On February 24, the capital and largest city in Ukraine, Kyiv, was subject to heavy bombing that has continued through the weekend. Photo courtesy NBC News.
Thursday, February 24, 4 AM. 3 million people woke to the sound of air raid sirens slicing through the stillness of the morning. The roads of Kyiv were filled with vehicles desperate to leave the city, and those that couldn’t escape huddled together in underground metro stations, hoping, praying that they, their families, and their homes would be safe from the missile strikes pounding into the ground above them. By the following day, much of the City of Churches lay in ruins. In Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s address to the nation following the attacks, he estimated that 316 Ukrainians had been injured. 137 had been killed.
February 24 marked the beginning of what has become the largest military operation in Europe since World War II. Russian forces invaded Ukraine from the north, east, and south, by land, air, and sea. Significant shelling occurred in the capital and largest city, Kyiv, as well as all along the Russian-Ukrainian land border. Warships in the Black Sea besieged the Ukrainian coast. The Russian invaders have been accused of pointing their weaponry at civilian targets, including missiles hitting residential buildings and hospitals, shelling of a school, and tanks targeting civilian vehicles as well as at least one ambulance transporting a patient. Missiles also hit an oil depot in Vasylkiv, igniting it, and the Russians also quickly made a target of the nuclear disaster zone of Chernobyl.
Despite U.S extraction efforts and misinformation regarding his whereabouts, and a clear threat against him and his family from the Russians, President Zelenskyy remains in Kyiv. “I stay in the capital. I stay with my people.”
Russian forces from the North first headed for Chernihiv, a city near the border of Belarus. At 14:25 local time on February 24, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the Chernihiv was surrounded, and the siege began. Ukrainians within the city claim that missiles hit hospitals as well as a kindergarten in the city, and the Chernihiv historic cinema is confirmed to have been destroyed. Once the city was blockaded, Russian troops were free to pass by and head towards Kyiv, though the siege continued. Ukrainian forces claim to have defeated a Russian force that had attempted to enter and capture the city, and that several Russian tanks had been seized.
Street-fighting has continued in Kyiv through the weekend, where Ukrainian defenders have prevented the Russians from taking complete control of the city. Late Thursday night, some 20-30 Russian helicopters and airborne troops took Antonov Airport, a large cargo airport outside of Kyiv, giving the invaders an easy-access air bridge to quickly transport troops into the heart of the conflict. The 4th Rapid Reaction Brigade of the Ukrainian National Guard led a quick counteroffensive, eventually encircling the Russians. The airport flipped back to Russian control the next day after reinforcements arrived through Belarus; limited information is available beyond that point.
It is known that Ukrainian Alpha Group forces destroyed an entourage of armored vehicles outside Hostomel, and that a significant amount of personnel and equipment casualties have occurred. The Antonov AN-225 Mriya, the world’s largest airplane, was based at the airport, and was reported destroyed on February 26. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense denies that the airport is under Russian control, stressing that the Battle of Hostomel is an ongoing military engagement. The Ministry of Defense has also stated that the airport is likely too damaged at this point to be of much use to either side.
In the South, off the Black Sea coast, the invasion began with cruise missiles and ballistics targeting several major cities in the Kherson Oblast. Once the bombing had begun and air support arrived, ground forces entered Southern Ukraine through Crimea, which was annexed by Russian forces in 2014. A naval blockade in the Black Sea prevented any Ukrainian resupply or reinforcements through the water, and soon troops were nearing the city of Kherson. A battalion of Ukrainian soldiers was tasked with destroying infrastructure en route to the city to slow the Russian advance. As mines were set on the Henichesk Bridge, Russian troops were too close to allow for a proper retreat and detonation; Vitalii Skakuun instead detonated the explosions manually, sacrificing his life in the process.
That evening, another group of Ukrainian guards defending Zmiinyi Island, south of Ukraine near Romania, made a last stand against a Russian warship. After an approaching warship radioed the island, telling the guards to surrender, the Ukrainians responded simply, “Russian warship, go f*ck yourself.” All 13 guards lost their lives, and Zmiinyi Island was captured, but their final words went viral online and greatly contributed to the visibility of the Ukrainian defense cause.
Russia has made much larger claims in more poorly defended areas of eastern Ukraine. Some settlements, such as Shchastya and Stanysia Luhanska have been occupied and almost entirely razed to the ground.
Ukraine has requested foreign aid in defending against Russia, with common sentiment being that though today the war is only in Ukraine, it will soon push into all of Europe. Neither NATO nor any individual nation has sent troops to Ukraine, though on Sunday, February 27, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen of Denmark told the country that individuals can volunteer to join international brigades dedicated to fighting for Ukraine. President Zelenskyy urged any foreigners with military experience to come to Ukraine and aid in the fight, saying that anyone willing to fight will be armed and outfitted to the best of Ukraine’s capabilities.
A delegation of Ukrainian officials will meet with negotiators in Belarus at an unspecified time in the near future for potential peace talks. President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus has guaranteed that the delegation will remain safe, stating that all missiles and aircraft based in Belarus will stay grounded for the peace talks. President Zelenskyy has made it clear he wants peace above anything, but that the Ukrainians will not surrender to Russian demands. Putin has since put Russian nuclear forces on “high alert,” seemingly in an effort to escalate tensions and put additional pressure on the Ukrainian representatives.
In response to the potential for peace talks, Zelenskyy stated “I do not believe much in the result of this meeting - but let them try so that not a single Ukrainian citizen has doubts that I as president did not try to stop the war when there was a chance, albeit little.”
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