The invasion of Ukraine by Russia completes one year this Friday (24). The conflict continues without prospects of a ceasefire, being the most serious in Europe since the Second World War. Remember some of the most important events of the period
*Intern at R7under the supervision of Lucas Ferreira
On the first day of Russia’s offensive against Ukraine, Moscow seized the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which houses the sarcophagus covering the remains of the plant’s crashed reactor. As they left the site in March, the Russians “looted the facilities, stole equipment and precious objects,” according to Ukraine’s state atomic energy agency.
When Russian troops surrounded the city of Odessa, in southern Ukraine, the ports were unable to transport the large grain production. The event generated food shortages in several countries and caused the prices of agricultural commodities to skyrocket. At that moment, the effects of the war began to be felt all over the world.
Ukrainian civilians started to enlist in the Army to face the Russians. With little or no experience, men and women came forward to receive equipment and head to the conflict zones.
The war in Ukraine also exposed Europe’s dependence on Russian gas, which uses the resource as a weapon of war. Amidst the sanctions, countries were forced to look for other markets and Russia lost its status as a major energy supplier to Europe.
In addition to other civilian equipment, the world’s largest cargo plane, the Antonov An-225 Mriya, was destroyed by the war. The aircraft was stopped at Gostomel airport, near the capital, Kiev. After days of battle between Russians and Ukrainians for control of the air base, a bombing destroyed part of the airport facilities and the hangar where the plane was.
A strategic Ukrainian port in the Azov Sea region was taken on March 21
In April, Russian troops managed to conquer the city of Mariupol, in southern Ukraine, a major strategic point of the Russian offensive. One of the cases that caused the most worldwide commotion during the war was the attack on the city’s maternity and children’s hospital. At least three people were killed in the bombing, including a child and a pregnant woman, and 17 were injured. In addition, a woman in labor at the time of the incident had to be rushed out of the room.
Another defining moment was when the Azovstal steel plant, the last stronghold of Ukrainian resistance in Mariupol, was taken. More than 2,500 fighters from the Ukrainian Army and the Azov Battalion had to surrender after weeks of being besieged at the factory. However, it was not until May that the last bastion of resistance surrendered, when 250 combatants left the place and became prisoners of war
In April, a massacre in Bucha, northwest of Kiev, provoked a worldwide outcry. The pictures of dead bodies tied with their hands behind their backs — what can characterize an execution by the russians — spread across social media. Most of the bodies that were in the streets were not identified, and therefore many were buried in mass graves. Ukrainian authorities counted at least 410 civilians murdered. The shocking image of the hand of Iryna Filkina, one of the victims of the massacre in Bucha, became a symbol of the war in Ukraine and went around the world. The woman had her body recognized from her nail painted red and pink
On Mother’s Day, May 8, Jill Biden visited Ukraine, where she met with the country’s first lady, Olena Zelenska. During the official commitment, both visited schools and Jill handed a bouquet of flowers to Zelenska, after a long hug between the two
Zelenska was also on the cover of the October issue of Vogue magazine. The Ukrainian posed in conflict areas in the capital, Kiev, for renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz. Many people did not welcome the photo shoot and the first lady was attacked on social media, accused of ‘spectacularizing’ the war
The explosion of a truck bomb on the Kerch bridge, which connects Russia to Crimea, on October 8, killed three people and blocked the passage of cars on the main access road to the region annexed by Russia in 2014. authorship of the attack, but Putin classified the situation as a ‘terrorist attack’ and blamed the Ukrainian secret service
A cause of concern for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, occupied by the Russian military since the start of the war against Ukraine, had to be once again temporarily disconnected from the power grid after a Russian bombing on the 17th of October. The site needed to operate by means of generators. Despite being owned by the Russians, it is Ukrainian officials who keep the plant in operation. Energoatom, the state agency responsible for controlling atomic energy in Ukraine, called for ‘urgent measures’ to demilitarize the nuclear plant
A ‘novelty’ used by Russian troops in recent times are ‘suicide drones’ to attack the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, and other locations in the country. Made in Iran, the aerial vehicle is difficult to detect, carries explosive payloads of up to 36 kg and is programmed by GPS to reach targets. In early October, Ukraine said it managed to intercept 60% of all incoming Shahed 136 drones.
Attacked by Iranian drones, about 30% of Ukrainian power stations were destroyed in bombings, according to Ukrainian President Volodmir Zelensky. The country even imposed restrictions on energy consumption and the government is working on creating mobile energy supply points for critical infrastructure. In the last week, more than 1,000 Ukrainian locations have been deprived of electricity due to Russian bombing. Amidst the arrival of winter, Russia began to attack Ukrainian infrastructure, using the cold as a weapon of war by leaving millions of people without power and heating.
In addition to promoting numerous sanctions on Russia and sending arms to Ukraine, several European leaders wanted to show support with visits to Zelensky, including French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz
The most awaited meeting with international politicians took place between Zelenski and the president of the United States, Joe Biden. The Ukrainian visited Washington at the end of December, while the American leader went to Kiev this week.
In September, a majority of voters participating in Russian-sponsored referendums in eastern and southern Ukraine voted in favor of annexing Russian territory. Campaigns in Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia are considered ‘electoral farce’ by the Kiev government and have not been recognized internationally
In November, the world stopped when a Russian-made missile crashes in Poland and killed at least two people in the eastern border town of Przewodów. The event raised fears of a possible escalation in the conflict since Poland is a member of NATO, whose Article 5 establishes the ‘principle of collective defense’ among the members. Zelenskiy blamed Russia for the incident, while NATO calmed the issue by saying the missile came from Ukraine in defense against Russian attacks.
Time magazine named President Zelensky its 2022 ‘Person of the Year’ in December. “Whether the battle for Ukraine fills you with hope or fear, Zelensky has swept the world in a way we haven’t seen in decades,” wrote Edward Felsenthal, editor of the publication.
A ceasefire proposed by Russia during the Orthodox Christmas celebration in early January ended with reported attacks from both sides. This was the first attempt at a truce since the start of the confrontation.
A mid-January bombing in Dnipro left more than 200 apartments destroyed. At the end of rescue operations, the Ukrainian government announced that at least 45 people had died, while another 20 remained missing.
A day after Western military officials from countries including Germany, Spain, the United States and Poland promised Ukraine tanks, the Russian Armed Forces carried out dozens of bombing raids that left 11 people dead and 11 injured.
The war also spawned a wave of refugees. Women and children desperately tried to cross the country’s borders in cars, buses, trains and even on foot. In just a few days, 1.73 million people left Ukraine, in the biggest flow of refugees Europe has seen since World War II. Currently, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), more than 8 million Ukrainian refugees are spread across Europe.
The number of those killed in the war is uncertain. The UN estimates that 8,000 civilians died, while another 13,287 were injured. Among the Ukrainian forces, the British newspaper The Telegraph believes that 120,000 men died or had to withdraw from the front due to injuries. On the Russian side, US officials estimate that 200,000 people fighting for Moscow (soldiers and mercenaries) died or were wounded in the war.