TIMELINE
May 8
“…Russia’s President Putin wants to overthrow Ukraine and destroy its culture and its identity. President Putin even regards his barbaric war of aggression as being on a par with the fight against National Socialism. That is a falsification of history and a disgraceful distortion. We have an obligation to state this clearly.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Address
April 27
Residents of Kherson demonstrate against Russian plan to conduct a fake “referendum” to create a so-called “Kherson People’s Republic” scheduled for April 27.
April 26
“After Russia’s defeat at the Battle of Kyiv, the war is now entering a new phase. But nobody is fooled by Putin’s pretexts or his phony claims on the Donbas. So let’s be clear. Russia’s invasion is indefensible. And so are Russian atrocities.”
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin
April 22
Russia’s goal in the “second stage” of its invasion of Ukraine is to capture all of Donbas and southern parts of Ukraine to create a land corridor to annexed Crimea and to the Russian-controlled part of Moldova in the so-called “Transnistria,” explained Russian commander of the Center Military District Rustam Minnekayev.
April 3
Russian foreign ministry claimed that Bucha Massacre was “staged.” “The photos and video footage from Bucha are another hoax, a staged production and provocation by the Kyiv regime for the Western media,” Russian government said. Russian defense ministry claimed “not a single local resident has suffered from any violent action” in Bucha. Russia also claimed Bucha Massacre was supposedly faked in the same way as the bombing of Mariupol.
Note: 280 bodies of dead civilians were discovered as of April 3. This number increased to 340 on April 4. By April 16, the Ukrainian police registered 420 corpses.
March 25
“Russia is a pioneer in memory laws, in the manufacture of innocence. There is no effort to recall the hundred thousand Poles killed in the Polish Operation of the Great Terror. It is a criminal offense to mention that Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union began the Second World War together in 1939.”
March 24
“We will continue to counter Russia’s lies about its attack on Ukraine and expose fabricated narratives or manufactured “false flag” operations to prepare the ground for further escalation, including against the civilian population of Ukraine.”
Statement by NATO Heads of State and Government, Brussels
https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/official_texts_193719.htm
March 23
“Russia is the aggressor, the attacker, the invader – the sole party in Ukraine engaged in a campaign of brutality against the people of Ukraine – and they want us to pass a resolution that does not acknowledge their culpability.”
U.S. Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, 9002nd meeting of the UN Security Council
March 18
“…Russia’s calling for this meeting is– is – a potential false flag effort in action. Russia has repeatedly – repeatedly – accused other countries of the very violations it plans to perpetrate. We continue to believe it is possible that Russia may be planning to use chemical or biological agents against the Ukrainian people.
We aren’t going to dignify Russia’s disinformation or conspiracy theories. But we will continue to sound the alarm and tell the world where we think Russia is heading. And we will remind the world that Russia has repeatedly – repeatedly – lied to this Council over recent weeks. Despite all the evidence we could see with our own eyes, it told us that it was not going to invade Ukraine, that it was engaged in war games, that it was interested in diplomacy.”
U.S. Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, 8999th meeting of the UN Security Council
March 15
“This war is the result of a cruel tyrant who attacks defenseless civilians, bombs cities and hospitals in Ukraine! As a result, the world has lost its sense of security, and innocent people are dying and losing all their possessions.”
“It is here, in war-torn Kyiv, that history is being made. It is here, that freedom fights against the world of tyranny. It is here that the future of us all hangs in the balance. EU supports Ukraine, which can count on the help of its friends – we brought this message to Kyiv today.”
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki
March 11
“This is yet another lie in Russia’s disinformation campaign. They said they would not invade Ukraine. They then invaded. Foreign Minister Lavrov then said they hadn’t invaded, and he repeated this absurdity yesterday.
A whole pack of lies.
They said Ukraine was preparing a “dirty bomb.” That was a lie too.
They said yesterday that a pregnant woman staged her injuries in the Mariupol hospital bombing. That was a grotesque lie.
Russia is sinking to new depths today, but this Council must not get dragged down with it.
So let’s get back to the facts.
Russia is invading Ukraine in violation of international law. Russia is killing hundreds of civilians through indiscriminate shelling of Ukrainian cities.
It is using cluster munitions and thermobaric rockets, weapons designed to inflict maximum damage wherever they are deployed. It is targeting hospitals and schools and committing war crimes.”
UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations Barbara Woodward at the UN Security Council 8991st meeting
March 11
“France denounces Russia’s unfounded allegations about chemical or bacteriological threats from Ukraine. Disinformation and veto cannot hide the harsh reality, nor will laws to muzzle opinions: Russia has aggressed Ukraine, violated the UN Charter, caused a humanitarian crisis.”
Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations Nicolas de Rivière, UN Security Council 8991st meeting
March 11
Biological Weapons Convention does contain several measures to which concerned States parties can have recourse to address concerns or suspicions about the activities of their peers. Within the framework of Article V — under which States parties undertake to consult one another and to cooperate in solving any problems which may arise in relation to the Convention’s application — an annual exchange of information has been established based upon the submission of “confidence-building measures.”
Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu, 8991st meeting of the UN Security Council
March 10-11
“Russia, and its accomplice Belarus, bear full responsibility for this war of aggression and those responsible will be held to account for their crimes, including for indiscriminately targeting civilians and civilian objects.
Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified military aggression against Ukraine grossly violates international law and the principles of the UN Charter and undermines European and global security and stability.
Ukraine belongs to our European family.
Russia’s war of aggression constitutes a tectonic shift in European history.”
March 11
“This unprovoked and unjustified attack is causing enormous suffering and a tragic loss of life, including through the increasingly indiscriminate bombing and shelling of civilians in schools, homes, and hospitals.
We are united in our determination to hold President Putin and his regime accountable for this unjustified and unprovoked war that has already isolated Russia in the world.”
Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7)
March 10
“They start saying that there are chemical weapons that have been stored by their opponents or by the Americans, and so when they themselves deploy chemical weapons, as I fear they may, they have a sort of … fake story, ready to go.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson
March 9
“It’s Russia that has a long and well-documented track record of using chemical weapons, including in attempted assassinations and poisoning of Putin’s political enemies like Alexey Navalny. It’s Russia that continues to support the Assad regime in Syria, which has repeatedly used chemical weapons. It’s Russia that has long maintained a biological weapons program in violation of international law. Also, Russia has a track record of accusing the West of the very violations that Russia itself is perpetrating. In December, Russia falsely accused the U.S. of deploying contractors with chemical weapons in Ukraine.
This is all an obvious ploy by Russia to try to try to justify its further premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified attack on Ukraine.
Now that Russia has made these false claims, and China has seemingly endorsed this propaganda, we should all be on the lookout for Russia to possibly use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, or to create a false flag operation using them. It’s a clear pattern.”
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki
March 2
“This war is even less, as unsustainable propaganda would have us think, a struggle against “Nazism”. This is a lie. An insult to the history of Russia and Ukraine, to the memory of our elders who fought side by side against Nazism. Russian leaders attack the memory of the Holocaust in Ukraine. As they attack in Russia the memory of the crimes of Stalinism.”
“The war in Ukraine marks a rupture for our continent and our generations.”
“But make no mistake. These events will not only have immediate consequences, within a few weeks. They are the signal of a change of era. The war in Europe no longer belongs to our history books or school books, it is there, before our eyes. Democracy is no longer considered an indisputable regime, it is being called into question, before our eyes.”
French President Macron in Address to the Nation
https://www.elysee.fr/emmanuel-macron/2022/03/02/adresse-aux-francais-ukraine
March 1
“Putin’s latest attack on Ukraine was premeditated and unprovoked. He rejected repeated efforts at diplomacy.”
United States President Biden in Address to the Congress
March 1
“Putin decided that their country, Ukraine, has no right to exist. And we will never ever let that happen and never ever accept that.”
European Commission President von der Leyen at the European Parliament
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/speech_22_1483
February 27
“With the attack on Ukraine, Putin is not just seeking to wipe an independent country off the map. He is demolishing the European security order that had prevailed for almost half a century since the Helsinki Final Act. He is also isolating himself from the entire international community.”
“And so I thank you and all parliamentary groups in this House who have unequivocally condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine for what it is: an absolutely unjustifiable attack on an independent country, on the peaceful order in Europe and the world.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Policy Statement to the Bundestag
February 25
“Russia’s war of aggression marks a deep rupture in Europe’s history following the end of the Cold War. There is no justification for this blatant breach of international law, and I wholeheartedly condemn it.”
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel
February 24
“The Russian attack on Ukraine is a blatant breach of international law. Nothing can justify it. Germany condemns this reckless act by President Putin in the strongest terms. Our solidarity is with Ukraine and its people.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz
February 22
Putin has ordered troops into eastern Ukraine, after recognizing them as independent, claiming Russian-speaking residents there are being subjected to “genocide.”
February 21
Putin staged a live meeting of the national security council session to recognize Donbas proxies as independent. The video was revealed as having been pre-recorded.
February 18
Russian proxy leaders in Donbas announce evacuation, stage explosion in Donetsk. Metadate of the video statements revealed they were pre-recorded on February 16.
February 17
UK Prime Minister Johnson says Ukraine kindergarten attack was a “false flag operation.”
February 17
“First, Russia plans to manufacture a pretext for its attack. This could be a violent event that Russia will blame on Ukraine, or an outrageous accusation that Russia will level against the Ukrainian Government. We don’t know exactly the form it will take. It could be a fabricated so-called “terrorist” bombing inside Russia, the invented discovery of a mass grave, a staged drone strike against civilians, or a fake – even a real – attack using chemical weapons. Russia may describe this event as ethnic cleansing or a genocide, making a mockery of a concept that we in this chamber do not take lightly, nor do I do take lightly based on my family history.”
US Secretary Blinken at the UN Security Council
February 16
“As far as Russia is concerned, I can assure you that there will be no attack this coming Wednesday. Nor will there be any escalation next week or the week after, or next month. If you make accusations – especially such very serious accusations against Russia – you bear the burden of providing evidence. Otherwise it is slander.”
Russia’s Ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov
February 13
We also are watching very carefully for the possibility that there is a pretext or a false flag operation to kick off the Russian action in which Russian intelligence services conduct some kind of attack on Russian proxy forces in eastern Ukraine or on Russian citizens, and then blame it on the Ukrainians,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan said.
February 6
First Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN Dmitry Polyanskiy claims reports about Russia’s plans to invade Ukraine and capture Kyiv are “madness and scaremongering.”
February 5
Media publish a possible Russian invasion plan of Ukraine, consisting of three stages: capturing cities, creating pupper parliament, defeating resistance movement and establishing concentration camps.
February 3
Russia is fabricating a pretext to invade Ukraine, creating footage of “graphic scenes of a staged false explosion with corpses.”
January 30
Russia is increasing military presence in the Black Sea.
January 29
Russia claimed it will be withdrawing some of its forces
January 22
Russia complains about the development of Ukrainian language in Ukraine.
January 20
Russian equipment and soldiers 14 km from Ukraine’s border.
January 20
“The war in eastern Ukraine, orchestrated by Russia with proxies that it leads, trains, supplies, and finances – well, that’s killed more than 14,000 Ukrainians. Thousands more have been wounded. Entire towns have been destroyed. Nearly one and a half million Ukrainians have fled their homes to escape the violence. For Ukrainians in Crimea and the Donbas, the repression is acute. Russia blocks Ukrainians from crossing the line of contact, cutting them off from the rest of the country. Hundreds of Ukrainians are being held as political prisoners by Russia and its proxies. Hundreds of families don’t know if their loved ones are alive or dead.”
“And so the stakes for Ukraine come more fully into view. This is not only about a possible invasion and war. It’s about whether Ukraine has a right to exist as a sovereign nation. It’s about whether Ukraine has a right to be a democracy.”
US Secretary Blinken in Berlin
January 16
“We do not want and will not take any action of an aggressive character. We will not attack, strike, ‘invade’ – whatever – Ukraine.”
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov at the Valdai Discussion Club in Moscow
January 16
Peskov claims NATO is invading Ukraine, creating a “threat” that Russia can no longer bear.
January 15
Russia developed 18 scenarios for the invasion of Ukraine.
January 14
“We are concerned that the Russian government is preparing for an invasion in Ukraine that may result in widespread human rights violations and war crimes should diplomacy fail to meet their objectives,’ White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.
January 14
Pentagon spokesperson Kirby says Russia operatives are already positioned to stage a false flag provocation as pretext for war.
January 13
Russia is laying the groundwork to have the option of fabricating a pretext for an invasion, including through sabotage activities and information operations, by accusing Ukraine of preparing an imminent attack against Russian forces in Eastern Ukraine.
January 10, 2022
Russia developed a plan for international destabilization of Ukraine.
December 21, 2021
Putin claims Russia has to respond to “Western aggression” and may use “military-technical measures.”
December 21, 2021
Russian defense minister Shoigu claims Ukraine and the United States are preparing to conduct a chemical attack in Avdiivka and Lyman, Donetsk region.
December 18, 2021
Russian deputy foreign minister Aleksandr Grushko threatens “military-technical scenario” if Russian security ultimatums are not met. He said the European continent could become an “arena of military confrontation.”
December 16, 2021
Russian court in Rostov admitted the presence of Russian troops in Donbas in its November 10 decision.
December 10, 2021
Putin claims situation in Donbas is “very similar to genocide.”
October 30, 2021
Russian forces concentrate near Ukraine, including in Kursk, Bryansk, and Yelnya.
July 12, 2021
Putin’s article claiming Ukraine as part of Russia.
April 21, 2021
Putin’s address to the Russian parliament. Putin warns about “engaging in any provocations threatening Russia’s core interests will regret it like never before.” Mentions “illegal coup” against Yanukovych.