On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, marking a steep escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which had begun in 2014. The invasion has caused Europe's fastest-growing refugee crisis since World War II, with more than 6.5 million Ukrainians fleeing the country and a third of the population displaced.At the start of the war in 2014, Russia invaded and annexed Crimea, and Russian-backed separatists seized part of the Donbas, the south-eastern region of Ukraine (consisting of Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts), sparking a regional war. In 2021, Russia began a large military build-up along its border with Ukraine, amassing up to 190,000 troops and their equipment. In a televised address shortly before the invasion, Russian president Vladimir Putin espoused irredentist views, challenged Ukraine's right to statehood, and falsely accused Ukraine of being governed by neo-Nazis who persecute the ethnic Russian minority. Putin also alleged that eastward expansion by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) threatens Russia's national security, something NATO has disputed. Russia demanded NATO stop expanding and permanently...