section_path: History/Independent Russian Federation/Invasion of Ukraine
section_name: Invasion of Ukraine
paragraph_text: Invasion of Ukraine
  
  In early 2014, following a pro-Western revolution in Ukraine, Russia annexed Crimea from neighbouring Ukraine after a disputed referendum on the status of Crimea was staged under Russian occupation. The annexation generated an insurgency in the Donbas region of Ukraine, supported by Russian military intervention as part of an undeclared war against Ukraine. Russian mercenaries and military forces, with the support of local separatist militias, waged a war in eastern Ukraine against the new Ukrainian government after the Russian government fostered anti-government and pro-Russian protests in the region, although most residents had opposed secession from Ukraine.
  
  In a major escalation of the conflict, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. The invasion marked the largest conventional war in Europe since World War II, and was met with international condemnation, as well as expanded sanctions against Russia.
  
  As a result, Russia was expelled from the Council of Europe in March, and was suspended from the United Nations Human Rights Council in April. In September, following successful Ukrainian counteroffensives, Putin announced a " partial mobilisation ", Russia's first mobilisation since Operation Barbarossa. By the end of September, Putin proclaimed the annexation of four Ukrainian regions, the largest annexation in Europe since World War II. Putin and Russian-installed leaders signed treaties of accession, internationally unrecognized and widely denounced as illegal, despite the fact that Russian forces have been unable to fully occupy any of the four regions. A number of supranational and national parliaments passed resolutions declaring Russia to be a state sponsor of terrorism. In addition, Russia was declared a terrorist state by Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Hundreds of thousands of people are estimated to have been killed or injured as a result of the invasion. The war in Ukraine has further exacerbated Russia's demographic crisis.
  
  In June 2023, the Wagner Group, a private military contractor fighting for Russia in Ukraine, declared an open rebellion against the Russian Ministry of Defense, capturing Rostov-on-Don, before beginning a march on Moscow. However, after negotiations between Wagner and the Belarusian government, the rebellion was called off. The leader of the rebellion, Yevgeny Prigozhin, later died in a plane crash.