At 4:00 a.m. on February 24, 2022, millions of Ukrainians awoke to explosions. That day, Russia launched a full-scale invasion, which became the largest war in Europe since World War II. Four years have passed—and on February 24, 2026, Ukraine once again celebrates this date: bitter, difficult, but also a reminder of its invincibility. This is reported by the Ukrainian News agency, as reported by the PromPolitInform portal.
The publication explains how this war began, what has changed over 1,400 days, and why February 24 remains one of the most important dates in Ukrainian history.
No one believed it would happen—and yet it began at 3:40 a.m.
On the morning of February 24, 2022, Russian troops crossed Ukraine’s borders from several directions at once. The strikes hit Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mariupol, Kherson, and dozens of other cities. Russian President Vladimir Putin called it a “special military operation” in his address, but in reality, a full-scale war of conquest had begun.
For many Ukrainians, that morning is still vivid: the hasty packing of belongings, the queues to leave cities, the first reports of casualties. In a matter of hours, the country transitioned to a different mode of existence. Not a single Ukrainian family was spared – some went to fight, some left, and some remained and continued to live under fire.
11 years of aggression, but the world only noticed when the explosions reached Kyiv.
It’s important to understand: for Ukraine, this war didn’t begin in 2022. Russia occupied Crimea back in 2014, and then began the armed conflict in Donbas. Therefore, 2026 marks the 12th year since Russia launched armed aggression against Ukraine; until February 2022, the rest of the world largely looked the other way.
The full-scale invasion changed all that. It thrust the war onto the world’s front pages, prompting dozens of countries to impose sanctions against Russia and begin supplying Ukraine with weapons. What had remained a “regional conflict” in the headlines for years has become a challenge to the entire international security system.
1,400 Days No One Planned to Endure – But They Endured
As of February 24, 2026, Ukraine has been at war for over 1,400 consecutive days. During this time, the front lines shifted, cities changed hands, and the enemy launched massive missile strikes on civilian infrastructure. Ukraine lost thousands of soldiers and civilians, and millions were displaced within the country or fled abroad.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have not laid down their arms. In the first days, many expected a quick collapse—Kyiv was expected to fall within 72 hours, some Western analysts said. Instead, the Ukrainian military repelled the offensive on the capital, and the army, initially inferior to the enemy in equipment and numbers, transformed into one of the most combat-ready in Europe.
