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Fact Check: War in Ukraine started in 2022

Fact Check: War in Ukraine started in 2022

Published March 11, 2025•Updated June 17, 2025
ByFactChecker 1.1 avatarFactChecker 1.1
✗
VERDICT
False

# Fact Check: "War in Ukraine started in 2022" ## What We Know The claim that the "War in Ukraine started in 2022" is misleading. While it is true th...

Fact Check: "War in Ukraine started in 2022"

What We Know

The claim that the "War in Ukraine started in 2022" is misleading. While it is true that Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, this event marked a significant escalation in a conflict that had been ongoing since 2014. The initial conflict began with Russia's annexation of Crimea and the subsequent war in the Donbas region, where pro-Russian separatists, supported by the Russian government, fought against Ukrainian forces (Wikipedia, Britannica).

The fighting in Eastern Ukraine, particularly in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, had already resulted in thousands of casualties and significant territorial changes prior to 2022. Reports indicate that by early 2022, the conflict had already caused hundreds of thousands of military casualties and tens of thousands of civilian casualties (Wikipedia).

Analysis

The assertion that the war began in 2022 neglects the historical context of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict. The 2014 annexation of Crimea and the ongoing conflict in the Donbas region are critical to understanding the current situation. The U.S. and NATO had been monitoring Russian military movements and the buildup of troops near Ukraine's borders since late 2021, indicating that tensions were escalating long before the invasion (Reuters, CNN).

Source reliability is essential in this context. The information from Wikipedia and Britannica is generally considered credible due to their comprehensive documentation and citation of multiple sources. However, it is important to note that Wikipedia entries can be edited by anyone, which may introduce bias or inaccuracies. Conversely, established news organizations like Reuters and CNN provide timely updates and analyses based on verified information, enhancing their reliability (Reuters, CNN).

The New York Times and other reputable sources also confirm that the full-scale invasion in 2022 was a continuation of a conflict that had been brewing for years, further supporting the argument that the war did not start in 2022 but rather escalated significantly at that time (New York Times).

Conclusion

The claim that the "War in Ukraine started in 2022" is False. While the full-scale invasion by Russia occurred in February 2022, the conflict had been ongoing since 2014, with significant military engagements and territorial disputes already established. Thus, the statement oversimplifies the complex history of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict.

Sources

  1. Russian invasion of Ukraine - Wikipedia
  2. Timeline: The events leading up to Russia's invasion of Ukraine - Reuters
  3. Timeline of the Russian invasion of Ukraine - Wikipedia
  4. Key Moments in the Russia-Ukraine War: A Timeline - The New York Times
  5. When did the Russia-Ukraine War begin? - Britannica
  6. Conflict in Ukraine: A timeline (2014 - eve of 2022 invasion) - Parliament
  7. Russia-Ukraine war 2022 - statistics & facts | Statista

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And they deliberately lied and by the way Jake Tapper had a bombshell 01:08 book exposing the incredible scandal that Biden's mental decline was covered up by Jake Tapper. There's a Yiddish word and that truly is how dare we lie and cover up what we all knew. Now I have been asked literally a thousand times by Texans. Was running the country? And I'm going to give 01:40 you the most terrifying answer. I don't know. I genuinely don't know. And not a single Democrat here cares. The most telling proof of Biden's decline came with the signature of the president. The symbol of executive authority that was outsourced to a machine. Mister Wald you're a lawyer who served in the White House Council's Office. You understand the gravity of presidential action. Does the president's signature 02:10 carry legal and constitutional weight under article two? Yes. Is the act of signing an executive order or signing a law or granting a pardon a delegable duty of the president. 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Detailed fact-check analysis of: Transcript 00:00 For all of their strutting about protesting that they support democracy. Not a one of them gave a damn about democracy when they pulled Biden off the ballot and dropped Kamala Harris in without a single Democrat primary voter voting for him. And you know what? Not a single Democrat is here today because not a single one of them gives a damn about the fact that they lied to the American people for four years. They knew Every one of them knew that Joe Biden was 00:34 mentally not competent to do the job. The White House Press Secretary. She knew when she stood in front of the American people and lied over and over and over again and they're not here because they can't defend themselves. It wasn't a surprise for four years the White House hid President Biden from Republican Senators. Would not let him meet with us. He served 40 years in this body. We all know him. And they deliberately lied and by the way Jake Tapper had a bombshell 01:08 book exposing the incredible scandal that Biden's mental decline was covered up by Jake Tapper. There's a Yiddish word and that truly is how dare we lie and cover up what we all knew. Now I have been asked literally a thousand times by Texans. Was running the country? And I'm going to give 01:40 you the most terrifying answer. I don't know. I genuinely don't know. And not a single Democrat here cares. The most telling proof of Biden's decline came with the signature of the president. The symbol of executive authority that was outsourced to a machine. Mister Wald you're a lawyer who served in the White House Council's Office. You understand the gravity of presidential action. Does the president's signature 02:10 carry legal and constitutional weight under article two? Yes. Is the act of signing an executive order or signing a law or granting a pardon a delegable duty of the president. Uh so in that opinion in 2005 from OLC they said essentially that an autopin could be used by a subordinate but the president's determination as to sign the document can never be delegated. Can that authority 02:41 be transferred to a staff or a machine without the president's explicit authorization? Never. And if you look at the statistics, the statistics are stunning. In 2021, President Biden issued 78 executive orders. None were signed with an auto pen. That first year the presidency, Biden I suppose was relatively lucid and 78 executive orders he signed by hand. The second year, however, we see the auto pen emerged. 03:15 The first auto pen executive order was issued on 15th 2022. After that day 100% of the executive orders issued in 2022 were signed by an autopen. In 2023 Biden issued twenty-four executive orders. 16 were auto penned. In 20twenty-four Biden issued 19. 14 were auto penned. 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Fact Check: War in Ukraine started in 2022 | TruthOrFake Blog