section_path: Events
section_name: Events
paragraph_text: Events
  
  The invasion began at dawn on 24 February. It was the biggest attack on a European country and first full-scale war in Europe since World War II. Russia launched a simultaneous ground and air attack. Missiles struck targets throughout Ukraine, and Russian troops invaded from the north, east, and south. Russia did not officially declare war. Immediately after the invasion began, Zelenskyy declared martial law in Ukraine in a video speech. The same evening, he ordered a general mobilisation of all Ukrainian males aged 18–60, prohibiting them from leaving the country.
  
  The first stage of the invasion was conducted on four fronts: one towards western Kyiv from Belarus by the Russian Eastern Military District, one deployed towards eastern Kyiv by the Central Military District (northeastern front), comprised the 41st Combined Arms Army and the 2nd Guards Combined Arms Army, one deployed towards Kharkiv, and a fourth, southern front originating in Crimea and Russia's Rostov oblast with an eastern axis towards Odesa and a western area of operations toward Mariupol. The invasion was unexpectedly met by fierce resistance. In Kyiv, Russia failed to take it and was repulsed in the battles of Irpin, Hostomel, and Bucha. The Russians tried to encircle the capital, but defenders under Oleksandr Syrskyi held their ground, effectively using Western Javelin anti-tank missiles and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles to thin Russian supply lines and stall the offensive.
  
  By 7 April, Russian troops deployed to the northern front pulled back from Kyiv, to resupply and redeploy to the Donbas to reinforce the renewed invasion of southeastern Ukraine. The northeastern front, including the Central Military District, was similarly withdrawn for redeployment to southeastern Ukraine. On 26 April, delegates from the US and 40 allied nations met at Ramstein Air Base in Germany to discuss a coalition to provide economic support, in addition to military supplies and refitting to Ukraine. Following Putin's Victory Day speech on 9 May, US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said no short term resolution should be expected.
  
  Ukraine's reliance on Western-supplied equipment constrained operational effectiveness, as supplying countries feared Ukraine would use Western-made matériel to strike targets in Russia. Experts disagreed on the future of the conflict; some suggested Ukraine should trade territory for peace, others believed Ukraine could maintain its resistance due to Russian losses.