Russia's wars over a quarter of a century...these countries are in which Putin intervenes militarily

In the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, it would be the sixth direct military intervention by Moscow abroad since Vladimir Putin became prime minister in 1999.

These direct Russian military interventions abroad, included 5 countries: Kosovo, Ukraine (Crimea), Georgia, and Chechnya, while Russia’s military intervention in Syria is the first of its kind in the Middle East, and the following is a historical sequence of the most prominent of these interventions :

Kosovo

March 1998: The war begins with a conflict between Yugoslav forces and police and Kosovar forces.

March 24, 1999: NATO forces intervened by bombing Yugoslavia, while Kosovo forces continued their attacks.

June 12, 1999: Russian forces entered Kosovo and besieged Pristina Airport from its southwestern side. It was said that the forces would support Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic against NATO forces and the Kosovo Liberation Army.

- In the face of pressure from Western countries, the Russian diplomat said that this was just a mistake and that those forces would leave the country that witnessed a conflict between the Serbs and the Kosovars, and that they are ready to contribute to achieving stability and security there.

June 18, 1999: The United States of America and Russia signed an agreement in Helsinki on the participation of Russian forces in a peacekeeping mission in Kosovo.

June 21, 1999: The Commander of the International Peace Force in Kosovo (KFOR), General Michael Jackson, signs an agreement to disarm the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) with the KLA's spokesperson Hashim Thaci, in the presence of US State Department spokesman Jimmy Rubin.

- Under the agreement, the Kosovo Liberation Army agreed to renounce its military character and change in order to continue its existence under new conditions.

Chechnya

1994: Russian forces entered Chechnya and remained there for two years, ending with the victory of the Chechens who initiated the declaration of their country's independence from Russian influence, and the declaration of the Republic of Chechnya after the signing of a ceasefire by Russian President Boris Yeltsin in 1996, followed by the signing of a peace agreement.

1999: Russia resumed military intervention in Chechnya again and took control of it and annexed it to the Russian Federation.

The Chechen armed resistance throughout the North Caucasus region continued to inflict heavy losses on the Russians and challenge Russian political control of Chechnya for several years.

April 15, 2009: The Russian government officially announced the end of operations in Chechnya and withdrew the bulk of the army from the region.

- The exact number of casualties resulting from this conflict is unknown, and unofficial sources estimate it between 25,000 and 50,000 dead or missing, most of whom are civilians in Chechnya.

The number of Russian dead is more than 5,200 (according to official Russian figures), and about 11,000, according to the Committee of Mothers of Soldiers.

Georgia

August 8, 2008: a military attack by Georgia on the pro-Russian provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

August 9, 2008: Russian forces entered Georgia and bombed the city of Gori, the Marnioli military airport in eastern Georgia, and the port of Poti on the Black Sea.

- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin justified his country's intervention with what he described as the "criminal policy" pursued by Georgia, and the latter requested urgent international assistance, while the three Baltic states, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, along with Poland called on the European Union and NATO (NATO) to oppose the "imperialist policy" to Russia.

The International Committee of the Red Cross announces the displacement of about 40,000 people from their homes as a result of the conflict.

The Russian Chiefs of Staff announces that Georgia is withdrawing its forces from Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, over which the Russian peacekeeping forces have taken control of the "largest part".

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner arrives in Tbilisi and calls for an immediate ceasefire in the conflict between Georgia and Russia and presents a 3-point peace plan supported by the European Union: respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia, an immediate cessation of hostilities and a return to the situation that prevailed on the ground before the outbreak of battles.

August 22, 2015: Moscow announced the completion of the withdrawal of its forces from Georgia, but Tbilisi denied this, while Washington and Paris accused the Russian side of not adhering to the ceasefire plan.

Ukraine

Ukraine shares borders with countries in the European Union, in addition to Russia.

As a former Soviet republic, Ukraine has deep social and cultural ties with Russia, and the Russian language is widely spoken.

Russia has long resisted Ukraine's move toward European institutions, and its main demand is that it not join the European Union, which includes 27 countries on the continent, or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), or have NATO infrastructure on its soil.

Russia sees this as a direct threat to it, as Ukraine will be a member of the European Common Defense Agreement, which means the presence of NATO forces and European forces on the Russian borders, which Russia has not and will not accept.

November 21, 2013: The crisis in Ukraine began when its pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych, suspended preparations for the implementation of an association agreement with the European Union.

The Ukrainian capital witnessed widespread protests and friction between separatist movements and the Ukrainian regular forces.

Disturbances swept through some eastern and southern regions of Ukraine, which were inhabited by a majority of Russian-speaking citizens, from whom Yanukovych drew most of his support.

February 22, 2014: The revolution of mass protests from supporters of the agreement overthrew the president, who was ousted and fled the country.

February 23, 2014: The Acting President of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine took the position of Alexander Turchynov, a politician, screenwriter and economist.

March 2014: After Russia invaded Ukrainian regions, another political crisis arose, as it annexed the Ukrainian autonomous region of Crimea.

April 2014: War breaks out in Donetsk and Lugansk Oblasts between pro-Russian separatists and the Ukrainian government.

September 20, 2014: Representatives of the Ukrainian government and separatists sponsored by Russia and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe signed the "Minsk Agreement 1" in Minsk, the capital of Belarus.

The agreement stipulated 9 points aimed at consolidating the ceasefire protocol in eastern Ukraine signed between these parties on September 5, 2014, which has been repeatedly violated by the Ukrainian government forces and the separatists.

January 2022: Kiev and the West accused Russia of amassing forces at the borders of Ukraine, while Moscow warned that Kiev was bringing military reinforcements to the Donbass region, against the backdrop of a significant increase in the number of ceasefire violations there.

In the spring, Russia conducted extensive exercises for the landing forces of the Southern Military District forces, especially in the Crimea, and concluded last April with the announcement of the return of the participating forces to the permanently stationed areas.

NATO launched its largest maneuvers in Europe since the Cold War, called Defender Europe-21.

Western media and officials have begun to talk about Russia amassing forces at the borders of Ukraine in preparation for its "invasion".

The number of Russian forces at the borders of Ukraine has reached 130,000, in addition to Russia conducting joint maneuvers at the southern borders of Belarus.

Senior officials in the United States and Britain have talked in recent days about a “Russian invasion that could happen at any moment,” while a number of Western media outlets published reports about the expected date and paths of the “invasion.” Bloomberg mistakenly published a story about the start of the war. Russian intervention in Ukraine later deleted.

A number of countries - led by the United States, Britain and Canada - have evacuated their diplomats from Ukraine, while a number of airlines suspended their flights to Kiev.

The United States, Britain and the Baltic states provided military aid to the Kiev government to strengthen its defense capabilities in the face of the threat of "Russian invasion", while Washington and London sent additional forces to the European continent.

For its part, Russia has repeatedly denied having any intention of attacking Ukraine, stressing that the movements of its forces within its borders do not pose a threat to anyone.

- Russia accused the West of fueling hysteria about Ukraine in order to justify pumping weapons into Ukraine and giving the Kiev government a cover to evade the implementation of the Minsk agreements and to make a new attempt to resolve the Donbass issue by force.

Syria

September 30, 2015: Russian forces intervened in Syria after the Russian Federation Council approved the request of President Vladimir Putin to use military force abroad and support the Syrian regime army.

The head of the Russian presidential administration, Sergei Ivanov, considered that the goal is to provide air support to the Syrian armed forces in their battle against what he described as "terrorist organizations", ruling out sending ground forces.

March 14, 2016: The Kremlin announced that Presidents Putin and Bashar al-Assad agreed to withdraw the largest part of the Russian air force from Syria, adding that an air presence would be maintained to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire.

- A statement by the presidency of the Syrian regime stated that the two sides agreed to reduce the presence of the Russian air force in Syria after it helped the regime forces achieve military gains, and that this comes in line with "the continuation of the cessation of hostilities, and in line with the current field stage."

November 24, 2015: Sukhoi plane suffered a severe blow when Turkish F-16 fighters succeeded in shooting it down after it violated Turkish airspace, and refused to respond to the warnings of the Turkish Air Force.

The Turkish authorities denied that the downing of the plane was a measure against a country, stressing in return that it was a natural step to defend the country's sovereignty, while a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin described the downing of the plane as a "very dangerous incident."

December 2017: During a visit to the Russian air base in Hmeimim, Syria, Putin announced the withdrawal of Russian forces, specifically to complete the official mission.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced that the situation had "stabilised" after the elimination of about 35,000 fighters and 700 training camps.

February 2018: Western sources said that at least 300 Russians were killed, as a result of a US air strike on the Syrian forces of President Bashar al-Assad.

All of them worked for the Wagner PMC.

- However, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that only 5 Russian citizens were killed, not related to the Russian armed forces, and dozens of others were wounded.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described Western reports on these losses as "guessing attempts about the war."

September 2021 marked the sixth anniversary of Russia's intervention in the Syrian civil war.

The strategy set by Moscow against the confused and hesitant Western strategies has allowed Russia to achieve its primary goal of preventing the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime.