the border.
Reports circulated of a Ukrainian missile attack against the Millerovo air base in Russia, to prevent the base from being used to provide air support to Russian troops in Ukraine.
Zelenskyy said that the Ukrainian government was not "afraid to talk about neutral status." On the same day, President Putin indicated to Xi Jinping, the Chinese paramount leader and general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, that "Russia is willing to conduct high-level negotiations with Ukraine".
The Federated States of Micronesia severed diplomatic relations with Russia due to the invasion, becoming the second country, after Ukraine, to do so.
26 February
Heavy fighting was reported overnight to the south of Kyiv, near Vasylkiv and its air base. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that a Ukrainian Su-27 fighter had shot down a Russian Il-76 transport plane carrying paratroopers near the city. Vasylkiv mayor Natalia Balasinovich said her city was successfully defended by Ukrainian forces and fighting was ending.
More than 48 explosions in 30 minutes were reported around Kyiv, as the Ukrainian military was reported to be fighting near the CHP-6 power station in the northern neighbourhood of Troieshchyna. BBC News reported that the attack might have been an attempt to cut off electricity to the city. Heavy fighting was reported near the Kyiv Zoo and the Shuliavka neighbourhood. The Ukrainian military said it repelled a Russian attack on an army base on Peremohy Avenue, a main road in Kyiv; it also said it repelled a Russian assault on Mykolaiv on the Black Sea. American officials said a Russian Il-76 transport plane was shot down by Ukrainian forces near Bila Tserkva, about south of Kyiv. US officials stated that American intelligence data, shared with Ukrainian forces in real-time, helped to down the Il-76. Zelenskyy, remaining in Kyiv, refused US offers of evacuation, instead requesting more ammunition for Ukrainian troops.