On January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., was attacked by a mob[39][40][41] of supporters of then-president Donald Trump in an attempted self-coup d'état,[42] two months after his defeat in the 2020 presidential election. They sought to keep him in power by preventing a joint session of Congress from counting the Electoral College votes to formalize the victory of President-elect Joe Biden. The attack was ultimately unsuccessful in preventing the certification of the election results. According to the bipartisan House select committee that investigated the incident, the attack was the culmination of a seven-part plan by Trump to overturn the election.[43][44] Within 36 hours, five people died: one was shot by Capitol Police, another died of a drug overdose, and three died of natural causes, including a police officer who died of natural causes a day after being assaulted by rioters.[c][34][45] Many people were injured, including 174 police officers. Four officers who responded to the attack died by suicide within seven months.[35] Damage caused by attackers exceeded $2.7 million.[46]
Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of RussiaDmitry Medvedev published an article on Kommersant, in which he argued that Ukraine was a "vassal" of the West and that, therefore, it was pointless for the Russian Federation to attempt to dialogue with the Ukrainian authorities, whom he described as "weak", "ignorant" and "unreliable".[6] The Kremlin later specified that Medvedev's article "runs in unison" with Russia's view of the current Ukrainian government.[7]
November
November 12
the Russian Defense Ministry described the deployment of the U.S. warships to the Black Sea as a "threat to regional security and strategic stability." The ministry said in a statement, "The real goal behind the U.S. activities in the Black Sea region is exploring the theatre of operations in case Kyiv attempts to settle the conflict in the southeast by force."[8]Map showing two alleged Russian plans published separately by Bild[9] and Center for Strategic and International Studies.[10]
November 13
On 13 November 2021, Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Russia has again amassed 100,000 troops in the border area,[11] higher than the U.S. assessment of about 70,000.[12] In early November, reports of Russian military buildups prompted U.S. officials to warn the EU that Russia could be planning a potential invasion of Ukraine.[13][14]
Russia accused Ukraine of deploying half its army – about 125,000 troops – in Donbas to confront pro-Russian separatists.[18] In November and December 2021, Kremlin officials claimed that Ukraine had violated the Minsk peace agreements.[16] Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied any "unusual military activity" or a possible invasion of Ukraine,[19] accused Ukraine of "planning aggressive actions against Donbas"[20] and urged NATO to stop "concentrating a military fist" near Russia's borders and arming Ukraine with modern weapons.[21] Putin criticized Ukraine for using Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drones against pro-Russian separatists in Donbas.[22] Russia accused Ukraine of moving heavy artillery towards the front line where separatists are fighting with Ukrainian forces, and accused Ukraine of taking "provocations."[23][24]
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