Russia invades Ukraine Megathread III – Please be aware that individual posts are only allowed for major developments

Yesterday at 4 am CET, Russian troops have crossed into Ukraine at different sections of the border of Ukraine. Since then, there has been fighting in many parts of Ukraine. Russian troops are advancing in many parts of the country, but western military experts think that the advance is slower than Russia anticipated. Today, Russian troops entered the outskirts of Kiev, the Ukrainian capital.

The invasion was condemned by the west and the EU. The EU, Great Britain and the US have agreed to impose sanctions on Russia, however, sanctioning of Russian gas and removing russia from the SWIFT payment system were so far blocked by Germany, Italy and Hungary. Negotiations about the sanctions are ongoing. China has refused to criticise Russia for the invasion while Georgia has stated that it will not sanction Russia.

[CNN: The list of global sanctions on Russia for the war in Ukraine](https://edition.cnn.com/2022/02/25/business/list-global-sanctions-russia-ukraine-war-intl-hnk/index.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twCNNi&utm_content=2022-02-25T17%3A56%3A10&utm_term=link)

Ukraine has offered negotiations about becoming a neutral country. Russia says it is willing to negotiate but won’t enter negotiations until the Ukrainian troops put down their weapons, essentially asking for an unconditional surrender. More recently, Putin has asked the Ukrainian military to overthrow its government.

# You can find constant updates in this [live thread](https://www.reddit.com/live/18hnzysb1elcs)

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**Donations:**

If you want to donate to Ukraine, check [this thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/t03lml/want_to_support_ukraine_heres_a_list_of_charities/) or [this fundraising account by the Ukrainian national bank](https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/wiki/ukrainewar#wiki_donations).

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**Fleeing Ukraine**

We have set up a wiki page with the available information about the border situation for Ukraine [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/wiki/ukrainewar)

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**International Reactions:**

[USA](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/02/23/statement-by-president-biden-on-russias-unprovoked-and-unjustified-attack-on-ukraine/): *The prayers of the entire world are with the people of Ukraine tonight as they suffer an unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces. President Putin has chosen a premeditated war that will bring a catastrophic loss of life and human suffering. Russia alone is responsible for the death and destruction this attack will bring, and the United States and its Allies and partners will respond in a united and decisive way. The world will hold Russia accountable.*

[Ukraine](https://twitter.com/DmytroKuleba/status/1496695889401896964?s=20&t=D2k8Jg2_fYTRhp86xxoNoQ): *Putin has just launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Peaceful Ukrainian cities are under strikes. This is a war of aggression. Ukraine will defend itself and will win. The world can and must stop Putin. The time to act is now.*

[China](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/china-russia-ukraine-beijing-vladimir-putin-b2022168.html): *“China is closely following the latest developments,” Hua said. “We still hope that the parties concerned will not shut the door to peace and engage instead in dialogue and consultation and prevent the situation from further escalating,”*

[Germany](https://twitter.com/Bundeskanzler/status/1496730907704799233?s=20&t=AgFRwCmdssr74VDzxk4Wdw): *The Russian attack on Ukraine is a blatant violation of international law. There is no justification for it. Germany condemns this reckless act by President Putin in the strongest possible terms. Our solidarity is with Ukraine and its people. Russia must stop this military action immediately. Within the framework of the G7, Nato and the EU, we will coordinate closely today. This is a terrible day for Ukraine and a dark day for Europe.*

[France](https://twitter.com/EmmanuelMacron/status/1496740133965553664?s=20&t=5k09hHaFIzFE1otNoZOIkA): *La France condamne fermement la décision de la Russie de faire la guerre à l’Ukraine. La Russie doit mettre immédiatement fin à ses opérations militaires.*

[UK](https://twitter.com/BorisJohnson/status/1496709938973917186?s=20&t=5k09hHaFIzFE1otNoZOIkA): *I am appalled by the horrific events in Ukraine and I have spoken to President Zelenskyy to discuss next steps. President Putin has chosen a path of bloodshed and destruction by launching this unprovoked attack on Ukraine. The UK and our allies will respond decisively.*

[Portugal](https://twitter.com/govpt/status/1496826674197196803): *The President of the Portuguese Republic, in consonance with the Government, strongly condemns the flagrant violation of International Law by the Russian Federation and supports the declaration of the Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres, expressing total solidarity with the State and People of Ukraine*

[‘Dark day for Europe’: World leaders condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/24/leaders-of-us-uk-eu-and-canada-condemn-russian-invasion-on-ukraine.html)

**Background:**

In early 2014, unmarked Russian troops invaded Crimea, which was officially annexed by Russia after holding a referendum that is considered invalid by the global community due to voter intimidation, irregularities during the voting process, vote manipulation and other issues. To this day, the annexation of Crimea has not been recognized internationally. Following the annexation, Western powers have implemented sanctions against various sectors of the Russian economy, which were met by Russian counter-sanctions against western goods. More or less simultaneously, pro-Russian separatists, which are assumed to be backed by Russia, started an uprising in the Donbass region . Ever since, the separatists have been engaged in a civil war with the regular Ukrainian forces, aided by a steady supply of Russian equipment, mercenaries and official Russian troops. During the conflict, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down by a Russian BUK M1 missile over the conflict area which resulted in the death of 298 civilians. In 2014 and 2015, there were diplomatic attempts to curb the violence in the region through the ceasefire agreements in the protocol of Minsk and Minsk II, negotiated by Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France in the so-called “Normandy Format”. In early 2021, Russia amassed roughly 100,000 troops near the Ukrainian border, which were withdrawn after a while and ongoing diplomatic criticism by other countries. Since the end of 2021, Russia has started deploying troops to the Ukrainian border again. Currently, there are roughly 115,000 Russian soldiers at the Ukrainian border plus another 30,000 Russian soldiers which are currently conducting a joint exercise with Belarusian troops near the northern Ukrainian border. Western military experts estimate that Russia would need roughly 150,000 Troops to overwhelm the Ukrainian army and successfully annex most of Ukraine, including Kiev. After a few days of uncertainty, Russia decided to recognize the independence of the two breakaway regions and moved troops into the area.

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**Rule changes effective immediately:**

Since we expect a Russian disinformation campaign to go along with this invasion, we have decided to implement a set of rules to combat the spread of misinformation as part of a hybrid warfare campaign.

* No unverified reports of any kind in the comments. We will remove videos of any kind unless they are verified by reputable outlets. This also affects videos published by Ukrainian and Russian government sources.
* Absolutely no justification of this invasion.
* No gore
* No calls for violence against *anyone*. Calling for the killing of invading troops or leaders is allowed. The limits of international law apply.
* No hatred against any group, including the populations of the combatants

**Megathread:**

The discussion will remain contained to the Megathreads on this issue. We will replace and update them frequently. Individual posts on /r/europe will be allowed for the following cases:

* Major declarations by either conflict party
* Substantial military or diplomatic action by third countries
* Major human rights violations
* Occupation of major ukrainian cities (>1m pop)

We will allow absolutely no picture-only posts on this issue.

# Please obey the request of the Ukrainian government to [refrain from sharing info about Ukrainian troop movements](https://i.redd.it/5atggucaurj81.jpg)