Ukraine war in review: the one year anniversary of Putin's disastrous invasion

It was one year ago today that Russian President Vladimir Putin took to the airways and announced to the world that he had ordered a special military operation in Ukraine, but few could have guessed how badly it would go...  

Within minutes of Putin’s announcement, bombs began exploding all over Ukraine and its people were seemingly at war with the world's second-greatest military superpower—or so they thought. Let’s take a look back at everything that’s happened since February 24th, 2022.

The Ukrainian people put up stiff resistance almost immediately. Tens of thousands joined their country’s territorial defense forces as thousands of citizens gathered in city streets to make Molotov cocktails for the defense of Ukraine’s major cities. 

One of the biggest early victories for Ukraine was the defense of Hostomel airport, a key piece of Russia’s plan to capture Kyiv within the first three days of Putin’s special military operation. 

Russia still made major progress in the first weeks of the war, though, capturing large amounts of territory in the east, south, and north of Ukraine. One of Russia’s most important early successes was the capture of Kherson on March 2nd, the largest city Russian soldiers would capture in the war.  

On March 16th, Russian forces committed one of their most notable war crimes of the early war. Ignoring scrawled warnings of children inside, Russia bombed Mariupol’s drama theater, killing up to 600 according to the Associated Press. 

Russian forces eventually took Hostomol Airport and most of Irpin, but battles raged in the city with each side losing and retaking it several times. Ukrainian forces finally recaptured most of Irpin on March 24th, nearly a week before Russia retreated from Ukraine’s northern Oblasts, but not before Russian forces bombed a column of civilian refugees. 

By March 29th, it had become apparent that Putin’s northern front was unviable and Russian forces made a full retreat from their attack on Kyiv in order to focus on advancing in Ukraine's eastern territory. 

As Russian forces pulled out of Ukraine’s north, Ukrainian forces moved in and discovered the horrors that Putin’s soldiers wrought in Bucha after a mass grave was discovered. More than 650 civilians were shot by Russia’s soldiers according to BBC News. 

On April 9th, Russia bombed a civilian train station in Kramatorsk, killing 52 men, women, and children as well as injuring over 100 more according to PBS News Hour. As with Bucha, this was a major turning point in the world’s opinion of the war—one that revealed Russia’s true brutality. 

Months after the Russian Navy’s Black Sea flagship was told to “go F itself,” Ukrainian forces were able to sink the Moskva in a daring April strike. This was a major victory for Ukraine and a crushing propaganda blow for Putin and his government. 

After spending months defending Mariupol, the AZOV Regiment and other units of Ukrainian marines finally surrendered the Azovstal steel mill in Mariupol on May 16th. Several would return from captivity in September but others would die during the Olenivka prison massacre. 

On June 2nd, the key Ukrainian city of Lysychansk fell to Russian forces after a protracted battle that saw some of the worst urban combat of the war.

Ukraine received its first batch of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems from the United States in mid-June and they would change the course of the war, giving Volodymyr Zelensky the weapons he needed to stop Russia’s advance and go on the offensive. 

After repeatedly devastating everything put on Snake Island, Russian forces were forced to leave the small Black Sea isle and control reverted back to Ukraine in a symbolic victory that would carry Ukranian forces through a difficult summer. 

One of the most devastating side effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was the collapse of Ukrainian grain shipments to the world’s poorest nations. Global food security was at risk until Turkey and the United Nations struck a deal with Russia to allow the Ukranian giant to flow from black sea ports according to PBS News Hour. 

Despite Russian nuclear rhetoric regarding attacks on Russian soil, Ukraine attacked a Saky Airbase in occupied Crimea. "Following the attacks, scores of holidaymakers were seen fleeing the peninsula,” BBC News noted, adding that the move “had a psychological effect in Moscow.”

In September, Ukrainian forces conducted a lightning offensive in Kharkiv and were able to liberate a majority of the Oblast within a matter of days. Several Russian units collapsed and the war's initiative turned in Ukraine's favor.

On September 21st Putin announced Russia would mobilize 300,000 new soldiers, prompting many men of military age to flee the country. Putin also announced that Russia would be holding referendums in four of its occupied territories, with plans to annex each after the votes were tallied.

On September 30th, Russia annexed Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts despite international pushback. North Korea is currently the only country that has recognized Russia’s annexations according to United Nations News.

Following Putin’s annexation announcement, a section of Russia’s Crimean Bridge was mysteriously destroyed on October 8th in a blast no one has taken credit for yet. 

In response to the attack on the Crimean Bridge, General Sergey Surovikin was appointed commander of all Russian forces in Ukraine and he quickly changed tactics and began targeting Ukraine's vital electrical infrastructure.

After a major struggle to break out of Kherson Oblast, Russia was forced to retreat to the south bank of the Dnipro on November 9th. Ukranian forces recaptured the city of Kherson two days after the Russian retreat. 

In December, Ukraine used Soviet-era drones to strike Russia deep behind its borders. On December 5th, Russia's Rayzan and Engels Airbases were hit, destroying several aircraft according to CNN. On December 26th, Engels Airbase was hit again, killing three.

Ukraine started 2023 off with a bang, striking a Russian barracks in Makiivka on January 5th and killing at least 89 soldiers according to The Moscow Times.

On January 14th, the world was shocked when an apartment complex in Dnipro was cut in two by a Russian missile. Roughly 45 people were killed according to the Associated Press.

With German-built Leopard tanks on their way to Ukraine, Russian forces moved up their timetable for a planned Spring offensive. Soledar fell to Russian forces on January 16th, but Ukranian forces halted a major advance toward Vuheldar on February 8th, destroying over 30 armored vehicles and possibly an entire brigade according to Politico.

In a surprise visit to Ukraine, President Joe Biden walked the streets of Kyiv during air raid sirens and signaled the American government's commitment to its East European ally. While the war in Ukraine may have reached the 365-day mark, there is no end in sight as each faction prepares for a much longer conflict.