If you’ve heard someone say that Ukraine started the war with Russia, or that it’s all Zelensky’s fault, you’re not alone. Misinformation about the conflict has been spreading for years — especially from media sources with political agendas. Let’s break it down clearly and factually, cutting through the noise.
The short version: Russia invaded Ukraine — not the other way around. On 24 February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale military assault on its neighbor. Ukraine didn’t fire the first shot. It didn’t provoke Russia with missiles. It was invaded.
This war didn’t begin overnight. The seeds were planted years before.
Here’s what was happening behind those key events — and why they mattered.
In 2014, Ukrainians protested against their pro-Russia president and eventually ousted him. After that, Russia annexed Crimea, a part of Ukraine, in a move almost no country in the world recognized as legal.
Around the same time, Russia backed armed separatists in two regions of eastern Ukraine (Donetsk and Luhansk), fueling a bloody conflict that killed over 13,000 people even before the 2022 invasion.
Over the years, Ukraine kept moving closer to the West — building ties with Europe, strengthening its democracy, and yes, even considering NATO membership. That made Putin nervous. He didn’t want a successful, democratic Ukraine on Russia’s doorstep.
Vladimir Putin gave a range of justifications for launching the war — claiming he was protecting Russian-speaking Ukrainians, preventing NATO expansion, and even denazifying Ukraine (despite the fact that Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is Jewish).
But none of those excuses hold up.
The real reason? Putin wants control over Ukraine — politically, economically, and strategically. A free, democratic Ukraine undermines his influence and threatens his long-standing ambition to rebuild a Russian “sphere of influence” across former Soviet territories.
Time and time again, Ukraine has made its position clear: We want to chart our own future.
Volodymyr Zelensky didn’t start this war. He ran for president in 2019 on a peace platform. And when Russia launched its full-scale invasion, he chose to stay in Kyiv, risking his life to lead the country — not from afar, but from the front.
Some propaganda — especially from far-right media and Kremlin-aligned sources — tries to paint Zelensky as the provocateur, suggesting he escalated tensions or “poked the bear.” But the facts don’t support that. Zelensky has consistently called for diplomacy while defending Ukraine’s right to exist.
Ukraine didn’t ask for war. Ukrainians were forced to defend their homes, their cities, and their future.
A lot of it comes down to misinformation, spin, and agenda-driven media. Russian state TV has been pushing the “Ukraine is the aggressor” line for years. Sadly, some U.S. outlets and social media echo those same talking points — either because they’re politically convenient, or they just don’t fact-check.
If someone tells you "Ukraine is to blame," ask them: So why did Russia cross the border with tanks?
Former U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly blamed Ukraine — and President Volodymyr Zelensky — for the war, claiming that “none of this would have happened” if he were still in office. In a February 2025 statement, he told reporters, “You should have never started it. You could have made a deal.” He even went so far as to say that “millions of people are dead because of three people,” naming Zelenskyy, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and U.S. President Joe Biden.
These statements have been widely criticized as echoing Kremlin talking points and distorting the facts. In reality, Russia invaded Crimea in 2014 and escalated to a full-scale war in 2022 — not because of any action or inaction by Zelenskyy, but because of Vladimir Putin’s long-standing ambition to reassert control over Ukraine.
Zelensky, elected in 2019 on a platform of reform and peace, has spent his presidency defending Ukraine’s sovereignty — not provoking war. Trump, by contrast, has a controversial history with both Zelensky and Putin. In 2019, he was impeached for withholding military aid from Ukraine while pressuring Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden — a move that risked Ukraine’s security for political gain.
Trump’s more recent claims — including that Zelensky is unpopular — have also been fact-checked and disproven. As of early 2025, polls showed that Zelenskyy still held a 57% trust rating among Ukrainians, and Trump’s remarks about U.S. aid to Ukraine have been shown to be exaggerated or misleading.
Whether Trump believes what he’s saying, or simply assumes his audience will, one thing is clear: the facts don’t back him up. Blaming Ukraine is not just inaccurate — it undermines international support for a country fighting for its survival.
This war is not about geopolitics alone. It’s about people — families, cities, culture, sovereignty. It’s about a country fighting to stay free, and the narratives that can cloud that truth.
Understanding what really happened helps cut through misinformation — and reminds us who the real aggressor is.
RECOMMENDED SOURCES & LINKS
BBC News – Ukraine conflict: What we know about the invasion
Al Jazeera – Why is Russia attacking Ukraine? What we know so far
Reuters Fact Check – Fact Check: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been extensively documented
Foreign Affairs – Putin's War on History: The Thousand-Year Struggle Over Ukraine