Explainer: One year on, milestone moments in Russia’s war on Ukraine

By Kavya Dubey

February 2022 was abuzz with tense anticipation of a possible development as Russia appeared to flex its military muscle. And when Russia invaded Ukraine, as came clear by February 24, little did the world expect that it would have to witness and bear the brunt of a war that claimed and rubbed on lives beyond Ukraine.

 

With massive displacement of people, disrupted supply chains, spiralling prices, major economies driven to the brink of a collapse, altered power dynamics between leading nations, this war has had a significant global impact that continues to show its effect.

One year down the line, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky remains unwaveringly in resistance to Russia, refusing to concede any territory in a peace deal with the invading country. As reported by BBC, Zelensky has said that giving up territory means Russia could "keep coming back," as "Russian attacks are already happening from several directions."

As the developments in the situation continue to be watched, here are the milestone moments of the Ukraine war in the last 12 months:

1. Capturing Kyiv and Kharkiv: When the war broke out last February, the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and the second-largest city, Kharkiv were attacked to unseat Zelensky's government.
   Kyiv was expected to fall but weeks of resistance forced Russia to withdraw. As the Russian forces retreated, atrocities committed by them began coming to light.

2. Siege of Kherson: This port city in southern Ukraine was attacked subsequently in March, sealing its coastline. As per the UN data, maximum civilians were killed in Ukraine in the month of March.

3. Striking Kramatorsk train station: Early in April, a Russian missile struck a train station in Kramatorsk in Donetsk city, claiming more than 50 civilian lives. This was the first attack launched in the series to capture the entire Donbas which includes Ukraine's eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

4. Laying siege to Azovstal steel plant: Weeks after Russian forces killed thousands of people, the last Ukrainian fighters in May surrendered in Mariupol, another port city and an industrial hub in the Sea of Azov. The battle ceased after the capture of Azovstal steel plant, which had become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance.

5. Reclaiming Snake Island: In June, the Ukrainian forces raised a flag over Snake Island - a sliver of land in the Black Sea off Odessa, a city captured by Russia in February. As the threat to Odessa lessened, Ukraine dealt a blow to Russia's naval power in the region by sinking Moskva - a warship of Russia's Black Sea fleet.

6. Fall of Lysychansk: The last city under Ukraine's control, Lysychansk fell to Russia in July. But since then, Russia has made little progress in its advancement to seize Donbas region.

7. Counter-offensive in the Kherson and attack on Russian air base in Crimea: Ukraine formally launched a counter-offensive in the Kherson region in August, as it deployed West-supplied weapons systems such as HIMARS, to target Russian military infrastructure. Ukraine also attacked a Russian air base in Crimea.

8. Reclaiming more lost territory: By September, Ukraine took back much of northeastern Kharkiv and seized the initiative in the war. It went on to reclaim the city of Lyman in Donetsk province.

9. Explosion at Kerch Strait Bridge and the aftermath: An explosion in October damaged the Kerch Strait Bridge that linked Crimea with Russia. Two days later, Russia resorted to attacking Ukrainian towns and cities from land, sea and air, and began to cripple Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

   Four Ukrainian regions -- Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia -- despite international condemnation, were annexed by Russia.

10. Taking back Kherson: In a significant victory for Ukraine, Russian troops, in November, withdrew from Kherson, a city to the east of the Dnipro river.

11. Targeting military bases in Russia: By December, Ukraine used drones to destroy military bases located hundreds of miles within Russia.

12. Donetsk strike: In January 2023, Ukrainian forces struck a building in Donetsk housing Russian troops. Moscow acknowledged the deaths of 89 soldiers in the attack, whereas Ukraine said hundreds had been killed or injured.

13. 'Massive missile attack': As on February 16, there have been "round-the-clock attacks" by Russia on critical infrastructure facilities in Ukraine where at least 32 missiles were fired of which at least 16 were destroyed, as per the Ukrainian Air Force's Telegram Post.

    (Kavya Dubey may be reached at kavya.d@ians.in)

Source: IANS