Russia-Ukraine War Day 65: What has happened so far
It has been 65 days since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, the biggest attack on a European country since World War 2.
Thousands of Russians and Ukrainians have died since the war started, and according to a United Nations' report, more than 11 million people are believed to have fled their homes in Ukraine since the conflict began.
Frustrated with the losses and a slow progress, Russia has increased the pace of its offensive. Putin’s army attacked Kyiv with two cruise missiles on Thursday as the UN Secretary General was visiting the Ukrainian capital, reported Al Jazeera.
As Russia's invasion of Ukraine enters the third month, we take a look at the key events since the war started.
RUSSIA INVADES UKRAINE
On February 24, Russia invaded Ukraine from three fronts in one of the biggest assaults in European history. Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was launching a “special military operation” to demilitarise and “deNazify” Ukraine. Large explosions were witnessed in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Mariupol regions. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said “Russia has embarked on a path of evil, but Ukraine is defending itself.”
UKRAINIAN RESILIENCE
Soon after the attack, Russian forces faced huge resilience from the Ukrainian forces in the north, east and south. Civilians prepared Molotov cocktails as they got ready to defend the capital. US defence officials said Ukraine’s forces were putting up “determined resistance”, reported Reuters.
NO AGREEMENT
February 28: The first round of talks between Ukraine and Russia ended without making any breakthroughs. The meeting which took place near the Belarus-Ukraine border was the first since the war started.
March 3: Russia and Ukraine decided to set up humanitarian corridors for fleeing civilians from both countries.
On March 4, Russian forces seized Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s biggest. On the same day, NATO rejected Ukraine’s appeal for no-fly zones, saying it would escalate the conflict, reported the AFP.
WAR INTENSIFIES
On March 13, Russia extended its war deep into western Ukraine. Missile attacks at a base in Yavoriv close to Poland killed 35 people and wounded 134.
On March 16, Ukraine accused Russia of bombing a theatre in Mariupol where hundreds of civilians were taking shelter. Moscow, however, denied the allegations, reported Reuters.
RUSSIA LIMITS AMBITIONS
On March 25, Moscow signalled that it is going to scale back its ambitions and will focus on territory claimed by Russian-backed separatists in the east and the Donbas region in the southeastern Ukraine, reported France24.
BUCHA MASSACRE
On April 3 and 4, after hundreds of bodies were found in towns near Kyiv, Ukraine accused Russia of committing war crimes.
Mass graves and bodies of people shot at close range were found in the recaptured town of Bucha. As the West vowed response over Bucha deaths, Russia denied all allegations.
MOSKOA SINKS
On April 14, Russia’s lead warship in the Black Sea, the Moskva, sank after an explosion. Though Ukrainian officials said their forces hit the vessel with missiles, Russia denied any attack but admitted to any explosion on the ship, reported the Associated Press. The vessel was the biggest Russian warship to be sunk in action since World War 2.
RUSSIA UNLEASHES OFFENSIVE
With an aim to take full control of the Donbas region, Russia decided to launch an assault on east Ukraine on April 18. Putin, on April 21, declared that the port city of Mariupol has been "liberated" after two months of siege, reported Reuters.
On April 22, a Russian general said that Moscow wants to take full control of southern and eastern Ukraine.
On April 28, Russia attacked Kyiv with two cruise missiles as the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres was visiting the Ukrainian capital.
WHERE IS THE WAR HEADEED?
While Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that the risk of a nuclear war is real and should not be underestimated, Ukraine has said that it will stand up to Moscow till the very end.
Gustav Gressel, a Senior Policy Fellow at a think tank, European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), wrote that Russia is drawing on its Syria playbook and regrouping for a long war to seize the whole of Ukraine.
"The West needs to take action now to supply Ukraine with Western equipment. Europeans need to plan now for the long war Russia intends to wage as it makes its way westward," he wrote.
US President Joe Biden has asked the Congress to fund a new USD 33 billion Ukraine aid package. He spoke at the White House after Putin warned of “lightning fast” retaliation against any country that interferes in Ukraine, reported the NBC News.
Looks like the war in Ukraine is not going to end anytime soon.