Six months in the past this week, Vladimir Putin ordered tens of hundreds of Russian troops into Ukraine on a “particular navy operation” – a mass invasion on a scale unseen in Europe since World Warfare Two.

Since then, tens of hundreds of individuals have been killed, tens of millions have fled and cities have been lowered to rubble by Russia’s relentless bombardment.

Listed below are some milestones from the battle:

A CHILLING SPEECH

Russia repeatedly denied it will invade Ukraine and as soon as it did, mentioned it sought to “disarm” Kyiv, purge it of “nationalists” and halt the enlargement of NATO, not seize territory. However Ukrainians say an deal with by Russian President Vladimir Putin three days earlier than the Feb. 24 invasion left little question he aimed to overcome their nation and wipe out their 1,000-year nationwide id.

“Ukraine isn’t just a neighbouring nation for us. It’s an inalienable a part of our personal historical past, tradition and religious house,” Putin mentioned. “Since time immemorial, the folks residing within the southwest of what has traditionally been Russian land have known as themselves Russians and Orthodox Christians.”

AN EARLY DEFEAT

Inside hours of the invasion, Russia landed commandos at Antonov airfield, a cargo base simply north of Kyiv, to safe an air bridge for a lightning assault on the capital.

Inside a day, Ukrainians had worn out the elite Russian paratroops and destroyed the touchdown strip. Whereas Russia’s armoured columns would ultimately attain the northern outskirts of Kyiv, the failure to safe a working air area on day one helped wreck Moscow’s plan to swiftly seize the capital.

‘I’M HERE’

As Russian bombs fell on Kyiv and its residents huddled in metro stations for shelter or crammed practice stations to flee, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy made clear he would go nowhere.

“Good morning Ukrainians,” the previous sitcom actor mentioned, with the trace of a smile, in a cell phone selfie video taken within the early gentle of the warfare’s third morning. Behind him was a landmark constructing in central Kyiv. “Ya tut.” I am right here.

Zelenskiy went on to rally his nation in nightly addresses, his fight fatigues, sparse stubble and informal however agency talking model turning into symbols of Ukraine’s resistance.

Since then, he has used video hyperlinks to invoke Martin Luther King to the U.S. Congress and the Berlin Wall to the Bundestag. He has been beamed into the streets of Prague, the Grammy awards and the Glastonbury music competition, the place he advised cheering followers to “show that freedom all the time wins”.

CARRYING A STRANGER’S CHILDREN

As Russia pounded Ukrainian cities, tens of millions took flight in what the United Nations mentioned was the fastest-growing refugee disaster in generations. Greater than 6.6 million refugees have been recorded throughout Europe, most in neighbouring international locations, which opened their arms. Kyiv banned males of combating age from leaving.

“Their father merely handed over the 2 youngsters to me, and trusted me, giving me their passports to deliver them over,” Natalya Ableyeva, 58, mentioned on the border with Hungary two days after the invasion, the arms of the younger boy she had identified for only a few hours round her neck.

On the Hungarian aspect of the border, the youngsters had been later reunited with their mom, who wept as she hugged them tightly.

GLIMPSES OF HELL

Mariupol, a once-prosperous southern port, was destroyed by Russian forces over three months of what the Purple Cross known as “hell”. Ukraine says tens of hundreds of civilians died, with meals, water and medical provides minimize and steady bombing trapping many in basements. The United Nations says the toll is unknown.

On March 9, Russia bombed a Mariupol maternity hospital, killing three folks, together with a baby. The Group for Safety and Cooperation in Europe known as it a warfare crime. Moscow mentioned the constructing was disused and occupied by fighters.

Per week later, a theatre the place Ukraine mentioned households had been sheltering within the basement was destroyed. The phrase “youngsters” might be seen in satellite tv for pc pictures painted on the bottom outdoors. Kyiv says Russia bombed it intentionally to interrupt the town’s will and that lots of of our bodies are nonetheless believed buried; Russia mentioned, with out giving any proof, that the incident was staged.

BODIES IN STREETS

By the tip of March, Russia’s assault on Kyiv had failed. Its armoured columns, weak to cellular items of Ukrainian defenders with anti-tank missiles and drones, had develop into slowed down and sustained heavy losses. Moscow introduced its withdrawal from northern Ukraine as a “goodwill gesture”. However as its troops pulled out, they left proof of their occupation in ruined cities and villages the place our bodies lay within the streets.

Scores of victims had been discovered within the as soon as affluent suburb of Bucha, some with fingers tied. Russia denied blame and claimed, with no proof, that the killings had been staged.

‘RUSSIAN WARSHIP, GO FUCK YOURSELF’

Within the first hours of the invasion, Russian officers on the Black Sea Fleet flagship Moskva radioed Ukrainian guards on the barren however strategic Black Sea outcrop Snake Island, ordering them to give up or die. One in every of them radioed again “Russian warship, go fuck your self.”

The phrase grew to become a nationwide slogan, depicted on Ukrainian billboards, T-shirts, and ultimately a postage stamp displaying a Ukrainian guard standing on the outcrop, giving the flagship the finger.

The day the stamp was launched, April 14, two Ukrainian missiles struck the Moskva, the most important warship sunk in fight for 40 years. Formally, Russia says one sailor was killed in an accident. Western consultants say they imagine round half of the crew of about 450 perished at sea.

On June 30, Russia deserted Snake Island after taking heavy losses making an attempt to defend it. It known as its withdrawal one other “goodwill gesture”.

AZOVSTAL

The siege of Mariupol wore on, largely past the world’s gaze. Reuters reporters who reached the town from the Russian-held aspect discovered an eery, silent wasteland, the place bewildered civilians emerged from cellars beneath the ruins to bury their useless in grass by the roadside.

The final Ukrainian troops had been holed up in Azovstal, one among Europe’s largest metal crops, the place underground tunnels served as bunkers. On Could 16, Ukraine’s common employees advised them to give up to save lots of their lives. Reuters journalists noticed them rising, carrying their wounded on stretchers to buses that took them to a jail camp run by pro-Russian separatists.

Moscow pledged to deal with the Azovstal prisoners based on the Geneva conventions however rebuffed Ukrainian requires a prisoner swap.

On July 29, dozens of the Azovstal defenders had been killed within the custody of pro-Russian separatists in a fiery blast that engulfed a jail. Kyiv known as it a warfare crime carried out on Moscow’s orders. Moscow mentioned the jail had been struck by a Ukrainian missile, with out explaining why no pro-Russian guards had been damage. Russia’s embassy in London mentioned the surviving Azov prisoners ought to be executed by hanging, including: “They deserve a humiliating demise.”

THE BATTLE OF THE DONBAS

Having did not take Kyiv, Russia modified its warfare goals to concentrate on securing the Donbas, an jap area shaped of two provinces already partly held by its separatist proxies. That unleashed probably the most devastating floor battles of the warfare.

In mid-Could, a complete battalion of Russian troops was worn out making an attempt to cross the Siverskiy Donets River. Satellite tv for pc pictures confirmed dozens of destroyed armoured autos scattered throughout both financial institution.

The Russians pressed on, utilizing their artillery firepower benefit to hem in Ukrainian forces on three sides. All through June, each side claimed to have killed hundreds of enemy troopers. After capturing the ruins of the cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk, Putin declared a victory within the space on July 4 however battles grind on.

‘HIMARS O’CLOCK’

The warfare is now centered primarily on the south, the place Kyiv has vowed to recapture the most important swath of territory seized within the invasion that Russia nonetheless holds. Russia has rushed in additional troops.

Since early July, Ukraine has deployed superior rockets provided by the West – the M142 Excessive Mobility Artillery Rocket System, HIMARS. It will probably now goal bridges, railways, command posts and ammunition dumps deep inside Russian-held territory and hopes it will shift the course of the warfare in its favour.

Ukraine’s supporters on the web publish day by day photos of explosions in Russian-held territory with the catch-phrase “HIMARS O’Clock”. Russia says its operation goes to plan.

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