Russia-Ukraine war: Russia attacked Ukraine one month ago today
Hundreds attempted to evacuate the train station in Mariupol’s southern metropolis, while those who remained had no idea that weeks of terrible siege lay ahead.
Long lines formed at cash machines and gas stations in the subzero weather. Families prayed and sobbed in a church on the first night, their children sleeping on a rollout mattress underground for the first of many nights to come.
February 24: Russia launches a full-scale assault on Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy orders a general mobilization.
Moscow’s stock exchange plummets by 45 percent after the United States announces sanctions on Russian banks.
February 26: The European Union bars selected Russian banks from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), cutting them off from the global financial system.
February 27: The EU bans Russian civilian aircraft from EU airspace. State-owned media Sputnik and Russia Today (RT), along with their subsidiaries, are banned from EU airwaves and the internet.
Russian troops press towards Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and towards Kharkiv and Kherson. Ukrainians enlist.
February 28: Ukraine applies to join the EU. Russia and Ukraine start ceasefire talks. The Russian rouble tumbles 30 percent, forcing Putin to impose capital controls. The EU bans transactions with Russia’s central bank and approves a 500-million-euro ($554m) support package for the Ukrainian military. It is the first time the EU has agreed to provide lethal equipment to a third country.
