Volodymyr Zelensky arrives at White House for ‘historic' summit in bid to end Russia's invasion of Ukraine

Irish Independent

3 hours ago

Russia's troops are continuing their slow war of attrition in eastern and northern Ukraine, even as the conflict enters a pivotal phase with a series of high-level meetings that are part of US President Donald Trump's push for peace.
In the three-and-a-half years since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the front line has continued to move slowly with some unexpected strikes also redrawing the map.
Here is a look at some of the main events in the conflict:
February 24 2022: Russian President Vladimir Putin launches an invasion of Ukraine from the north, east and south. Russian troops quickly reach Kyiv's outskirts, but their attempts to capture the capital and other cities in the north-east meet stiff resistance.
March 5 2022: Russian advances toward Kyiv and Kherson reach their height. The port city of Mariupol is surrounded.
April 2 2022: Ukraine defeats Russian forces in Kyiv after throwing them back in Chernihiv.
August 29 2022: Ukraine's first counter-offensive starts in the east and south.
September 30 2022: Russia illegally annexes Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine, even though it does not fully control either of the four.
September to November 2022: Ukrainian forces reclaim vast parts of the Kharkiv, Mykolaiv and Kherson regions in the first counter-offensive, including the city of Kherson itself.
May 22 2023: Russia claims control of Bakhmut after months of fighting.
June 6 2023: As Ukraine's long-anticipated second counter-offensive starts, the Russian-controlled Kakhovka Dam explodes, sending a wall of water into southern Ukraine and upending Ukrainian battle plans.
Autumn 2023: The second Ukrainian counter-offensive ends, with little change to the front line.
February 18 2024: Russian forces take complete control of the eastern city of Avdiivka after months of combat.
April 19 2024: The US House of Representatives approves a 61 billion dollar package for Ukraine after months of delay.
May 10 2024: Russia launches a new offensive in the north-eastern region of Kharkiv, capturing a string of villages and opening a new front in the war.
August 6 2024: Ukraine launches a lightning incursion into Russia's Kursk region, holding territory along the border in an unexpected and embarrassing episode for the Kremlin.
January 20 2025: Mr Trump is inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States. His election raises uncertainty as to whether Washington will continue to support Ukraine.
April 26 2025: Moscow says all Ukrainian troops have been forced out from Russia's Kursk region. Several weeks later, Mr Putin visits the area in a show of strength and is filmed speaking with local volunteers.
June 1 2025: Ukraine strikes airfields deep inside Russia by launching drones that have been secretly stored and transported across the country on the back of trucks. The attack is codenamed Operation Spider Web.
Summer 2025: Russia and Ukraine both step up drone strikes with the ability to strike deep into each other's territory.
June 30 2025: Russia says it has taken full control of Ukraine's Luhansk, one of four regions that Moscow illegally annexed in September 2022.
July 31 2025: Russia says it has taken full control of the strategically important Ukrainian city of Chasiv Yar after a grinding, months-long assault.
August 2025: Russian forces continue their push in the Donetsk region, where the Kremlin has focused the bulk of military efforts, capturing small villages and closing in on Pokrovsk, a strategically important city.
August 15 2025: Mr Putin meets Mr Trump in Alaska for the first Russia-US summit in four years to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and European officials say Mr Putin wants Ukraine to withdraw from the remaining 30pc of the Donetsk region that it controls as part of a deal.