It is important to understand the unfolding of events during the ongoing Russian invasion of the Ukraine and military occupation of part of its territory (Crimea, Donbas).
To understand Putin’s military aggression, and the slowness and inadequacy of the responses of the EU, NATO and the U.S., we need to bear in mind not only the headlines of the day, but also the entire process of how we got to where we are today.
The following list of Timelines or Chronologies will be updated from time to time:
(1) “Ukraine Crisis Timeline as of January 30, 2015,” Foreign Policy Research Institute, January 30, 2014.
(2) “Ukraine crisis: Timeline” BBC News, November 13, 2014.
(3) Evan Beese, Tzvi Kahn, FPI FACT SHEET: TIMELINE OF RUSSIAN AGGRESSION IN UKRAINE AND THE WESTERN RESPONSE, Foreign Policy Initiative, September 18, 2014.
This chronology, while highly useful, contains some errors. It states for example,
“In the second half of August 2014, Russia dramatically escalates its operations against Ukraine, launching an offensive in Novoazovsk, southeast Ukraine. This maneuver opens up a second front in the conflict and secures a Russian-controlled land bridge between the Russo-Ukrainian border and the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula.”
While the offensive in Novoazovsk would be a step in building a land bridge to the Crimea, it is only a step. Such a landbridge has not yet been established.
(4) Emily Tamkin, “Sorry, Did We Invade Your Country?” Slate, September 5, 2014.
(5) “Timeline: Ukraine’s political crisis; Key events in Ukrainian anti-government protests that have been followed by political upheaval and international crisis, Al Jazeera English, September 20, 2014 (05:48 GMT).
The Trenchant Observer