section_path: History/Historiography
section_name: Historiography
paragraph_text: Historiography
  
  Different start-dates for the conflict have been identified. According to a number of scholars, the war began with the February 2014 Russian occupation of Crimea, in particular the 27 February storming of the Crimean parliament. In contrast the Ukrainian government has declared 26 February the " Day of Resistance to the Occupation of Crimea ", as on that day in 2014 a Crimean Tatar rally against Russian occupation was held. Some, including political scientist Andreas Umland, prefer 20 February – the day Russia supposedly issued orders to prepare for invasion, which is also engraved on the Russian Crimea campaign medal. Some analysts place the start of the conflict even earlier, including Dutch Professor of Military History Floribert Baudet who has stated that "Russia’s war against Ukraine did not start in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea and the secession of Donetsk and Luhansk, much less so with the invasion of February, 2022."
  
  Analysts also differ over the nature of the conflict. Paul D'Anieri describes the events of the period as "a limited war in 2014, and then much less limited war in 2022". In contrast Ukrainian-American historian Serhii Plokhy stated in 2023 of the then-ongoing war that "I decline the temptation to identify the date of February 24, 2022, as its beginning, no matter the shock and drama of the all- out Russian assault on Ukraine, for the simple reason that the war began eight years earlier, on February 27, 2014".