Ukraine’s war with Russia in five key moments

From the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, to the announcement of the dispatch of Western tanks to Kyiv, these five moments have marked the conflict in Europe ever since.

full scale invasion

On February 24, 2022, at dawn, Russian President Vladimir Putin launches a “special military operation” to “demilitarize” and “denazify.” Ukraine.

His goal, according to him, was to protect the self-proclaimed Luhansk and Donetsk republics in the Donbass, whose independence he had previously recognized.

His army launches a large-scale invasion, accompanied by air strikes on various points of the country and the introduction of ground troops from the east, south and north – from Belarus, an ally of Moscow.

The Russian offensive is causing a flurry of international condemnation.

Westerners impose Russia a series of economic sanctions tightened over several months. The European Union increases the supply of weapons to Ukraine. The United States provides billions of dollars in military aid.

Horror in Bucha

In a few days, Russian troops captured the key port of Berdyansk and the regional center of Kherson, very close to the Black Sea, as well as several cities around Kyiv, in the center-north of the country.

But his attempt to seize the capital is met with resistance from Ukrainian forces, spurred on by their Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, who assumes full command as commander-in-chief.

April 2, Ukraine it claims that the entire Kiev region was liberated after a “quick withdrawal” of Russian troops redeployed to the east and south to “maintain control” over already occupied territories.

In the city of Bucha, the corpses of civilians who were shot in cold blood are found on the streets. The remains of several hundred civilians, some with signs of torture, will be found in mass graves in this city on the outskirts of Kyiv.

Depictions of these massacres attributed to Russia They are outraged by Westerners and the UN, and accusations of war crimes are multiplying, despite Moscow’s denials.

Fall of Mariupol.

On April 21, the Kremlin announces the capture of Mariupol, a strategic port on the Sea of ​​Azov, which its troops have been besieging and shelling since early March, leaving it without vital infrastructure, water, electricity and heating.

The purpose of the capture of this city is to allow Russia secure an alliance between its forces from Crimea — the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014 — and separatist areas of Donbass.

But about 2,000 Ukrainian fighters, who have settled in the underground labyrinth of the Azovstal plant, along with hundreds of civilians, continue to fight.

They will hold out until mid-May before giving up. According to Kyiv, Mariupol is 90% destroyed, at least 20 thousand people died.

Ukrainian counteroffensives

In early September, the Ukrainian army announced a counteroffensive in the south, and then unexpectedly and with lightning speed advanced on the Russian positions in the northeast, forcing the Russian army out of the Kharkov region, where fierce fighting was going on.

In the south, the operation aims to recapture Kherson, the only regional capital captured by Russian forces at the start of their invasion.

Step by step, the Ukrainian army with Western weapons systems is seizing dozens of cities, ruthlessly shelling Russian ammunition depots and supply lines in the region.

A strong symbol, the Crimean bridge was damaged by a powerful explosion on October 8th.

Despite the annexation by Moscow at the end of September of four occupied regions of Ukraine – Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporozhye – after “referendums” not recognized by the international community, Russian troops were forced to leave Kherson on November 9.

Two days later Ukraine retakes control of the city, a “historic day” welcomed by President Zelensky.

harsh winter

From October Russia systematically attacks Ukrainian power plants and transformers with its missiles and drones, plunging the population into cold and darkness.

In January, the Russian army, reinforced by some 300,000 reservists mobilized since September and backed by paramilitaries from the Wagner Group, went on the offensive again, in particular in the Donbas.

The fighting is intense, especially around Bakhmut, a city in the east, Russia trying to win since the summer.

Faced with repeated requests from the Ukrainian president, and after much hesitation for fear of provoking an escalation, the Americans and Europeans promised to send dozens of heavy tanks to Kiev in early February, angering Moscow.

Russia And Ukraine they did not give a reliable balance of their losses for several months. According to Norway, the war in Ukraine it claimed about 180,000 dead or wounded in the ranks of the Russian army and 100,000 Ukrainians, not counting 30,000 civilian deaths.

(According to AFP)

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Fernando Carvallo selects information and shares his vision of national and international news. subscribe to our Las cosas newsletter, as they should be reading your daily columns.