What did 28 February 2022 change for Ukraine?

What did 28 February 2022 look like, five days into Russia's invasion of Ukraine? It was a day when diplomacy and war ran side by side, and when the pressure on Russia's economy became visible in the markets.

Talks begin, claims collide

Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak announced on 28 February 2022 that peace talks had begun as part of an effort to end the war. Ukraine used the talks to call for a ceasefire. Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said that both Russia and Ukraine were interested in reaching an agreement aimed at ending the war.

Elsewhere, the French president's office said that in a phone call the Russian President had confirmed his willingness to make commitments to stop attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure and to secure major roadways. That was the account given by Emmanuel Macron's office.

The human cost was already being counted. The United Nations reported at least 406 civilian casualties in Ukraine. The International Criminal Court's prosecutor, Karim Ahmad Khan, announced that the court would conduct a criminal investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.

A nuclear plant and a possible new front

The Russian Defence Ministry said that Russian Ground Forces had captured the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, and that the plant continued to operate normally under the guard of soldiers. Ukraine denied that the plant had been seized.

The position of Belarus was also under scrutiny. Belarus was expected to deploy its armed forces directly in Ukraine and so aid Russia's invasion. A senior U.S. defence official, however, said there were no indications that Belarusian troops had yet been deployed.

Aircraft and a membership bid

Ukrainian Air Force pilots began arriving in Poland to take control of fighter aircraft donated by European countries. The Ukrainian government said that 70 fighter jets were being handed over: 28 MiG-29s from Poland, 12 from Slovakia, 16 from Bulgaria, and 14 Sukhoi Su-25s from Bulgaria. Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov said he had rejected the request. EU security chief Josep Borrell later clarified that any donations were made bilaterally by individual member states, not by the European Union itself.

On the political front, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed Ukraine's application for membership of the European Union. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that Ukraine should in time join the EU, calling it one of us and saying the Union wanted to see it in the European family.

Moscow's financial shock

The economic consequences for Russia were swift. The Central Bank of Russia raised its interest rate from 9.5% to 20%, the highest since 2003. The ruble lost more than a quarter of its value at the start of trading, with rates in the range of 100–120 rubles to the US dollar. Russia also instituted capital controls, banning all trading of Russian securities by foreign legal entities.

What the day showed

Taken together, the events of 28 February 2022 show several tracks moving at once: a first round of negotiations, contested accounts of events on the ground, legal scrutiny from The Hague, a formal European bid from Kyiv, and an immediate financial reckoning in Russia. Not all the claims made that day were confirmed; Ukraine rejected the Russian account of the nuclear plant, and U.S. officials saw no sign of Belarusian troops in Ukraine. The talks were only beginning, and the day left open how far any commitments voiced by either side would be honoured.