Conflict coverage · Eastern Europe

Annexation of Crimea; war begins in Donbas

Feb – Mar 2014Key eventEssentialCrimea

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Territorial changeMilitaryPoliticalThe eastern front

Russia seizes and annexes Crimea in a near-bloodless operation, then ignites a proxy war in Donetsk and Luhansk that kills ~14,000 over eight years.

Why it mattersThe first forcible annexation in Europe since 1945 — and the template Moscow believed would work again at scale in 2022.

Confidence: HighSources: Established historical recordMethodology Corrections

Where this fits

This is one entry in the Ukraine–Russia timeline. The full Key Events surface carries every dated turning point with its filters and its essential subset, and this event in place shows what came before and after it. How Vigil grades, dates and sources its claims is set out in the methodology.