Russia launched its “special military operation” in the early hours of February 24. The scale and direction of the Russian attack show that Moscow was planning a blietzkrieg that would end with the beheading of the Ukrainian leadership and at least the seizing of the entire Black Sea coast to open the way to Transnistria. However, the Ukrainian resistance overturned Moscow's plans, and the conflict became a long-lasting one, in which both camps have scored successes, but also failures. Veridica presents 10 of the main moments of this war.
February 24, 2022. The attack
Russia launches a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, eight years after it first attacked the country, seized and annexed the Crimean Peninsula and instigated a war in Donbas. The Russian attack begins with a massive bombardment, followed by attacks in three directions: in the north, from Belarus, in the direction of Kyiv, in the east and in the south, from Crimea. Russian airborne forces arrive at Hostomel Airport near Kyiv, but Ukrainian defenders render the airport unusable. President Volodymyr Zelensky survives several assasination attempts , but despite the danger he is in, refuses to leave Kyiv. The exodus of Ukrainian war refugees to Europe begins.
February 24, 2022. Defiance on the Snake Island
The cruiser Moskva, the flagship of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea, summons the Ukrainian border guards on Snake Island to surrender. They defiantly answer over the radio: “Russian warship, idi nahui” , an insult that would translate into “Fuck you”. The phrase becomes one of the symbols of Ukrainian resistance , and is written even on road signs instead of the names of towns and cities. The Ukrainian Post issues stamps celebrating the border guards’ defiance.
February 25 – April 2. The battle for Kyiv
The Russian troops entering Ukraine from Belarus are trying to reach the capital Kyiv, in order to deliver a decisive blow to Ukraine. The first signs of the incompetence that characterized the Russian army throughout the first year of the war are appearing. Soldiers without any protection and training are exposed to radiation from Chernobyl. Russian armored vehicles form a huge convoy, tens of km long, which is an easy target for Ukrainian attacks and is easily blocked on the roads it reaches. After several weeks and after suffering significant losses, the Russians are forced to retreat. It is the first great defeat they suffer in the war.
People cross a destroyed bridge as they flee from the frontline town of Irpin, Kyiv (Kiev) region, Ukraine, 07 March 2022. @EPA-EFE/ROMAN PILIPEY
April. Ukraine and the international community discover the massacre committed by the Russians in Bucha
Following the withdrawal of the Russians from Bucha, a locality they captured at the beginning of the battle for Kyiv, hundreds of corpses of Ukrainian civilians killed by the Russian military are found. Many of the victims show signs of torture and summary executions; others were killed while on the street, even though they are clearly civilians. It’s a pattern that will be repeated in other towns liberated by the Ukrainians, who will document, in the first year, tens of thousands of cases of war crimes committed by the Russians.
April 14. The sinking of the Moskva cruiser
The flagship of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea is sunk after being hit offshore by two Ukrainian Neptune missiles. It is the costliest material loss of the war and a humiliation for Putin, who had visited the vessel. As a result of the attack, the Russian fleet is forced to retreat further from the coasts of Ukraine and the risk of an amphibious attack significantly decreases.
Russian Navy flagship missile cruiser 'Moskva' moored in the bay of the Crimean city of Sevastopol, 30 March 2014. @EFE/SERGEI ILNITSKY
February 24 – May 20. The battle for Mariupol
The port city on the Sea of Azov has been under siege since the first day of the war. Russia brutally bombards Mariupol, destroying or damaging almost 90% of the buildings. The number of civilians killed in the siege is unknown, but it is estimated at somewhere between several thousand and several dozens of thousands. Among them, hundreds of dead in the bombing of the theater in Mariupol, a building clearly marked as civilian. The final stage of the battle is being fought among the ruins of the Azovstal plant, where the Ukrainian defenders – mostly from the Azov Regiment – hold out until they run out of ammunition, medicine, water and food.
A picture taken during a visit to Mariupol organized by the Russian military shows Russian servicemen inspect an area of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, eastern Ukraine, 13 June 2022. @EPA-EFE/SERGEI ILNITSKY.
April – June. War of attrition in Donbas
After its forces are defeated in the battle for Kyiv and prevented from reaching Odesa, Russia abandons, at least temporarily, efforts to conquer all of Ukraine and concentrates its attacks on Donbas. A war of attrition follows, with artillery fire so intense that it recalls those of the world wars. The cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, turned into ruins by the Russian bombardments, are conquered, at great cost. Despite its efforts, Moscow fails to achieve a decisive victory.
September – November. Ukrainian counteroffensive in the north and south
Ukrainian forces launch a surprise counter-offensive in the Kharkiv region, break through the Russian lines and liberate thousands of square kilometers in just a few days. In parallel, they are advancing into the Kherson region and towards the city of the same name, finally succeeding in pushing the Russians beyond the Dnieper and significantly reducing the risk of their breakthrough to Odesa. The American HIMARS missile systems, with the help of which the Ukrainians are bombing the Russians’ warehouses and supply routes, contribute to the success of the offensive.
November 2022 – January 2023. War of attrition in Donbas, stage two
A new stage of the war of attrition in eastern Ukraine. The Russians launch some attacks that rely on their numerical superiority, but suffer heavy losses and barely win the battle for Soledar. The Wagner mercenaries, many recruited directly from prison, are pushing it towards Bakhmut, but fail to capture it even after half a year of pressure.
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February 2023. Russia starts a new offensive in the east
Russia launches the initial phases of a major offensive, which Kyiv and the West had been waiting for in the spring; the Russians are believed to have attacked faster to secure a victory before the Western tanks promised to Ukraine arrived. Vladimir Putin delivers a defiant address to the nation in which he says that the war goes on and threatens to escalate it. The one-year anniversary of the invasion finds Russia unable to achieve the victory that should have come within days.
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