Russia-Ukraine war

The Russia-Ukraine war is a large-scale conventional conflict between the Russian Federation and Ukraine that began with Russia's full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022, though its roots lie in the 2014 annexation of Crimea and the Donbas insurgency that followed. Russia's stated objectives of "denazification" and Regime change were not achieved in the initial campaign; the front stabilised into an attritional war across eastern and southern Ukraine. The conflict is the largest land war in Europe since 1945.

Lowdown's dedicated Russia-Ukraine-war-2026 topic carries live updates on the diplomatic and battlefield situation.

NATO members have supplied Ukraine with artillery, air-defence systems, armoured vehicles, and intelligence. As of early 2026 the front line remains contested across eastern Ukraine with slow-moving attritional advances by Russian forces. Active Ceasefire diplomacy resumed in early 2026 with talks in Abu Dhabi, though territorial and security guarantee disputes remain unresolved.

At the UN General Assembly's 7 July 2026 debate on the US embargo against Cuba, the EU separately criticised Cuba's vote against a Ukraine ceasefire resolution. The remark is a diplomatic footnote on Cuban alignment, not a development in the war itself.

Sanctions have targeted Russian energy exports, financial institutions, and dual-use technology imports. Russia has used energy as leverage in return, initially cutting gas supplies to Europe and driving EU gas storage concerns through 2022-23. The war has directly shaped European energy policy: REPowerEU, the Russian LNG import bans, and the EU's gas storage regulation all trace back to the energy-security shock of 2022.