The battle of Kyiv was part of the Kyiv offensive in the Russian invasion of Ukraine for control of Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine, and surrounding districts including Hostomel Airport. The combatants were elements of the Russian Armed Forces and Ukrainian Armed Forces. The battle lasted from 25 February 2022 to 2 April 2022 and ended with the withdrawal of Russian forces.
Initially, Russian forces captured key areas to the north and west of Kyiv, leading to international prediction of the city's imminent fall. However, stiff Ukrainian resistance sapped Russian momentum. Poor Russian logistics and tactical decisions helped the defenders to thwart efforts at encirclement, and, after a month of protracted fighting, Ukrainian forces began counterattacking.
Following the successful Ukrainian counterattacks in late March, Russia began withdrawing its forces from the Kyiv area on 29 March. Four days later, the Ukrainian authorities declared that Kyiv and the surrounding Kyiv Oblast were again under Ukrainian control.
Russian forces engaged Ukrainian troops at Hostomel Airport on 24 February 2022. A key supply point for Russian troops near Kyiv, the airport, located in Hostomel, a town northwest of the city, was captured the following day. [34]
On the morning of 25 February, three Russian saboteurs, dressed as Ukrainian soldiers, entered Obolon District, 10 kilometres (6 mi) north of the Verkhovna Rada building, the seat of the parliament of Ukraine. [35] [36] They were killed by Ukrainian forces afterwards. [37] [38] Several hours later, a Ukrainian Sukhoi Su-27 fighter aircraft piloted by Colonel Oleksandr Oksanchenko was shot down over the city and crashed into an apartment building. [31] Throughout the day, gunfire was heard at several wards of the city. Ukrainian officials described the gunfire as arising from clashes with Russian forces. [39] [40] There was heavy gunfire in the city during the night. Ukrainian forces later claimed to have killed around 60 Russian saboteurs during the process. [27]
On the morning of 26 February, Russian artillery shelled the city for more than 30 minutes. [41] Concurrently, Ukrainian forces repelled an attack on a power plant in the northeastern neighborhood of Troieshchyna. The attack was suggested to be a Russian attempt to cut Kyiv off from electricity. [42] Heavy fighting also occurred near the Kyiv Zoo in Shuliavka, where Ukrainian forces defended an army base on Prospect Peremohy. [43] According to President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian forces managed to repel a Russian offensive and continued to hold Kyiv and its surrounding areas. A curfew was imposed from 17:00 to 08:00, and violators were to be considered saboteurs. [44] According to the British Ministry of Defence, Russian forces were 31 kilometres (19 mi) from the city-center of Kyiv. [45]
On 27 February, clashes between Ukrainian forces and Russian saboteurs continued. Meanwhile, local officials remained adamant that the city was still under full Ukrainian control. [46] Later that morning, a rocket fell and exploded in the courtyard of a 16-story highrise in Troieshchyna, destroying several automobiles. [47] Ukrainian officials allege that the missile was fired by a Russian strategic bomber [ clarification needed ] from Belarus. [48] [49] By the evening, the Associated Press reported that mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko had stated the city was encircled, [50] which was subsequently clarified by his spokesperson as a mistake in The Kyiv Independent . The report has since been classified as false information. [51]
During the night, a Russian convoy attempted to set up a temporary base at Syrets Metro, which was met with a deadly confrontation with Ukrainian troops. Russian troops also fired at a Ukrainian military bus, creating an unknown amount of casualties. [52]
During the start of the attack Klitschko vowed to take up arms and fight. [53] Zelenskyy urged citizens of Kyiv to respond to the Russian assault with improvised attacks using Molotov cocktails. [54] [55] Residents were warned to avoid windows and balconies. [42] 18,000 guns were distributed amongst citizens during the first day of the battle, while the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces, normally kept in reserve, were activated upon the start of the attack. [25]
On 26 February, Ukrainian interior minister Denys Monastyrsky announced that civilian volunteers in Kyiv had been given more than 25,000 assault rifles, and approximately 10 million bullets, as well as rocket-propelled grenades and rocket launchers. [56]
On 28 February, a fresh wave of Russian troops advanced towards Kyiv, but little direct combat occurred, with only three missiles being fired at the city that day. [57] [58] Satellite images revealed the existence of a long column of Russian vehicles heading to Kyiv along a 64-kilometre-long (40 mi) highway approaching Kyiv from the north, and was approximately 39 km (24 mi) from the center of Kyiv. [59] [60] [61] Ukrainian soldiers killed an Israeli-Ukrainian citizen at a checkpoint, mistaking him for a Chechen member of the Russian army. [62] [63]
On the morning of 1 March, the Russian Ministry of Defense issued an evacuation notice to local civilians stating that they intended to target Ukrainian transmission facilities around Kyiv and that all nearby residents should leave the area. [64] [65] Hours later, a Russian missile struck the Kyiv TV Tower, killing five people and injuring five others. [66] The attack severed all television transmissions in Kyiv. [67] Meanwhile, the Babi Yar Holocaust Memorial Center confirmed an accidental hit by a second missile intended for the tower on a memorial dedicated for the Babi Yar Massacre. [68] [69] [70] A Russian airstrike also struck and damaged an occupied maternity clinic. [71] [72] Further Russian shelling struck the neighborhoods of Rusanivka and Kurenivka and the suburbs of Boyarka and Vyshneve, as well as the area around Kyiv International Airport. [note 1] [73] [74]
That day, Klitschko banned the sales of alcohol in Kyiv while appealing to shop owners and pharmacy chains not to “take advantage” of the situation by raising the prices of "food, essential goods and medicines". [75] [ better source needed ]
In the early morning of 2 March, the Ukrainian Air Force claimed it had shot down two Russian Sukhoi Su-35 over Kyiv. [5] [76] Later in the morning, Klitschko stated that the Russian army was beginning to surround the city in an attempt to enforce a blockade. [77] Klitschko told Channel 24 that tanks were approaching Kyiv from Belarus and that Ukrainian authorities were inspecting Ukrainian checkpoints for preparedness. [78] Estonian Defence Forces intelligence chief Margo Grosberg estimated that the advancing Russian convoy would arrive to Kyiv's outer suburbs in at least two days, after which they would try to lay siege to the city. [79] Polish president Andrzej Duda said Zelenskyy had told him that Ukrainian forces would not withdraw from Kyiv. [80] Ukrainian general Oleksandr Syrskyi stated in an interview in June that Russian forces had attempted to storm Kyiv through its major highways, so Ukrainian forces set up two rings of forces along the city; an outer circle in the suburbs, and an inner one in downtown Kyiv. The intention was to protect the inner ring from the fighting occurring on the outer ring, and keep Russian forces fighting in the suburbs. [81]
On the night of 24 February, the city was divided into sectors with generals assigned to each sector, following a chain of command leading up to Syrskyi. All of Kyiv Oblast's aviation capabilities were also moved to different locations a week before the invasion. [81] However, there was only one available tank brigade to defend the capital; the 72nd Mechanized Brigade. [81]
Debris from an intercepted Russian rocket fell on the Kyiv-Pasazhyrskyi railway station, damaging a major heating pipeline. The resulting explosion caused minor damage to the station. [82] [83]
On 3 March, The New York Times estimated that over 15,000 people were hiding in the city's subway for shelter. [84] On the same day, the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence issued a statement that over the past three days the advancing Russian convoy had made "little discernable progress" going forward. [85]
On 4 March, a new wave of shelling struck downtown Kyiv, including the Borshchahivka neighbourhood. [86] A CNN investigation found that the strikes had hit a business center and many multi-story buildings in the western areas of the city. [87] On 7 March, Ukrainian authorities claimed Ukrainian forces had destroyed two Russian aircraft. [29] Later, Zelenskyy denied rumors that he had fled the city, stating that he will stay in Kyiv. [88]
The effort to encircle Kyiv ultimately came to naught. Later, on 22 March, Ukrainian forces retook the town of Makariv, effectively halting any potential blockade of the city. [89]
On 8 March, CIA director William J. Burns stated, "Instead of seizing Kyiv within the first two days of the campaign, which is what [Putin's] plan was premised upon, after nearly two full weeks they still have not been able to fully encircle the city." [90] Ukrainian-born U.S. military analyst Michael Kofman commented, "At the outset [the Russian Armed Forces] thought they could introduce units very quickly into the capital Kyiv (...). The assumptions were ridiculous... how could you take Kyiv in three days?", adding that Moscow had already adjusted its strategy to a combined arms operation, seemingly to address this unexpected early failure. [91] In response to the difficulties in the offensive, The Guardian reported that the Russian forces were attempting to overcome the stalled offensive's logistical problems. [92]
The following morning, Russian forces shelled the city again. Later that day, Russian and Ukrainian authorities agreed to make a temporary humanitarian corridor around Kyiv, resulting in the mass evacuation of civilians from the suburbs. [93]
On 10 March, Klitschko stated that nearly two million people, half of the population of Kyiv, had fled the city since the war began. [33]
On 12 March, a Russian loitering munition, identified as a ZALA Kub-BLA, was shot down over the Podil neighborhood, causing a fire in the State Savings Bank of Ukraine building. [94] [95] Another fire occurred on Synioozerna Street in the northwestern edge of the city. [96]
On the morning of 14 March, a Russian shell struck a 9-story residential building on Bohatyrska Street in Obolon. The building was partially destroyed, with at least one person killed and 12 wounded. [97] [98] Another Russian rocket was shot down over Kyiv, with its fragments damaging a 5-story residential building in Kurenivka, killing one person. [99] In addition, Russian forces fired three rockets at the Antonov Serial Production Plant, injuring seven people. [100] [101]
Meanwhile, city officials stated that they were stockpiling two weeks of food for residents who had stayed behind. [102]
The Lukianivska metro station was damaged due to a blast the next morning. Later in the morning, Russian forces shelled residential areas, including the Sviatoshynski, Podilskyi and Osokorky districts, setting multiple buildings ablaze. [103] [104] Four people were killed by shelling in Sviatoshynskyi. [105] That day, an EU delegation visited Kyiv and subsequently met with Zelenskyy, [106] who urged other leaders to follow suit. [107]
On 17 March, Zelenskyy visited a Kyiv hospital to meet the people wounded while evacuating from Kyiv Region. [108]
A shopping centre in Podilskyi was destroyed by a Russian missile on 20 March, killing at least eight people. The missile and subsequent explosion also damaged nearby buildings and destroyed cars. Russian officials claimed that Ukrainian forces were using areas near the shopping centre to store munitions [109] [110] and provided drone footage of what the Ministry described as a Ukrainian Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) firing and moving back to the shopping centre, before being destroyed by a Russian missile. [111] [112] In Sviatoshynskyi, fragments of a missile fell on a residential area. According to local officials, six houses and four schools were damaged; about 200 people were evacuated. [110]
A curfew was announced from 21:00 local time on 21 March until 07:00 local time on 23 March. [113]
On 22 March, Ukrainian forces launched a counter-offensive to drive the Russians away from the city. [114] Ukrainian forces evacuated thousands of people from nearby suburbs and settlements, including 20,000 people in Boryspil alone. [115]
Russian forces unleashed a new wave of bombardment on 24 March. [116] Shelling hit a parking lot in the northern area of the city, [117] killing Russian journalist Oksana Baulina and wounding two people. [118] That day, a delegation of Baltic parliament speakers visited Kyiv. [119]
A British intelligence report on 25 March said that Ukraine had retaken towns as far as 35 kilometres (22 mi) from the city as Russian forces began to run out of supplies. [120] The Russian military claimed it had successfully destroyed the largest major oil terminal in the country, which was close to Kyiv. [121]
Following the successful Ukrainian counterattacks in late March, [122] [123] [124] Russia announced it was withdrawing its forces from the Kyiv area on 29 March. [125] Taking Kyiv was deemed to be a key objective and their failure to take it was viewed as setback for the campaign in general. [126] [124]
On 1 April, EU parliament president Roberta Metsola visited Kyiv, becoming the first EU top official to travel to Ukraine since Russia's invasion. [127]
On 2 April, Ukrainian authorities announced that the entire Kyiv region had been recaptured. [128] That day, Klitschko relaxed the prohibition of alcohol sales in shops. [129]
Without admitting defeat, the battered Russian invasion forces retreated from Kyiv, Sumy and Chernihiv Oblasts. International media outlets reported jubilation among the civilian population in the capital and other areas from which the Russians retreated. [130] The discovery of Russian war crimes committed during the offensive, particularly in Bucha, led to additional rounds of sanctions against Russia and pledges of further military aid to Ukraine.
For international military observers, the retreat was a surprise upset that dispelled notions of a quick Russian victory and showcased Ukraine's resilience, as well as unexpected weaknesses in the Russian military. [131] On 30 March, following the withdrawal, a Pentagon spokesperson stated that the U.S. Department of Defense believed that taking Kyiv "was a key objective" if one "[looks] at what they were doing in those early days. They wanted Kyiv. And they didn't get it." [132] The Institute for the Study of War wrote in its 3 April campaign assessment, "The continued existence of an independent Ukrainian state with its capital in Kyiv is no longer in question at this time, although much fighting remains and the war could still turn Russia's way." [133]
On 14 June 2024 Russian President Putin claimed that "Russian troops were near Kyiv in March 2022", but "There was no political decision to storm the three-million-strong city; it was a coercive operation to establish peace." [134]
The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia occupied and annexed Crimea from Ukraine and supported pro-Russian separatists fighting the Ukrainian military in the Donbas War. These first eight years of conflict also included naval incidents and cyberwarfare. In February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and began occupying more of the country, starting the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II. The war has resulted in a refugee crisis and tens of thousands of deaths.
The war in Donbas, also known as the Donbas war, was a phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War in the Donbas region of Ukraine. The war began in April 2014, when a commando unit headed by Russian citizen Igor Girkin seized Sloviansk in Donetsk oblast. The Ukrainian military launched an operation against them. The war continued until subsumed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
In March and April 2021, prior to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Armed Forces began massing thousands of personnel and military equipment near Russia's border with Ukraine and in Crimea, representing the largest mobilisation since the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014. This precipitated an international crisis due to concerns over a potential invasion. Satellite imagery showed movements of armour, missiles, and heavy weaponry towards the border. The troops were partially withdrawn by June 2021, though the infrastructure was left in place. A second build-up began in October 2021, this time with more soldiers and with deployments on new fronts; by December over 100,000 Russian troops were massed around Ukraine on three sides, including Belarus from the north and Crimea from the south. Despite the Russian military build-ups, Russian officials from November 2021 to 20 February 2022 repeatedly denied that Russia had plans to invade Ukraine.
The following is a list of events from the year 2022 in Ukraine.
On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which started in 2014. The invasion, the largest and deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II, has caused hundreds of thousands of military casualties and tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilian casualties. As of 2024, Russian troops occupy about 20% of Ukraine. From a population of 41 million, about 8 million Ukrainians had been internally displaced and more than 8.2 million had fled the country by April 2023, creating Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II.
The Battle of Antonov Airport, also known as the battle of Hostomel Airport, was a military engagement which occurred at the Antonov Airport in Hostomel, Kyiv Oblast, during the Kyiv offensive of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The southern Ukraine campaign is an ongoing theatre of operation in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on 24 February 2022. The Russian military invaded Kherson Oblast in southern Ukraine from Russian-occupied Crimea, quickly entering Mykolaiv Oblast and Zaporizhzhia Oblast amid battles with the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
On 24 February 2022, the Russian army attempted to capture Sumy, located near the Russia–Ukraine border. Ukrainian paratroopers and territorial defense forces began engaging Russian forces within the city, resulting in heavy urban fighting and the destruction of a Russian tank column. That evening, Ukraine's paratroopers were ordered to withdraw from the city, leaving the city's defense to a few thousand local volunteers armed with rifles, limited anti-tank weapons and no armed vehicles or heavy weaponry. After three to four days of failing to enter the city, the Russian military shifted to encircle and bypass the city, and were then subject to guerrilla ambushes.
The northern Ukraine campaign was a theater of operation in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It involved attacks by Russia across the Russo-Ukrainian and Belarusian–Ukrainian borders, beginning on 24 February 2022, for control of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, and the surrounding areas of Kyiv Oblast and northern regions Zhytomyr Oblast, Sumy Oblast, and Chernihiv Oblast. Kyiv is the seat of the Ukrainian government and the headquarters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The siege of Chernihiv was a military engagement in the city of Chernihiv, in Chernihiv Oblast in the north of Ukraine. It began on 24 February 2022, as part of the northern Ukraine offensive, during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. On 4 April 2022, Ukrainian authorities stated that the Russian military had left Chernihiv Oblast.
Ukraine's easternmost oblasts, Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kharkiv, have been the site of an ongoing theatre of operation since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The battle of Bucha was part of the Kyiv offensive in the Russian invasion of Ukraine for control of the city of Bucha. The combatants were elements of the Russian Armed Forces and Ukrainian Ground Forces. The battle lasted from 27 February to 31 March 2022 and ended with the withdrawal of Russian forces. The battle was part of a larger tactic to encircle Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine.
The Russian Kyiv convoy was a large column of Russian military vehicles stretching some 64 kilometres (40 mi) in Kyiv Oblast from Prybirsk to Hostomel via Ivankiv involved in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It has been noted for initially threatening Kyiv, but then halting due to unclear reasons. Commentators have suggested that the large number of soldiers and vehicles may have had issues with fuel and food shortages, and may have also been delayed by attacks from the Ukrainian military.
The battle of Brovary was a military engagement during the Kyiv offensive of the Russian invasion of Ukraine for control of the suburb of Brovary, to the east of the capital city of Ukraine, Kyiv. Russian forces advanced west from southern Chernihiv Oblast and were engaged by Ukrainian forces. Control of the suburb was contested until Russian forces withdrew on 2 April 2022.
The battle of Hostomel was the first major battle in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, fought for control over the town of Hostomel between the Russian and Ukrainian armed forces. As part of the Kyiv offensive, the Russian forces sought control over Hostomel, Bucha and Irpin in order to encircle and besiege the Ukrainian capital city Kyiv from the west. Due to the intensity of the Kyiv offensive, the Kyiv Oblast State Administration named Hostomel, along with Irpin, Bucha, Highway M06, and Vyshhorod as the most dangerous places in Kyiv Oblast.
There have been attacks in mainland Russia as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on 24 February 2022. The main targets have been the military, the arms industry and the oil industry. Many of the attacks have been drone strikes, firebombing, and rail sabotage. The Ukrainian intelligence services have acknowledged carrying out some of these attacks. Others have been carried out by anti-war activists in Russia. There have also been cross-border shelling, missile strikes, and covert raids from Ukraine, mainly in Belgorod, Kursk, and Bryansk oblasts. Several times, Ukrainian-based paramilitaries launched incursions into Russia, captured border villages and battled the Russian military. These were carried out by units made up mainly of Russian emigrants. While Ukraine supported these ground incursions, it denied direct involvement.
A series of border skirmishes has taken place along the Russia–Ukraine border in Sumy and Chernihiv Oblasts since the withdrawal of Russian troops from northern Ukraine. Ukrainian officials have stated that strikes across the border happen daily.
A Russian military occupation of Chernihiv Oblast began on 24 February 2022 amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Steadily, Russian troops started capturing large parts of the Chernihiv Oblast to try to take the capital city of Ukraine, Kyiv. The capital city of the oblast, Chernihiv, was never captured. By 3 April, Russian forces left the oblast, ending the occupation.
The Russian occupation of Kyiv Oblast was a military occupation that began on the first day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. The capital, Kyiv, was extensively bombed during the invasion, but was never captured. However, many cities were captured near northern and western parts of the oblast.
This timeline of the Russian invasion of Ukraine covers the period from 24 February 2022, when Russia launched a military invasion of Ukraine, to 7 April 2022 when fighting focused away from the north and towards the south and east of Ukraine.
General Magomed Tushaev died when his Chechen special forces column, including 56 tanks, was obliterated near Hostomel.
His own military's performance has been largely ineffective," Burns said of Putin. "Instead of seizing Kyiv within the first two days of the campaign, which is what his plan was premised upon, after nearly two full weeks they still have not been able to fully encircle the city.