The following is a list of events from the year 2022 in Ukraine.
This year most notably saw the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine to the north in the Chernihiv, Kyiv, and Zhytomyr Oblasts, from the east into the Donetsk, Kharkiv, Luhansk, and Sumy Oblasts, and from the previously occupied Crimea to the south into the Kherson, Mykolaiv, and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts. Ukraine's refusal to surrender its capital and support from its allies led to Russia withdrawing from its northern occupied territories in April, and successful Ukrainian eastern and southern counteroffensives in September and November which largely stabilized the frontline.
The war continued into the following year primarily in the Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson Oblasts, despite an internationally condemned and widely unrecognized Russian referendum annexing the oblasts in September.
Incumbents President: Volodymyr Zelenskyy Prime Minister: Denys Shmyhal
Governors
Events Ongoing – COVID-19 pandemic in Ukraine; Russian invasion of Ukraine
January
January – 2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis 17 January – Former president Petro Poroshenko, filed his appeal to the court after he was appread by his scandals during his term and the Euromaidan protest.
February
14 February – German chancellor Olaf Scholz met with President Zelenskyy in Kyiv, and with Russian president Putin in Moscow to attempt to ease the crisis in Ukraine. 19 February – 2022 Russia-Ukraine clash accusations. 21 February – Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a decree recognising the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics in eastern Ukraine, and ordered Russian forces to enter Ukraine.Putin orders troops into eastern Ukraine on ‘peacekeeping duties’ The Guardian, 2022-02-21.Putin signs decree recognising Ukraine's two breakaway territories The Guardian, 2022-02-21. 24 February (Day 1 of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine) Explosions from Russian rocket strikes were heard throughout the country, especially in and around Kyiv. The Ukrainian Defense Minister claimed Ukraine had inflicted 800 casualties among Russian forces, destroyed 30 Russian tanks, 7 Russian aircraft, and 6 helicopters. This claim remained unverified. US president Joe Biden and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced the deployment of an additional 7,000 troops to Germany from the US to support NATO allies amid the crisis. 25 February (Day 2) The European Union announced new sanctions on Russia targeting the country's financial, energy, and transport sectors, visa policy, and include export controls and export financing bans in response to the invasion. The sanctions were targeted to have "maximum impact on the Russian economy and political elite" according to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at a joint news conference with French president Emmanuel Macron. A video of a Russian T-72B3 tank with a Z painted on the front raised the flag of the Soviet Union as it entered Ukraine. While certainly a statement, the flag was more likely was there to "reduce the risk of friendly fire," especially from the air, according to a source in Kyiv. 26 February (Day 3) – Artem Datsishin, a ballet dancer of Ukraine's National Opera House, was injured by Russian shelling and later died in the hospital. 28 February (Day 5) – The first instance of a Ukrainian farmer towing away a Russian tank appeared on social media, followed by many more to come in the future.
March
3 March (Day 8) – Eight civilians were killed in the city of Izium when the town's central hospital reportedly sustained significant damage from a Russian rocket strike. 5 March (Day 10) – A video posted online showed a Russian jet being shot down by Ukrainian forces near Chernihiv. Later images showed the capture of the pilot, who ejected from his plane but was injured. 6 March (Day 11) – Intense shelling of Izium began as Russian forces occupied Honcharivka and Pisky neighbourhoods and the city railway station, according to deputy mayor of Izium Volodymyr Matsokin. 7 March (Day 12) Maj Gen Vitaly Gerasimov, chief of staff of Russia's 41st combined army, was killed outside of Kharkiv, according to Ukraine's defence ministry, but Gerasimov was confirmed to be alive by BBC Russian when he was awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky on 23 May 2022. Russian online outlets reported that the city of Izium was taken by Russian forces. This claim does not appear to have been factual, especially because fighting broke out between Ukrainian and Russian forces the next day. 8 March (Day 13) – The United States banned imports of all Russian oil, liquefied natural gas, and coal in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 10 March (Day 15) – 2,250 civilians were evacuated from Izium as Russian forces pushed further into the city. 11 March (Day 16) Maj Gen Andrei Kolesnikov, the Russian commander of the 29th combined army, was killed in fighting, according to official Ukrainian sources. The Ukrainian military claimed to have damaged or destroyed 31 Russian Battalion tactical groups (BTGs). 12 March (Day 17) Russian troops captured the northern part of Izium. Russian forces conducted a new advance northeast from Kherson along the western bank of the Dnipro, as well as make limited territorial gains east of Mariupol. 13 March (Day 18) – Yevhen Matveyev, leader of Dniprorudne, was abducted by Russian troops, according to Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. 14 March (Day 19) Some information suggested China expressed some openness to providing Russia with requested military and financial assistance with the war on Ukraine, according to a US diplomat. Both China and Russia denied that Moscow asked for military assistance. A Russian missile attack on a military training centre in Yavoriv killed around 35 people, 15 miles away from the Ukrainian border with Poland. 15 March (Day 20) The UNGA voted on a resolution demanding an immediate end to the Russian offensive in Ukraine. 141 countries voted in favor of the resolution, 35 nations abstained, and only 5 nations voted against: (Russia, Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea, and Syria) in a "sweeping show of international unity". The UNSC failed to adopt the vote though, because of the single "no" vote from Russia, a P5 member.
A theater in Mariupol where hundreds of people had taken shelter was bombed in a Russian air strike, killing around 300 people and trapping around 1,300 in the rubble. A boarding school for visually impaired children, a hospital, three schools, and "other military facilities" were destroyed by the Russian military in Rubizhne, killing four people, according to Luhansk regional administrator Serhiy Haidai in an interview with local media. The mayor of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov, who had been detained by Russian forces, was freed as part of a prisoner swap. Maj Gen Oleg Mityaev, Russian commander of the 150th motorised rifle division, was killed by the Azov regiment near Mariupol. 16 March (Day 21) – Russian troops seized the southern part of Izium, before Ukrainian forces managed to recapture their positions soon after. 17 March (Day 22) There was no mention of the War in Ukraine after China's commissioner for foreign security affairs, Cheng Guoping, met with Russia's ambassador to China, Andrey Denisov, according to China's Foreign Ministry. Russian-backed rebels from the Luhansk People's Republic took control of government buildings in the city of Rubizhne. New Zealand added an additional 364 Russian political and military targets to a travel ban list and 13 individuals and 19 entities to a sanctions list, including asset freezes. Those on the list included Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. 18 March (Day 23) Andrei Mordvichev, commander of Russia's 8th combined army of the southern military district, was killed by a Ukrainian strike at Chornobaivka airbase. US president Biden speaks with Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping for nearly two hours about the war in Ukraine, and warned against any support for the invasion. Two military bases in Mykolaiv were bombed by Russian fighter jets, killing dozens of Ukrainian troops. "Of the approximately 200 who were there, I would guess about 90 percent did not survive," according to a surviving Ukrainian soldier, who was sleeping in the barracks opposite where the attack hit at one of the locations. It was confirmed that Russia launched Hypersonic missiles against Ukraine, marking the first known use of such missiles in combat, according to US officials. They were used to destroy a military ammunition warehouse in Delyatin. New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern reiterated her support for Ukraine during a call with PM Denys Shmyhal. Australia announced new sanctions against 11 Russian banks and government entities, according to Foreign Minister Marise Payne. The UN announced it had completed the first convoy of humanitarian aid to Sumy. "The 130 metric tons of essential aid included medical supplies, bottled water, ready-to-eat meals and canned food that will directly help some 35,000 people. In addition to these items, the convoy brought equipment to repair water systems to help 50,000 people," according to UN Crisis Coordinator for Ukraine Amin Awad. Zelenskyy announced a new assistance plan for Ukrainians displaced by the invasion. The plan included helping displaced people find jobs, providing housing and organizing efforts to rebuild destroyed houses once the war is over, and providing support to families housing people who fled occupied territories. 19 March (Day 24) Zelenskyy claimed the Russian military sustained "unprecedented losses" and that some Russian units were "80 to 90% destroyed" in a video posted to social media. Some captured residents from besieged Mariupol were taken to camps and redirected to remote cities in Russia, according to the Mariupol City Council. Russia denied these accusations. Two children and one woman were killed in Rubizhne after the residential building they were in was destroyed by Russian artillery fire, according to the Ukrainian emergency services. Eight evacuation corridors operated, but due to Russian shelling, authorities were unable to rescue people from Borodyanka. The Russian cosmonauts who recently arrived at the International Space Station wearing yellow and blue spacesuits were not supporting Ukraine, but the Bauman Moscow State Technical University and its colors. 20 March (Day 25) Mariupol rejected Russia's demand to surrender, calling it a "false choice". US president Biden would travel to Warsaw on March 25, following his meetings in Brussels with NATO allies, G7, and European Union leaders, according to a statement from White House press secretary Jen Psaki. A large shopping center caught fire and many buildings were destroyed in Kyiv's Podilskyi District following Russian bombardment, according to Ukraine State Emergency Services. One person was killed following the explosions. Almost 7,295 people evacuated Mariupol using four humanitarian corridors, 3,900 of them by using the Mariupol to Zaporizhzhia line by buses and private transport. The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine banned 10 pro-Russian political parties Opposition Platform – For Life, Party of Shariy along with Derzhava, Left Opposition, Nashi, Opposition Bloc, Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine, Socialist Party of Ukraine, Union of Leftists, and the Volodymyr Saldo Bloc. 21 March (Day 26) Satellite images showed growing flooding of the Irpin River. This river was crucial to the Russians, as their forces could not take Kyiv from the west if they could not cross the river. It was unclear how the flooding began. The UN Human Rights office (OHCHR) released new numbers: 925 civilians were killed in Ukraine, but said actual figures were likely to be "considerably higher".