How the Russian invasion has unfolded, from the desperate fight for Mariupol to economic turmoil around the world
It was just hours until the first missiles would land. The last day of an era in Europe. On the evening of 23 February, the world braced.
Over Ukraine’s border, thousands of Russian troops had received their orders. A president in Kyiv and another in Moscow prepared the most significant addresses of their lives. In western capitals, officials worked to ward off what now seemed inevitable: the end of three decades of peace between Europe’s major powers.