Ukraine invasion — explained The roots of Russia's invasion of Ukraine go back decades and run deep. The current conflict is more than one country taking over another; it is — in the words of one U.S. official — a shift in "the world order."
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Ukraine invasion — explained
Finland's President Sauli Niinisto makes a point during a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland, Wednesday, May 11, 2022. Frank Augstein/AP hide caption
A gas pump is seen at a Shell gas station in Houston on April 1. Brandon Bell/Getty Images hide caption
Russian troops arrive back in the Russian city of Ivanovo on Jan. 15 after serving briefly in the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan. The Russian forces were dispatched to help Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev stamp out widespread protests against his authoritarian rule. Kazakhstan is just one of five former Soviet republic where Russian troops have been operating this year. AP hide caption
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban gives his an international press conference April 6, days after his FIDESZ party won the parliamentary election, in the Karmelita monastery housing the prime minister's office in Budapest. Attila Kisbenedek/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
One man stands between Europe and a ban on Russian oil: Hungary's Viktor Orban
Father Oleksandr Yarmolchyk stands inside the demolished nave of his Orthodox church in Peremoha, Ukraine on April 17. He says the Russians bombed his church and held him against his will. Franco Ordoñez /NPR hide caption
A monument for Taras Shevchenko is symbolically protected by bandages in Borodyanka, northwest of Kyiv. Nickolai Hammar/NPR hide caption
Blood is seen on a sidewalk in a residential area following shelling in Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine, on Wednesday. Sergey Bobok/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
International legal experts must decide how to formally describe Russia's actions in Bucha, Ukraine, where mass graves were found. Anastasia Vlasova/Getty Images hide caption
A couple walk in front of the Kremlin's Spasskaya Tower and St Basil's cathedral in downtown Moscow. While 80% of poll respondents say they support Russia's military, some have mixed feelings. Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
What Russians think of the war in Ukraine, according to an independent pollster
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko (right) and his brother Wladimir Klitschko check a phone at city hall on Feb. 27. When Russia invaded Ukraine, many expected Moscow to knock out the Ukrainian communications network. But Ukrainian systems, for both civilians and the military, continue to function. Ukraine, meanwhile, has regularly intercepted Russian military communications. Efrem Lukatsky/AP hide caption
How does Ukraine keep intercepting Russian military communications?
Not all Russians agree with their government's military actions in Ukraine, but speaking out can come with major repercussions. Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Two farmers take a break from sowing their field with oat, east of Kyiv on April 16. GENYA SAVILOV/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
It's planting season in Ukraine, and that means problems for global food supply
President Biden announced his intention to nominate Bridget Brink as the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. The career foreign service officer has served as ambassador to Slovakia since 2019. U.S. Department of State/AP hide caption
Nadiia Yerkhimovych, 89, at her apartment in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 26. She's been bedridden during the Russian invasion that began in late February. From her home, she could hear the sounds of airstrikes and shelling. Carol Guzy hide caption
They've spent a lifetime in Kyiv. Not everyone can flee Russia's war in Ukraine
Left to right: Alexey Voloshinov, 20, Nastasya Dubovitskaya, 23, Leonid Kabanov, 30, and Lev Kalashnikov, 35, are all Russians who are living in Tbilisi, Georgia, after leaving their country in recent weeks. Claire Harbage/NPR hide caption
Ukrainian refugees get off the ferry after crossing the Danube into Romania in Isaccea on Friday. Ioana Moldovan for NPR hide caption
Leaders of NATO member nations pose for a photo at NATO headquarters in Brussels on March 24. John Thys/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Iryna Holoshchapova, a Ukrainian refugee who fled the embattled city of Mykolaiv, shows a video on her smartphone of an apartment block on fire following a Russian attack. Sean Gallup/Getty Images hide caption
Ukrainians prepare tea in a bomb shelter in Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 13. Felipe Dana/AP hide caption
Students interact with a teacher during a lesson at Poland's Warsaw Ukrainian School, on Wednesday, May 11, 2022. Adam Lach for NPR hide caption
This school takes kids from the most traumatized parts of Ukraine — and offers hope
A view shows the Azovstal steel plant in the city of Mariupol on May 10. Hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers have been evacuated to Russian-controlled territory. Stringer/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers evacuated from steel plant to Russian-held territory
A Ukrainian soldier examines a fragment of a Russian Air Force Su-25 jet after a battle at the village of Kolonshchyna, Ukraine, on April 21. Russia was expected to establish air superiority in the first days of the war. But Ukraine's air defenses have been so effective that Russian pilots often fire their weapons while over Russia and never enter Ukrainian airspace. Efrem Lukatsky/AP hide caption
Ukraine says it's downed 200 aircraft, a mark of Russian failures in the sky
Burned-out Russian tanks stand on the road between Malaya Rohan and Vil'Khivka, Ukraine, just east of Kharkiv. Both villages were in Russian hands for much of March and into April. Jason Beaubien/NPR hide caption