From the beginning of the russian invasion of Ukraineon February 24, 2022, at the announcement of the dispatch of Western tanks to kyiv, these five moments have marked the conflict so far.
full scale invasion
On February 24, 2022 at dawn, Russian President Vladimir Putin launches a “special military operation” for “demilitarize” and “denazify” Ukraine.
His purpose, he said, was to defend the “republics” Luhansk and Donetsk separatists in Donbas, whose independence it previously recognized.
His army launches a large-scale invasion, accompanied by airstrikes at different points in the country, and with the entry of ground troops from the east, south and north – from Belarus, an ally of Moscow.
The Russian offensive unleashes a torrent of international condemnation.
Westerners impose a series of economic sanctions on Russia, hardened over the months. The European Union multiplies arms shipments to Ukraine. The United States unlocks billions of dollars in military aid.
The horror in Bucha
In a few days, Russian troops captured the key port of Berdiansk and the regional capital of Kherson, very close to the Black Sea, as well as several cities around Kiev, in the center-north of the country.
But his attempt to take the capital is met with resistance from Ukrainian forces, galvanized by their Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski who assumes full command as commander-in-chief.
On April 2, Ukraine claims that the entire kyiv region has been liberated, following a “quick withdrawal” of Russian forces redeploying to the east and south to “maintain control” of the territories they already occupy.
In the town of Bucha, corpses of civilians executed in cold blood are found in the streets. The remains of several hundred civilians, some bearing signs of torture, will be found in mass graves in this town on the outskirts of kyiv.
Images of these massacres attributed to Russia spark outrage among Westerners and the UN, and accusations of war crimes are multiplying, despite denials from Moscow.
The fall of Mariupol
On April 21, the Kremlin announces the conquest of Mariupol, a strategic port on the Azov Sea, which its forces have been besieging and bombarding since the beginning of March, leaving it without vital infrastructure, water, electricity and heating.
The objective of taking this city is to allow Russia to ensure the union between its forces from Crimea – the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014 – and the secessionist areas of Donbas.
But some 2,000 Ukrainian fighters, entrenched in the underground maze of the Azovstal factory with hundreds of civilians, continue the fight.
They will hold out until mid-May before surrendering. According to kyiv, Mariupol is 90% destroyed and at least 20,000 people died.
Ukrainian counteroffensives
In early September, the Ukrainian army announced a counter-offensive in the south, before making a surprise, lightning advance of the Russian lines in the northeast, forcing the Russian army out of the Kharkov region, the scene of violent fighting.
In the south, the operation is aimed at recapturing Kherson, the only regional capital that fell to Russian forces at the start of their invasion.
Step by step, the Ukrainian army, with Western weapons systems, seizes dozens of towns, relentlessly shelling Russian ammunition depots and supply lines in the region.
Strong symbol, the Crimean bridge is damaged by a powerful explosion on October 8.
Despite the annexation by Moscow at the end of September of four occupied Ukrainian regions – Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia – after “referendums” Unrecognized by the international community, Russian forces are forced to abandon Kherson on November 9.
Two days later, Ukraine retakes control of the city, “a historic day” greeted by President Zelensky.
baleful winter
Starting in 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 supported by the Wagner group paramilitaries, went on the offensive again, particularly in Donbas.
The fighting is intense, especially around Bakhmut, a city in the east that Russia has been trying to conquer since the summer.
Faced with repeated requests from the Ukrainian president and after having hesitated for a long time for fear of provoking an escalation, the Americans and the Europeans promised to send dozens of heavy tanks to Kiev in early February, arousing the ire of Moscow.
Russia and Ukraine have not given a reliable balance of their losses for months. According to Norway, the war in Ukraine has caused about 180,000 dead or wounded in the ranks of the Russian army, and 100,000 Ukrainians not counting the 30,000 civilian deaths.
Source: AFP
Source: Gestion
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