When and why did Russia invade Ukraine and what's happening now? The conflict explained as one-year anniversary marked

Friday (February 24) marks exactly a year since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, sending hundreds of thousands of troops into the country.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops into the country following a pre-dawn televised address, in which he demanded Ukraine's military to lay down their arms. He called the attack a 'special military operation'. In the early hours of February 24, air sirens could be heard ringing out as the first missiles struck the capital of Kyiv.

According to the latest statistics from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, more than 7,000 civilians have been killed in the war as of February 12 2023, while almost 12,000 have been injured. Many soldiers, both Ukrainian and Russian, have also lost their lives.

READ MORE: Vladimir Putin says Ukraine 'started the war' and Russia had to 'end it'

The International Organisation for Migration estimates that more than 5.3 million people were internally displaced in Ukraine as of last month. Meanwhile, the latest Government figures show that as of February 20, 163,500 people had arrived in the UK under the Ukraine schemes. Of these, 47,800 arrived via the Ukraine Family Scheme and 115,800 via the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme.

The war began as tensions escalated following weeks of fears over a Russian invasion. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russia had positioned almost 200,000 troops on the country's borders ahead of the full-scale attack.

But why did the invasion happen?

The two countries have a complex relationship and were both part of the Soviet Union until its break-up at the end of the Cold War. From 1991, Ukraine has been an independent nation state.

Then in 2014, the