One Year of Russia-Ukraine War: The moments that the world shall never forget

FP Staff • February 24, 2023, 16:57:32 IST

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began a year ago on this day. In the days that followed, there has been death and destruction and fears of a new Cold War. There is no consensus on what happens next, but one thing is certain: The world will never be the same again

The Russia-Ukraine War has been waging on for one year, causing the deaths of thousands and a destruction that could rival that in World War II. The war began in February 24 and just one day into the battle, bombings began across Ukraine. A woman is caught overcome with emotion as she stands outside her destroyed apartment building in Kyiv. And sad to say this was just the beginning of the war. AP

Perhaps, the most symbolic image from the Russia-Ukraine war is this image of Olena Kurylo, a resident of the eastern Ukraine town of Chuguiv. In the early days of the war, Russian armed forces attempted to invade Ukraine from several directions, using rocket systems and helicopters to attack Ukrainian positions. She stands defiant even today. The former school teacher says, “Never, under any conditions will I submit to Putin. It is better to die.” AFP

It was believed to be a quick invasion for Russia, but Ukraine held its own and soon the conflic bled into a month. While young Ukrainian men joined the forces to fight for their country, women, children, the elderly began to leave Ukraine and their lives behind. The war led to wrenching goodbyes, like this one where Stanislav is captured saying goodbye to his two-year-old son, David, and wife, Anna, after they boarded a train to leave the war-torn country. AP

After the initial shock of Vladimir Putin’s invasion in February, the true horror of war began to sink in for Ukraine and its allies in March. Every day, images showed new destruction wrought by Russian bombs. In this image, an apartment building in Mariupol is bombed, destroying it to smithereens. Reports later revealed that two elderly women were stuck in their apartment because they couldn’t make it down to the shelter, and were killed in the explosion. AP

Soldiers and civilians were dying at a rapid pace, which led to people have to bury their loved ones and friends in mass graves. AP

On 9 March, a Russian airstrike hit a maternity hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine. Ukrainian emergency personnel and police officers quickly tried to evacuate the patients inside. One of the pregnant women was Iryna Kalinina, who yelled, “Kill me now” as the authorities tried to rescue her. The baby was born dead, and a half-hour later, Iryna died too. AP

April was bittersweet for Ukraine. The country was able to repel Moscow’s forces from Kyiv, but suburbs around the capital – such as Bucha and Irpin – paid the heavy price of Russia’s month-long occupation. Mass graves were discovered and images of men with their hands been tied behind their back such as this one showed just what they might have gone through in their final moments. AP

As people returned to their homes in Kyiv, what they found was horrifying. Bodies of civilians were seen on the streets of Bucha. AP

The war also put culture and history at risk. The constant bombing reduced the Mariupol drama theatre into debris. Many other cultural and historical sites across Ukraine have been claimed by the war. AFP

In May, the attention turned to Azovstal iron and steel works factory in eastern Mariupol. Ukraine tried its hardest to retain control of the factory, but it couldn’t sustain the Russian forces. They finally surrendered the factory to Russia in mid-May. AP

A woman holds her granddaughter’s doll found in her destroyed house in Potashnya on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine. The woman had just returned to her hometown after escaping war to find out she is homeless. AP

A woman mourns while visiting the grave of Stanislav Hvostov, 22, a Ukrainian serviceman killed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in the military section of the Kharkiv cemetery number 18 in Bezlioudivka, eastern Ukraine. AFP

The fighting continued into July, over 100 days since it first began. Casualties continued mounting on both sides and families of thousands mourned the loss of their loved ones. Mother of Major Andrii Verkhohliad, a Ukrainian serviceman who was killed in a battle against Russian troops, rests her head on the coffin containing his body during a funeral ceremony. Reuters

August was the month when Ukraine set up an exhibition of the remains of Russian tanks and military fighting vehicles destroyed at Mykhailivska square, in front of the Monastery of St. Michael the Golden Dome. The purpose of this was to show that Ukraine was going nowhere and would not bow down to Russia. AFP

Scenes such as this one where relatives comfort a woman as she cries next to the coffin of her husband who died in combat have become a regular feature in Ukraine. As per the last count, Ukraine has lost more than 100,000 men in the war and that toll will keep rising as the battle continues. AP

In September, Russia formally annexed four regions of Ukraine – Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia – into Russia. It was also the month when Ukraine took back Izium, situated in the southeast of Ukraine. The liberation of the city also revealed the horror it had gone through. Hundreds of soldiers and civilians had been buried in mass graves in the city. Reuters

Vladimir Putin’s war gained him and his country lot of criticism. While the West condemned him, there were also people within Russia who said ’enough is enough’. In September, people in Russia carried out protests, demanding an end to the war. The authorities came down heavily on the protesters, crushing their dissent. AFP

In early October, Russia’s prestige takes a severe battering when Putin’s much-vaunted “miracle” bridge linking the Russian mainland to the occupied Crimea peninsula across the Kerch Strait is partly blown up. Ukrainian social media lit up in rejoicing at the sight of black smoke and flames billowing the bridge. AFP

In what many believe was retribution for the bombing of the Kerch bridge, Russia began a barrage of deadly drone and missile strikes on Kyiv and other cities aimed chiefly at knocking out Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. On 17 October, Kyiv residents wake to the buzzing of Iranian-made explosive drones swooping down to attack targets. AFP photographer Yasuyoshi Chiba snapped one of the weapons as it passed overhead. It exploded 100 metres (yards) away from him. AFP

In November, the focus of the war turned to the small city of Bakhmut, found in Donetsk. Russian forces – and specifically the Wagner private military company – began to focus their efforts on trying to take the city in a battle later described as a ‘meat grinder’. AP

In November, Ukraine also took back control of Kherson giving ways to emotional reunions between family members. Many locals said they felt a great sense of relief after Kyiv had wrested back control of the city. AP

Winter came in December and the stalemate continued. A pall of gloom and doom surrounded Ukraine as the war raged on. In the last week of December, in an attempt to shore up more support for his country, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy made his way to Washington, DC where he addressed the US Congress. He told US legislators, “Ukraine… will never surrender,” earning him a standing ovation. AFP

A new year, but an old war. The fighting rages on and there seems to be no end in sight. Armoured vehicles destroyed during the fighting between Ukrainian and Russian armed forces lie on a bank of the frozen Siverskiy Donets River in the recently-liberated village of Bogorodychne, Ukraine. AP

As the war neared its one-year mark, Ukraine and its western allies began to warn of a new Russian offensive. Analysts said that Putin was planning on making another attempt to seize control of the country after calling up thousands of new soldiers. Just shy of the one-year anniversary and US president Joe Biden makes a surprise visit to Kyiv where he visits Zelenskyy and assures Ukraine of support. AFP