World War III (Ukraine War)

World War III
Date 26 February, 2014 - present Location Europe, Asia, Middle East, North America, Pacific, Atlantic, Caribbean Status Ongoing
Belligerents
Coalition Forces: United States United Kingdom Turkey France Germany Japan Canada South Korea Australia Ukraine Spain Italy Portugal Poland Bulgaria Norway Netherlands Denmark Romania Hungary Georgia Czech Republic Greece Slovakia Qatar Azerbaijan Latvia Lithuania Albania Moldova Croatia Estonia Slovenia	Anti-coalition Forces: Russia China Pakistan Kazakhstan Uzbekistan Syria Belarus Cuba Kyrgyzstan Armenia Tajikistan Co-belligerents North Korea Gaza Strip ISIS Client and Puppet States Transnistria Abkhazia South Ossetia
Commanders and leaders
Barrack Obama David Cameron Abdullah Gul François Hollande Angela Merkel	Vladimir Putin Xi Jinping Mamnoon Hussain Karim Massimov
Strength
3.5 million	3.8 million
Casualties and losses
130,000 combatants, 174,000 civilians	168,000 combatants, 145,000 civilians

World War III, abbreviated WWIII or WW-3, is an ongoing global war centered around Europe between members of two opposing military alliances: Coalition forces and anti-coalition forces. Beginning as a regional dispute involving Russia and Ukraine, the war soon escalated into an intense global conflict.

Background

By the time of the Euromaidan protests in Ukraine in favor of closer ties with Europe, tensions between Russia and the west became the worst they'd ever been since the Cold War. In February 2014, these protests forced the ouster of Ukraine's pro-Russian president Victor Yanukovich. This led to complete deterioration of relations between Russia and Ukraine. This also led to concerns by ethnic Russians in Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, as the country's new government removed Russian as one of the country's official languages. As a result, many Crimeans called for Russian military intervention in the region.

Fighting begins

Due to Crimea's calls for Russian military intervention, Russia deployed special forces into the Crimean peninsula on February 26th. This move was condemned by Western-aligned governments worldwide. On March 9th, a NATO-led coalition of nations launched a military operation in Crimea and parts of Russia. Ground troops were deployed in Crimea, fighter jets participated in aerial bombings and ships in the Black Sea launched missiles at Russian military targets in the region. The main event of escalation occurred on March 16th, when three NATO jets bombed Russia's only warm water naval base, situated in Crimea. Due to this attack, all members of CSTO and SCO, under Russian pressure, entered the conflict alongside Pakistan, Syria and Cuba. These countries, known as anti-coalition forces, deployed troops and aircraft of their own to Crimea and other parts of Ukraine. As the conflict escalated, fighting quickly spread to the Baltic states, Georgia and Syria.

Battles

European/West Asian theatre

• Battle of Crimea
• Battle of Donetsk
• Battle of Lugansk
• West Russian Campaign
• Battle of Abkhazia
• Battle of South Ossetia
• Estonian Campaign
• Battle of Moldova
• Armenian offensive

Middle Eastern Theatre

• Syrian Campaign
• Iranian Campaign

Others

• Arctic Theatre
• Battle of the Pacific
• Battle of the Caribbean
• Battle of the Atlantic