Who really "started" the Ukraine - Russia conflict, going through history?
Executive summary
The immediate large-scale fighting began when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 — an escalation of a conflict that Western and many international outlets trace back to Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and support for separatists in Donbas [1] [2]. Reporting and timelines show competing narratives: Western and Ukrainian sources call Russia the aggressor from 2014 onward [1] [2]; Russian officials frame later operations as responses to security threats and Western policy, a line visible in state commentary and diplomatic statements cited in contemporary coverage [3] [4].
1. The clear turning point: Russia’s full‑scale invasion in 2022
Most mainstream reporting treats 24 February 2022 as the moment the conflict entered a new phase: a large‑scale, conventional invasion that created “the deadliest war on European soil in more than 70 years” and dramatically expanded fighting beyond eastern Ukraine [2] [5]. Analysts and news outlets use 2022 to mark the escalation from the prior, lower‑intensity war and to count subsequent occupation and territorial figures — for example, estimates that Russian forces occupied about 19.2% of Ukraine’s territory as of December 2025 [2] [6].
2. Roots in 2014: Crimea and Donbas as the conflict’s seed
Multiple outlets and timelines identify Russia’s 2014 actions as the origin point of the Russo‑Ukrainian dispute in its modern form: the annexation of Crimea and Moscow’s backing of armed separatists in Donbas launched an enduring confrontation over territory, governance and international alignments [1]. Those 2014 events prompted Ukraine to abandon neutrality and reorient its foreign policy, a change highlighted in background reporting and encyclopedic timelines [7].
3. Competing narratives and diplomatic framing
Contemporary reporting documents starkly different storylines. Western and Ukrainian coverage presents Russia as the aggressor responsible for annexation, proxy warfare and the 2022 invasion [1] [2]. Russian state commentary and some Kremlin officials, reflected in diplomatic reporting, deny simple culpability and cast actions as responses to perceived NATO expansion or security threats; this positioning appears routinely in campaign assessments and diplomatic summaries [3] [4]. Available sources do not provide a single neutral arbitration of which narrative is “true”; they instead record each side’s stated motives [3] [4].
4. Timeline evidence and casualty/occupation metrics
Chronologies and investigative reporting give concrete markers: from skirmishes and separatist‑era fighting before 2022 to the wholesale invasion in Feb. 2022 and sustained warfare through 2025. By late 2025 outlets reported heavy casualties, large‑scale displacement, and occupation of roughly 115–116 thousand square kilometers (about 19% of Ukraine) under Russian control — figures documented in report compilations and news summaries [6] [2]. These metrics anchor the argument that the conflict intensified decisively in 2022 even as its roots go to 2014 [1] [6].
5. Why “who started it” is both political and historiographical
As the sources show, answering “who started it” depends on whether one identifies the conflict with the 2014 annexation and proxy war period or with the 2022 full‑scale invasion. Major Western outlets and academic summaries consistently attribute the start of the modern war to Russia’s actions in 2014 and to the 2022 invasion as a dramatic escalation [1] [2]. Russian official messaging presents a counterfactual justification focused on security concerns and Western policy — a competing viewpoint recorded in campaign and diplomatic reporting [3] [4].
6. What reporting does not settle, and why that matters
Available sources document events, dates and official statements but do not — and cannot — produce a legal or moral adjudication of ultimate blame beyond reporting each side’s claims [3] [4]. They do show that from 2014 onward the conflict was already active and that in 2022 it transformed into a large‑scale war with wide humanitarian and territorial consequences [1] [2]. Readers should note that state narratives often serve political agendas: territorial claims and security rationales appear repeatedly in Kremlin statements, while Western outlets highlight annexation and violations of sovereignty [3] [1].
7. Bottom line for readers
If “started” means the first major break with the post‑Cold‑War order, many mainstream accounts point to Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and the Donbas interventions as the origin [1]. If it means the onset of full‑scale, Europe‑wide war, sources converge on Russia’s 24 February 2022 invasion as the decisive start of the current, much larger conflict [2] [5]. Available sources do not attempt a single moral verdict beyond reporting facts, timelines and each side’s framing [3] [4].