Evidence
Something that furnishes proof
Last Updated: May 31, 2025

Russia: Official Acknowledgements
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Putin acknowledges Russian military involvement in Crimea:
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"Of course, the Russian servicemen did back the Crimean self-defence forces."
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Putin hints at a limited Russian military operation in Ukraine:
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"Our task was not to conduct a full-fledged military operation there, but it was to ensure people’s safety and security and a comfortable environment to express their will."
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The Russian military acknowledges Russian troops in Eastern Ukraine but suggests it was an accident:
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"These servicemen did indeed participate in patrolling a section of the Russian-Ukrainian border, and crossed it probably by accident at an unequipped and unmarked section."
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Russia and Ukraine sign the Minsk II Agreement:
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"Withdrawal of all foreign armed formations, military equipment, as well as mercenaries from the territory of Ukraine under monitoring of the OSCE. Disarmament of all illegal groups."
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Putin acknowledges Russian involvement in Donbas:
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"We’ve never said there are no people there who deal with certain matters, including in the military area, but this does not mean that regular Russian troops are present there. Feel the difference."
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Ukraine: Official Acknowledgments
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Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko acknowledges the ongoing war during the Presidential Debate: "An actor can’t wage a war against Russia."
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President Zelenskyy Inaugural Address:
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"Our first task is ceasefire in the Donbas."
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"We are not the ones who have started this war."
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Zelensky addresses the United Nations:
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"But Russia – instead of stopping the crime of aggression, which it started back in 2014 – turned it into a full-scale invasion."
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Third Parties: Official Acknowledgments
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United States
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U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine acknowledges the war began in 2014:​
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"For almost five years, Russia has fomented a war that has had more than 10,000 casualties."
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France:
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​French diplomatic website​​
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"​​At the end of 2013, a conflict broke out between Ukraine and the Russian Federation as a result of a political crisis in Ukraine."​​​
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NATO:
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10 March 2017:​​
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NATO website​
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"Three years ago, ‘little green men’ appeared in Crimea, a prelude to Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea on 18 March 2014, and its so-called hybrid war in the Donbas."
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Media acknowledgements: ​​​
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Kyiv Post:
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"It [the war] did not begin in February 2022 but 10 years ago with the events of the Revolution of Dignity when millions of Ukrainians took to the streets, refusing to live in a corrupt satellite state of Russia."
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"[In 2014], Russia annexed Crimea and began the occupation of the Ukrainian Donbas region."
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"3 years since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion on Ukraine. 11 years since the start of the Russian war against Ukraine."
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Kyiv Independent:
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"10 years of war"
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Pravda Ukraine:
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"10 years of war – 10 lessons and conclusions for justice"
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EuroMaidan Press:
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"It’s ten years of Russia’s war against Ukraine, not two"
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Interfax Ukraine:
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"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that no one will agree to a war that will last another 10 years or more"
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Ukrainian Weekly:
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"Kyiv loses first battle in nine months as Russia war enters 10th year"
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Bergen Global:
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PBS:
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"This Saturday marks two years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in a war that started nearly ten years ago."
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Chicago Tribune:
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"The war began in 2014"
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El Mundo:
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"Ukraine is approaching the tenth anniversary of the Maidan Revolution, immersed in a war for its independence that many see as a continuation of those street protests, which were brutally repressed by the police and ultimately led to the overthrow of Ukraine’s last pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych."
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El Universal:
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"Since 2014, Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a tense confrontation that began with Russia’s annexation of Crimea. This conflict escalated significantly in 2022 with a full-scale invasion by the Russian government, triggering a crisis of global proportions."
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Vox:
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"Russia is invading Europe in 2014. This is a big deal."
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Politico:
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"Kyiv is winning and the Kremlin is losing"
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Washington Post:
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"By late 2014, the fighting involved large numbers of troops including Russian army regulars."
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The Independent:
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"The two former-Soviet nations are currently engaged in the Russo-Ukrainian War which started in 2014 following the Russian annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and the Russian backing of armed separatists in eastern Ukraine."
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New York Times:
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"The White House froze more than $391 million in military assistance to Ukraine this summer; it had been intended to help Ukraine defend itself from Russian territorial aggression."
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Reuters:
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"The West has condemned Russia for its military incursions into Ukraine this year"
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Associated Press:
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"As awful as the full-scale war was, some on Ukraine's front lines found it preferable to the seemingly endless grind of today's smaller clashes. ​"
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Institute for the Study of War:
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"Ukrainian soldiers in Donbass have received targeted text messages with Kremlin propaganda since the war began in 2014."
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Pulitzer Center:
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"More than 13,000 people have died in eastern Ukraine since the war began in 2014 following Russia’s invasion and annexation of Crimea."
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