LOADING

Type to search

Chronicle of an undeclared war

In the early morning of February 24, 2022 Putin’s appeal was broadcast on Russian television, in which he informed his compatriots about the start of a ‘special military operation’ on the territory of Ukraine under the pretext of protecting the population of Donbas from genocide by the ‘Kyiv regime’. The speech included words that the plans of the Russian Federation do not include the occupation of Ukrainian territories.

February 24

There was no official declaration of war in accordance with the Hague Convention III. Explosions were announced to Ukraine about the beginning of full-scale hostilities, which were heard from 5 in the morning in different cities- Kharkiv, Kyiv and Brovary, Odesa, Zhytomyr, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk. Rocket fire began on borders and military facilities throughout Ukraine, as a result of which a depot of rocket and artillery weapons was destroyed in Kharkiv, and strong fires broke out in Mykolaiv. Also, a landing operation began in the Black and Azov Seas. At 5:30 a.m. Kyiv time martial law was introduced in Ukraine.

Throughout the day missile strikes were carried out on civil and military airports in Ivano-Frankivsk and the region, Kramatorsk, Khmelnitsky and Zhytomyr regions. Shelling leads to fires in military warehouses in Khmelnitsky, Dnipropetrovsk, Vinnytsia regions. The result of the shelling of military units in Brovary- 6 dead, 12 wounded. Shelling in Kharkiv, Kherson, Sumy, Donetsk, Odesa, Cherkasy regions is underway. Russian tanks entered the Luhansk region. Cars with the symbols of OSCE civilian monitoring mission were launched ahead of the tank columns. Russian troops do not allow the creation of ‘a green corridor’ for the removal of women and children from the occupied territories. Throughout the day battles are being fought in Kherson, Sumy regions, on the outskirts of Chernihiv, attempts are being made to capture Mykolaiv. Fierce fighting unfolds for control of the Antonov International Airport in Hostomel near Kyiv, which ends with the victory of the Ukrainian military by the end of the day.

2 unidentified vessels approached Zmiinyi Island in Southern Ukraine. Using an international communication channel to ensure the safety of navigation, the invaders turned to the border guards with threats and a demand to surrender. A few hours later communication with defenders of the island was lost, they were considered dead, the next day information appeared that they were captured.

Russian troops entered the Exclusion Zone on the territory of Chornobyl nuclear power plant, entered into battle with the troops of the National Guard of Ukraine. After a few hours of fighting the invaders seized control of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, the personnel are being held hostage. The capture of the nuclear power plant is a direct violation of Article 56 of the Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949. It is terrible to imagine what this could turn out to be. The next day, at about 9 am an excess of the control level of the radioactive background in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone was recorded. Along with military infrastructure, facilities civilian facilities are being shelled- a television tower and a fire station in Lutsk, a city hospital in Vuhledar in the Donetsk region, a residential neighborhood in Mariupol, residential buildings in Kyiv, Chuhuiv, Kharkiv region and the centre of Uman. According to the Ministry of Health, as of 6:30 p.m. on February 24, 57 people died in Ukraine, as the result of invasion, 169 were injured. Among the victims of military aggression are 4 dead and 10 wounded (including 6 doctors) as a result of the shelling of a hospital in Vuhledar, 13 dead (2 children) in the Kherson region, 5 dead as a result of a downed plane crash in the Obukhiv district of Kyiv.

In order to demoralize the civilian population, demonstrative flights of Russian SU-25 SM aircraft along the Ukrainian- Belarusian border are regularly carried out from the Luninets airport in Belarus. Each flight is accompanied by an air-raid alert in the border regions of Ukraine.

February 25

Fighting is going on in the Kyiv direction, Sumy and Sumy region, Kharkiv region, Mariupol, attempts to break through the defense of Chernihiv are reflected. The airfield in Rivne and Starokonstiantyniv, Khmelnytsky region, the border guard unit in the Zaporizhzhia region, military units in the Kropyvnytsky region and in Ushomyr, Zhytomyr region are subjected to air and missile strikes, shelling. Ukrainian air defense in Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Kharkiv regions shoot down enemy missiles and aircraft. By the evening, after prolonged fighting, the Russian invaders took control of the crossing across the Dnipro to Kherson.

There are growing casualties among the civilian population and the destruction of the civilian objects:

  • damaged multi-storey and private residential buildings in Kyiv, 8 people were injured. Attempts were made to destroy the thermal power plant in Troieshchyna, as a result of the shelling, a fire broke out at the airport. In Kyiv, 35 people were wounded in 2 days, including 2 children;
  • as a result of shelling by Grad system in Vorzel, Kyiv region, an orphanage (there were 50 children) was damaged by shrapnel. Fortunately, there were no casualties;
  • Uragans shelled a residential area, bomb shelters and a kindergarten in Okhtyrka, Sumy region. There are children among the seriously wounded;
  • as a result of the shelling of Chernihiv, a pumping station, a line power transmission, the building of the regional department of the SSU;
  • an air raid of bombers on Kharkiv, explosions in different parts of the city, the heating supply of about 70 houses was disrupted. Throughout the day, artillery hit a number of social infrastructure facilities, shells hit the Blood centre, the children’s regional hospital. Also, the Kupiansk railway station in the Kharkiv region was shelled, 2 railway workers were injured;
  • also fired on the emergency medical teams in Zaporizhzhia region, the territory of a psychiatric hospital in Chernihiv;
  • fired on Mariupol, the shells hit the school building and a 12-storey residential building. Buildings are on fire, 3 people were injured.

Reports from the Luhansk region for the day: as a result of mortar shelling in Starobilsk, residential buildings and social infrastructure facilities were damaged, one woman died. As a result of incessant shelling, 80 % of a town of Shchastia was destroyed, and when trying to evacuate the local population, the driver of a school bus was injured as a result of shelling with Grads. Residential buildings in Nizhny, Popasna were damaged, Zolote and Novotishkivske were also shelled. The railway track was broken, along which trains with evacuees were moving from Popasna. Fighting is going on in different parts of the region.

For 2 days in Ukraine as a result of hostilities, 198 people (3 children) were killed, 1115 (33 children) were injured.

February 26

Another tense night fierce battle for Vasylkiv near Kyiv, rocket fire and cynical sabotage- the execution of fighters at the checkpoints by invaders dressed in Ukrainian police uniforms. An attack on military unit in Kyiv, an air attack on Mykolaiv, and an attempting landing in Ochakiv were repulsed. On the night on February 26, an attempt was warned to destroy the dam of the Kyiv reservoir with a rocket. Its destruction threatens with catastrophic consequences, flooding of the residential areas of Kyiv and suburbs.

Saturday morning for 6 Ukrainian cities began with air raid. Throughout the day fighting continues in Sumy, attempts of tanks to break through in Chernihiv and Mykolaiv. The Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed 6 Russian fighters, 11 helicopters, a convoy of equipment and a train with fuel, neutralized 2 air bombs dropped over the Vinnytsia region, a number of missiles. The following are being attacked:

  • residential buildings in Kyiv (there are victims), Kharkiv (a woman died), residential areas and military units of Okhtyrka (70 people were injured 1 woman died), the village of Sartana near Mariupol (at least 4 people died, 9, including 1 child, received wounds);
  • a bridge on the Kyiv-Zhytomyr highway, along which a civilian transport moved. A child died, there are seriously wounded;
  • warehouses in Solomianskyi district of Kyiv (2 killed in a fire);
  • a passenger bus moving along the Izyum – Kharkiv highway. 5 people died, 6 injured;
    oil depot near Vasylkiv.

The fire started, In Sumy aviation and sabotage groups scatter children’s toys and electronic gadgets stuffed with explosives on the streets. In the Kharkiv region, Ukrainian defenders found internationally banned cluster bombs with butterfly mines (the so-called ‘Lepestok’, prohibited by the Geneva Convention). Aircraft sorties and rocket attacks from Belarus continue.

In the area of Zmiinyi Island a civilian rescue ship ‘Sapphire’, which was carrying out a humanitarian mission, was captured. This is a direct violation of the International Maritime Law and International Convention for the Safety of Navigation.

In the suburbs of Kherson, the occupiers shot a civilian journalist Dilerbek Shakirov, and in Kyiv, saboteurs shot a family with 3 children, one child died, three were hospitalized.
In the Kherson region during the transportation of the wounded, an ambulance was fired upon, the driver and one of the wounded soldiers died, the second received a new gunshot wound.

February 27

At night Russia activated a special unit of the Chechen National Guard, which was defeated in the Hostomel area. In the morning tanks broke through the defenses of Kharkiv, fighting began on the streets of the city, as a result control over Kharkiv by Ukraine was restored.

Throughout the day strikes were carried on Kyiv and region, which led to fires in a residential area in Troieshchyna and several residential buildings in Bucha were set on fire. As a result of the shelling, the Hostomel animal shelter was left without electricity and water, several dogs died. In the residential complex near Osokorky, a saboteur attempted a terrorist attack (a backpack with explosives was left). The attack on Irpin from Bucha was repulsed.

Other important events of the day:

  • attack on Sumy shelling of Kirikovka, Akhtyrsky district, shooting of a bus with civilians, after which the ambulance was blocked from accessing them;
  • the capture of two civilian shipsin the area of Zmiinyi Island;
  • sabotage in the Odesa region;
  • the destruction of a Russian tank company in the Chernihiv region;
  • the approach of Russian troops to Enerhodar in the Zaporizhzhia region, sabotage in the city;
  • a battle in Mykolaiv with invaders who were hiding in trucks with ATB logos (the largest network of Ukrainian supermarkets);
  • missile attack on the airports of Zhytomyr and Mykolaiv;
  • the capture of Berdiansk in the Zhytomyr region and Kupiansk in Kharkiv region, looting.

For 4 days of the war in Ukraine, 352 people (14 children) among civilian population died. 1684 people (116 children) were wounded.

February 28

A landing force of 11 ships is heading from the Crimea towards Odesa. The defense if Kyiv, attempts to capture Irpin, shelling of residential areas in Kyiv and Kharkiv continue. 16 missiles were fired at Kharkiv from a strategic bomber. In the Kyiv region, 3 5-storey houses, a private house were destroyed, there are victims. 6 people were wounded as a result of an air raid of Brovary. In Kharkiv, 9 dead, 37 wounded, explosions are systematically destroying the power grid. Fighting is underway in the areas of Mariupol and Volnovakha (Donetsk region). The civilian infrastructure of Volnovakha is almost completely destroyed. In Chernihiv, a residential building, a kindergarten, a shop were shelled, the shelling of Okhtyrka led to a fire at an oil depot. The village of Ivankiv in the Kyiv region was captured, the invaders burned down the museum of local lore, where the paintings of Maria Primachenko (a Ukrainian folk artist) were kept.

March 1

According to the UN, at this moment more than 500,000 Ukrainians have become refugees as a result of the war.

3 vacuum bombs were dropped on Okhtyrka, many people died. Near Kyiv, a shell hit a private maternity hospital (there were no casualties), a rehabilitation centre was fired upon. The centre of Kharkiv was shelled, there were many people on the square and in the building of the regional state administration, where the rocket hit. According to the preliminary data, 7 people were killed and 24 injured. The next targets were the building of the city hospital and the plant for handling equipment (the residential building located next to the plant was also damaged) and the tank school. As a result of another shelling of residential areas of Mariupol, several houses and a school were damaged, 1 dead, 3 wounded. A residential microdontic of Chernihiv was shelled.

A number of strikes were made on military and civilian targets in the Zaporizhzhia region, shelling is underway in the direction of Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia, Mariupol and Berdiansk. Russian armored vehicles are passing through Kherson, the city is being shelled from the air, local residents are captured to be used as a human shield during further advancement across Ukraine. Later troops entered the city, street fighting began. When a shopping and entertainment centre caught fire in Kherson, the occupiers blocked the access of rescuers to it. In the evening a fire broke out in the building of SSU.

A similar situation (passage of enemy equipment, shelling0 is in Sumy and in the region the occupiers, who enter villages under a white flag, shoot local residents, mass cases of looting are noted. A residential building in Trostianets was damaged, the city was occupied. In Kyiv, as a result of the shelling of the TV tower and the fire, at least 5 people died, the same number were injured. Dozens of houses were destroyed in Melitopol. An aerial bomb completely destroyed a residential building in Zhytomyr, 10 private houses and a hospital building were damaged, 2 people died, 16 were injured. The exact number of victims of terrorist acts committed on March 1 in various cities, towns and villages of Ukraine is still being established.

March 2

Fighting is underway in Kharkiv, during the shelling of the administrative buildings of the city at least 4 people were killed, 9 were injured. The attack on Kyiv continues from different directions, but it is not possible to capture the capital. The occupiers are trying to seize and retain control over Sumy, Okhtyrka, Lebedyn, blockade Mariupol. Residents of Mariupol, due to incessant shelling, are deprived of the opportunity to provide assistance to the wounded and pick up the dead. Preparations for a amphibious landing operation in the Black Sea zone are underway; an assault force landed in Mykolaiv in the morning with an order to fire to kill. In some areas Ukrainian troops have been pushing the invaders to the border since morning.

The occupation of Kherson and Trostianets continues, the seizure of key transport infrastructure facilities, enterprises, terror against the local population. At night settlements near Kyiv (Bila Tserkva, Borodianka) were bombed. During the bombardment of residential areas of Irpin, a multi-storey building was destroyed. The occupiers refuse to create ‘a green corridor’ in the Kyiv region for the evacuation of the civilian population and the provision of assistance. In the Zaporizhzhia regin the defense of Enerhodar continues, battles are being fought on the streets of Melitopol. In the Zhytomyr region as a result of an air attack on Korosten, 4 people were killed, 5 were injured and a television tower was destroyed.

During the week of the war the aggressor moved from strikes, the main purpose of which were military facilities and key, strategically important facilities, to mass terrorist acts against the civilian population. Hospitals, schools and kindergartens are being attacked. The war claimed the lives of more than 2,000 Ukrainians civilians. Russia ignores the resolution of the UN General Assembly and continues military operations.