Ukraine and Russia have been fighting since 2014, when Russian forces invaded the Crimean Peninsula.
On March 18th, 2014, a referendum was held in Crimea. The results showed that 96% of voters were in favour of joining Russia. On March 21st, 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty with the de facto leaders of Crimea to annex the peninsula. This sparked a wave of protests in Ukraine and led to the country’s worst crisis since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Ukraine has been fighting with Russia ever since this annexation. The war began on April 6th, 2014, when pro-Russian separatists attacked Ukrainian military bases and occupied government buildings across several cities in eastern Ukraine. Since then, more than 10 000 people have died and more than 1 million have been displaced as a result of this conflict.
