Friday, June 24, 2022 marked four months since Russia Launched the invasion of Ukraine with the intent of taking over the country and overthrowing democratically elected President Volodymyr Zelensky. Russia has severely damaged and destroyed many cities and homes in Ukraine the devastation is massive and continues to make waves currently. In 120 days we have seen so much happen, so many losses, so much destroyed, so many lives have changed, and Ukraine continues to push on.
Feb, 24, 2022. Russia declared an all-out attack on Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, severely threatening international peace & security, killing 137 military soldiers and civilians in Ukraine. The invasion started with about 100 missiles fired from both land- and sea-based platforms, and then with ground incursions on three main axes of assault: in the north, from Belarus down towards Kyiv; in the east, from western Russia down towards Kharkiv; and in the south, from Crimea up to Kherson. The streets in Ukraine were flooding with thousands, including citizens and foreigners preparing to leave Ukraine’s capital, and other major cities like Kharkiv, Odesa, and more. The sirens were heard around the city of Kyiv indicting a military attack on the country. 100,000 or more people have been internally displaced while several thousand have crossed international borders.
From Feb 24 to 27, Russians faced greater resistance from Ukrainians than they had anticipated and suffered logistical setbacks, the Pentagon assessed the Russians were having to expend more fuel than they had planned for in the north. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy started posting social media video addresses from the capital asking for help from the international community. He reportedly turned down another nation’s offer to evacuate him from Kyiv by saying, “I need more ammunition, not a ride.”
From Feb, 29 to March, 24 2022, the Pentagon characterized the Russian advance in the north around Kyiv, Chernhiv, and Kharkiv as “stalled.” The Russians never made it closer than about 15 kilometers from Kyiv and stayed at this distance until retreating to focus on the Donbas. Russia made more progress in the south because its supply lines ran from Crimea, where they’ve had a presence since 2014. The Russians conducted the only amphibious assault of the invasion so far early on, putting troops from the Sea of Azov near the town of Berdyansk. The Russians captured Berdyansk in March as they worked towards the strategic city of Mariupol.
On March 25, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced it would focus on “fully liberating” the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine. Russian battalion tactical groups began to reposition and pull out of Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Sumy back into Russia to be refitted and resupplied for the fight in the Donbas.
Then 7 days later on April 1, 2022 the Russians withdrew from around Kyiv, and evidence of brutal atrocities started to emerge. In the town of Bucha, Ukrainian officials said the Russians cruelly killed estimated dozens of civilians, many of whom were shot in the head while their wrists were tied behind their back. Ukrainian officials also said several mass graves were discovered in Bucha after the Russian retreat. The graves combined with the images of murdered corpses lining the streets in Bucha horrified the international community and prompted Biden again to call Putin “a war criminal.”
On April 9, 2022, seven weeks into the invasion, Putin appointed General Alexander Dvornikov to lead the invasion in what was seen by many as an attempt to fix all the mistakes made so far. Before his appointment, Russia did not have an overall commander-in-charge of the invasion. Dvornikov was nicknamed the “Butcher of Syria” because of his disregard for civilian harm while in charge of Russian forces in Syria.
On April 13, 2022, the Russians began to prioritize the Donbas region. The U.S. and other countries shifted the assistance to Ukraine in preparation for the fight in the Donbas. General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Senate panel in early April that “The fight down in the southeast, the terrain is different than it is in the north. It is much more open and lends itself to armored mechanized offensive operations on both sides.” The Biden administration committed to sending M777 Howitzers to Ukraine, the heaviest piece of weaponry the U.S. had committed up until this point. In addition to the weapons, the U.S. began training Ukrainians on the Howitzers in locations outside of Ukraine. Since then, the U.S. has continued to provide heavier equipment and more training for the Ukrainians.
On April 14, 2022 the Moskva, the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, sank. The Ukrainians had struck it the day before with two Neptune anti-ship missiles. The ship battled a huge fire and eventually sank in the Black Sea. The Moskva was the ship Ukrainians reportedly told to “f*** off” in the video in February when it approached Snake Island and demanded Ukrainians surrender.
The Ukrainians launched a counteroffensive in Kharkiv in the first two weeks of May and have successfully pushed the Russians back gradually toward the border. The Ukrainians have attempted counter-offensives in other parts of the country, including in the south around Kherson. On May 16, 2022 Hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers and trapped civilians ended their defense of the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works plant. The soldiers and many civilians had taken refuge in the plant in part because of its vast underground tunnels and defended the compound for weeks against Russian attacks, the Ukrainians negotiated with Russian forces to leave the plant and the end of the Azovstal battle brought most of Mariupol under Russian control, giving Russia the land bridge from Crimea across the southern coast of Ukraine that they have wanted since back in February.
Since mid-May, the Russians have narrowed their focus to the Donbas and started using smaller units to gradually capture towns and villages in the region. A senior defense official said the Russian military’s losses were not insignificant and highlighted that Russia had lost nearly 1,000 tanks, 350 artillery pieces, and almost three dozen fighter aircraft. Despite these losses, the official cautioned that the Russian military has a numerical superiority over Ukraine in terms of equipment and manpower it can commit to the fight.
On the Ukrainian side, Zelenskyy told Newsmax in an interview that the Ukrainian forces are losing up to 100 soldiers a day in eastern Ukraine and called the situation difficult. In an effort to help the Ukrainians, the U.S. and other allies are stepping up their assistance.
On June 1, the Biden administration announced it would provide high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS) to Ukraine with munitions that have a range of up to 70 kilometers. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Dr. Colin H. Kahl said the type of weapons the U.S. has provided to Ukraine has shifted over time as the fight has shifted to an artillery duel in the east, the priority was javelins and anti-tank weapons, then it was M777 Howitzers, and now the U.S. is shifting to providing HIMARS.
The initial tranche includes four HIMARS systems, but it will take some time for the HIMARS to arrive in Ukraine since training Ukrainians on them will take about three weeks, Kahl said. The Russians have made recent gains and are close to capturing the city of Severodonetsk, the last remaining significant city in the Luhansk oblast — or region. The fall of Severodonetsk would put Russia closer to achieving control of the Donbas, which includes the oblasts of Donetsk and Luhansk. In 2014, Russian-backed separatists in these regions tried to break away from Ukraine, and Putin claimed the invasion in February was to protect these regions. One hundred days later, Russia is slowly making progress and has faced some losses as has Ukraine, they are pushing back with help from the U.S and many more but, we are still far to go to see what victory may look like from either side.
Lexie Graham
Reporter