Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began three years ago this week, and the war has become the deadliest European conflict since World War II.
At least 12,456 Ukrainian civilians were killed between February 2022 and December 2024 and more than 30,000 were injured, according to a United Nations report released in January. The war has also displaced millions of Ukrainians, with close to seven million fleeing the country altogether, most of them women and children.
The future of the war is increasingly unclear as it enters its fourth year. President Donald Trump has embarked on a new strategy of negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, while tensions mount between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
FRONTLINE has covered the conflict since it began on Feb. 24, 2022, with award-winning documentaries and reporting initiatives including the film 20 Days in Mariupol, a collaboration with The Associated Press, documenting the start of the invasion.
Our documentaries over the last three years have investigated Putin’s grievances with the West, the circumstances that led up to his invasion of Ukraine, the pattern of atrocities carried out by Russian forces, the grim toll the fighting has taken on civilians and the Russian crackdown on critics of the war.
Our coverage continues with 2000 Meters to Andriivka, a new documentary in collaboration with the AP, from the team behind 20 Days in Mariupol. The feature documentary, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, closely follows Ukrainian soldiers as they fight in the trenches to recapture a strategic village from the Russians.
As this conflict marks a somber milestone, explore a collection of our coverage below:
20 Days in Mariupol (Nov. 2023) WATCH NOW
Children of Ukraine (April 2024) WATCH NOW
Putin vs. the Press (Sept. 2023) WATCH NOW
Putin’s Crisis (July 2023) WATCH NOW
War Crimes Watch Ukraine (March 2022-Feb. 2023) EXPLORE THE REPORTING
Ukraine: Life Under Russia’s Attack (updated Feb. 2023) WATCH NOW
Putin and the Presidents (Jan. 2023) WATCH NOW
Crime Scene: Bucha (Dec. 2022) WATCH NOW
Putin’s War at Home (Nov. 2022) WATCH NOW
Putin’s Attack on Ukraine: Documenting War Crimes (Oct. 2022)
Related
3 years of war (The Economist) PdF
THREE YEARS OF WAR IN UKRAINE (The Cipher Brief)
Returning to the front line in Ukraine (AJE)
Russia-Ukraine war: Three years of fighting in satellite images (AJE)
Reflections on the Russia-Ukraine war (AJE)