26 February 2022

February 2022 in brief

Rockets carrying cluster munitions struck residential areas of Kharkiv on 28 February, killing at least three civilians according to Human Rights Watch, while Amnesty International said three attacks that day killed at least nine; both groups attributed the attacks to Russian forces. ^[1] WHO recorded attacks affecting health facilities in the first days of the war, including in Chernihiv and Melitopol. ^[1][2] Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine by land, air and sea, with advances reported from Belarus towards Kyiv, from Russia towards Kharkiv and the east, and from Crimea towards the south, after President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address that Russia would seek the demilitarisation and denazification of Ukraine. ^[1] Russian forces took control of the Chornobyl nuclear site on the first day, and the Russian navy took Snake Island, where Ukraine's navy later said the 13 border guards were alive and held by Russia. ^[1][2] EASA advised airlines not to operate in Ukrainian airspace at any altitude, and Western governments pledged to cut selected Russian banks from SWIFT and restrict Russia's central bank. ^[1][2] Putin ordered Russia's deterrent forces, which include nuclear weapons, onto a special mode of combat duty, citing NATO statements and Western sanctions. ^[1] Russian and Ukrainian delegations held their first talks in Belarus's Gomel region and agreed to meet again. ^[1]

Written from the records it cites; every figure appears in a cited record.