Following a constant stream of events can be confusing and overwhelming.
As the war in Ukraine continues, here’s a guide to some of the terms you may have heard or seen: what they mean and why they’re important.
The breakaway territories have been the site of a low-key war since 2014, when Russian-backed rebels took over government buildings across the region. The eight-year conflict has claimed the lives of more than 14,000 people.
Kyiv and the West insist that the self-proclaimed republics are part of Ukraine, although the Ukrainian government maintains that the two areas are effectively occupied by Russia and refuses to negotiate directly with either the DPR or the LPR.
On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed decrees recognizing the independence of the separatist territories and ordered his troops to launch what the Kremlin called “peacekeeping” into the region.
The move was widely seen in the West as the first salvo of a larger military operation against Ukraine. Three days later, Russian troops invaded the country.
shelling
Russia has relied heavily on shelling key Ukrainian cities and towns in an effort to seize control of population centers in the country.
Shelling refers to artillery fire from large guns and was used against administrative and residential buildings. Ukrainian emergency services report dozens of dead as a result of Russian shelling.
United Nations officials say more than 500 civilians have died since the invasion from a variety of causes, including airstrikes and artillery attacks, though they warn the real number is likely much higher.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russian forces of indiscriminate shelling since the invasion began. In a post on his Facebook page, the last On Friday, he said that Russian troops “are shelling our people, our children, residential areas, churches, schools, destroying everything that provides a normal life, human life.”
“Humanitarian Corridors”
Humanitarian corridors are demilitarized routes out of or into war zones during war that allow people to escape conflicts or bring in aid. They are designed to reduce civilian casualties.
Ukraine called on world leaders to put pressure on Putin to open such corridors and “prevent a large-scale humanitarian catastrophe” in Ukrainian cities.
But the “humanitarian corridors” spoken of by Russian officials in the conflict in Ukraine do not fit that description in many ways. Ukrainian officials dismissed one unilateral Kremlin proposal for evacuation corridors for civilians as unacceptable, since most routes lead to Russia or its staunch ally Belarus, and people would have to pass through areas of active fighting.
In recent days, hopes of opening safe corridors for the evacuation of civilians from a number of cities have repeatedly failed, with Ukraine accusing Russia of attacking on the escape route.
“Evacuation through humanitarian corridors is possible only with full observance of the ceasefire. The Ukrainian side is ready for this,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday.
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is a defense alliance of 30 North American and European countries. According to NATO, its purpose is “to guarantee the freedom and security of its members by political and military means.”
The group was formed in 1949 as the Cold War escalated. Its original purpose was to protect the West from the threat posed by the Soviet Union.
Since the end of the Cold War, many former Soviet countries have joined NATO, to the dismay of Putin, who sees this as a threat. Ukraine is not a member of NATO, but has long hoped to join the alliance, which Russia vehemently opposes.
The best-known aspect of the NATO alliance is Article 5 of its treaty, which states that “an attack on one ally is considered an attack on all allies.”
Since Ukraine is not part of NATO, the alliance is not obliged to defend the country in the same way as it would be in the event of an attack on a NATO member country; Indeed, the countries of the alliance have stated that they are not going to send their troops to Ukraine. But many of Ukraine’s neighbors are members, and if a Russian attack spreads to one of those countries, Article 5 could provoke direct intervention by the US and other NATO members.
And the alliance can take collective defense measures without invoking Article 5. That is exactly what it has done in recent weeks by building up land, sea and air forces on its eastern flank; Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas also called for a more permanent deployment of NATO forces in the Baltic states.
no fly zone
A no-fly zone is an area where certain aircraft cannot fly for a number of reasons. In the context of this invasion, this would most likely mean a zone in which Russian aircraft are prohibited from flying so that they do not launch airstrikes on Ukraine.
Zelensky called on NATO to introduce a no-fly zone, but NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance was not considering such an option.
If NATO imposes a no-fly zone over Ukraine, NATO will likely have to intervene to enforce it, which could escalate the conflict.
NATO has already introduced no-fly zones in non-NATO countries, including Bosnia and Libya, but this is always controversial because it means engaging in a conflict without fully deploying ground forces. Putin said that any countries that introduce a no-fly zone will be considered participants in an armed conflict. If NATO does this with respect to Ukraine, it could lead to Russia taking retaliatory measures against NATO member countries.
Javelins and Stingers
The US and other Western countries are sending key military hardware to Ukraine to help it fight Russia. These include man-portable anti-aircraft missiles known as “Stingers”, which are launched by soldiers on the ground to shoot down aircraft flying overhead. They allow foot troops to join the battle for the skies of Ukraine.
Portable anti-tank weapons, including US-made Javelin missiles, are also being sent to Ukrainian forces. Also launched by ground forces, they target heavy military equipment, including tanks, and work to slow down and disrupt Russian military convoys as they move towards key locations.
So far, the US and NATO have sent 17,000 anti-tank missiles and 2,000 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine, a senior US official told CNN on Monday. The US produces Stingers of different generations, and US officials are aware that they are not providing the latest model to Ukrainians in case they fall into the hands of Russia, which can steal American technology.
Cluster and “vacuum” bombs
NATO’s Stoltenberg accused Russia of using cluster bombs in shelling Ukrainian cities. These are bombs that not only produce an initial explosion on impact, but also contain several smaller bombs that spread over a large area. They are largely condemned by the international community due to the risk of civilian casualties when used in populated areas.
US President Joe Biden’s representative to the UN specifically accused Russia of preparing to use banned weapons, including “cluster munitions and vacuum bombs,” in Ukraine.
“Vacuum bombs”, or thermobaric weapons, suck in oxygen from the surrounding air, causing a massive explosion and a large pressure wave that can have huge devastating effects.
According to Human Rights Watch, Russia has previously used thermobaric weapons in Chechnya with dire consequences.
In late February, a CNN team discovered a Russian thermobaric multiple launch rocket system near the border with Ukraine.
War crimes
The Geneva Convention, signed in 1949 after World War II, sets global standards to be observed in times of war.
International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, The Netherlands can prosecute serious violations of these standards; it contains specific definitions of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of aggression.
The ICC has already launched an active investigation into possible war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine, including those directed against the civilian population, violating the Geneva Convention and persecuting certain groups of people.
The US embassy in Kyiv said on Friday that Russia had committed a war crime by attacking Zaporozhye. The nuclear power plant in Ukraine is the largest in Europe. “Attacking a nuclear power plant is a war crime,” the official embassy Twitter feed says. “Putin’s bombardment of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant will take his reign of terror one step further.”
Sanctions
Sanctions are economic sanctions applied by one country against another or against specific companies or people. Western countries have imposed a series of harsh sanctions against Russia that have paralyzed its economy after Moscow invaded Ukraine.
The measures imposed on the country included shutting down two of Russia’s largest banks, Sberbank and VTB, from trading in US dollars and removing seven entities from SWIFT, a global messaging service that links financial institutions and facilitates fast and secure payments, essentially isolating Russian banks. from the Western financial system. As a result, the value of the Russian currency, the ruble and several Russian companies trading on foreign exchanges fell sharply.
Key individuals associated with the Kremlin have also been targeted, with Western countries trying to seize their property or assets.
FAST
Of all the Western sanctions imposed on Moscow so far, perhaps the most devastating is the removal of some Russian banks from SWIFT.
The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications was founded in 1973 to replace telex and is now used by more than 11,000 financial institutions to send secure messages and payment orders.
SWIFT does not move money around the world. What it does is allow banks to send each other instructions on how to transfer funds across borders. In the absence of a generally accepted alternative, this system is indispensable for global finance.
Disconnecting the entire country from SWIFT is considered a nuclear version of economic sanctions.
Ivana Kottasova of CNN, Luke McGee, Paul LeBlanc, Zachary B. Wolf, and Charles Riley contributed to this article.