The anniversary of Kiev defense. As the Armed Forces preserved the capital and forced the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to flee from the north of Ukraine
Kyiv is the capital of Ukraine, so the hostile forces were tried from the first day to special operations and the landing to surround and quickly capture a strategically important city. The focus made a list of defining battles for Kiev. Almost 10 months after the Ukrainian military reflected the north of Ukraine, given Kiev, it became clear how risky was the situation. The Royal Institute of Defense Research in November 2022 wrote that the Russian forces were 12 times Ukrainian.
The review article on the defense of the capital was written by Ukrainian General Mikhail Zabrodsky together with western and Ukrainian colleagues. It turned out that in the priority plan of the Russian invaders was to occupy the whole of Ukraine in 10 days. Russia was able to concentrate the predominant forces in technology and weapons, but the troops were unprepared for effective implementation of the plan. The greatest disadvantage that the authors are highlighted is the lack of logistics.
The Security Service of Ukraine was also able to find and neutralize Russian groups that aimed to destroy the Ukrainian authorities. Low competence and level of training of Russian troops, as well as the effective actions of the Ukrainian military leadership allowed to destroy the Kremlin's plans for full occupation of Ukraine.
At the beginning of a full -scale invasion in the Ukrainian army, the number of artillery facilities was only twice less than Russian, which also allowed to effectively reflect Russian offensive forces, analysts say. As in most Ukrainian cities, Russian rockets began to arrive in Kiev and the region. Morning began with panic of people, queues to supermarkets and shopping center, where it was decided to distribute small arms for the defense of the city.
The people of Kiev were preparing for defense. On the roads of the city, there were visible columns of armored vehicles, which was put forward at the turn. The fighting sharpened in the region. Russian troops began to come even from the territory of Belarus, which, as they later recognized in the Defense Ministry, became unexpected for Ukraine. However, the military was preparing for defense, so it was possible to preserve the aviation and personnel of the army.
Russian invaders began the movement of large columns not only from their territory but also from Belarus. According to NATO, as of February 3, 2022, the Russian Federation concentrated in Belarus a 30,000th group, which was thrown on the offensive against Ukraine. The 35th Guards Army, together with the 36 Guards Army, entered the Belarusian side into the Ukrainian territory.
It was the latter that captured the Chornobyl nuclear power plant on the first day despite the resistance of the National Guard. Due to artillery shelling in Ukraine, it was damaged that the storage of radioactive waste was damaged by the end of the day on February 24, Ukraine announced the loss of control over Chernobyl and Pripyat.
All the same on February 24, the Russian army conducted an operation on the landing of the landing and special forces at the Gostomel Airport, where Antonova aircraft were based. Initially, the invaders used 34 helicopters who hit the potential defense. After that, 18 Mi-8 planted approximately 300 elite paratroopers. The Ukrainian military gave a tough battle for the invaders.
Su-24m bombers damaged the runway so that after the Russian helicopters, the IL-76 military transport aircraft did not plant even more force. In the process of fighting, Russian invaders destroyed the world's largest An-225 aircraft "Dream", which remained in one of the hangars at the airfield. The forces of Ukraine's defense destroyed the elite units of the invaders. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation were able to capture the runway, but it was unusable.
All March fights were in the area of the settlement in Gostomel and near the airfield. "We started preparing for the airport to protect the airport in a week. We owned reconnaissance information and realized that it all started, and it began on that side very actively," said the senior SCO officer, who commanded the airfield defense. The Ukrainian soldiers were still confronted with infantry waves. According to the officer, the Russian waves went one by one.
Special forces rested 2-3 hours a day. All the rest of the time they were in the battles with the invaders. The event with the blasting of the dam was officially almost not covered by the full -scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine during the first weeks. Dam is at the entrance to the village of Demidov near the Kozarovichi. It was undermined on February 25, not to let Russian troops move.
Almost 500 kg of explosives were laid to blast the dam, which allowed to break through a meter hob in the dam. Water flooded from the Kiev reservoir. But the plan worked partially. Due to the uninformance, someone raised the dam of the dam opposite the farm Red, which was in front of the moshchun. The water did not reach there, and the invaders began to establish crossings. So I had to blow up the second dam to remedy the situation.
Further, the military decided to raise the level of the Kiev reservoir and to the Kiev hydroelectric power station. This allowed to raise the level not only in Irpen, but also in the rivers Zdviz and Teteriv. Due to this, Russian technique is stuck. "Approaches to the pontoons became a solid swamp. A lot of equipment was stuck in the field.
Some equipment they still managed to evacuate themselves under fire, and the other could not even be taken away, because it was stuck completely there - it was already strofeyed," - says adviser to the commander of the land troops. The Armed Forces on a public basis Alexander "Pacific" Dmitriev. Two of the three occupiers' crossings were destroyed. Russian invaders stopped this from further promotion to the brush, where it was one of the main battles that saved Kiev.
The satellite shot of Maxar Technologies, which was published on February 28, 2022, showed that Russian troops were sending a 64-kilometer column of armored vehicles and other vehicles to the north of Kiev. Western media wrote that this is a huge threat to the capital. The event was convinced that Kiev would be captured in 3 days. Also, on March 1, a video appeared in the telegram channels as approximately 17 Russian helicopters were flying over the Kiev reservoir.
Ukrainian military with portable anti-aircraft missile complexes began to destroy enemy aviation. Was shot at least one of them. Later, the residues of the helicopter were lifted from the bottom of the reservoir. According to the commander of the Land Forces and the defense of Kyiv, Colonel-General Alexander Sirsky, the battle for Moshchun became a decisive stage in the defense of Kiev. In early March 2022, Russian troops were able to capture the bridgehead in the Moschun area.
According to the general, it was an extremely dangerous area that opened the road to Kiev. The situation was critical, so there were all the reserves that were at that time. "To a large extent, it was thanks to the successful defense of Kiev that the world leaders believed in the virtue of the Ukrainian people and the power of the Ukrainian army and began to help us much more actively with weapons, military equipment, and everything necessary," Syrsky said on February 16, 2023.
On March 5-6, Russian elite units were confronted with the huge resistance of the Armed Forces in Irpen and in other areas west of Kiev. Therefore, the invaders threw their forces on the storm of the Moshchun. On March 11, a massive storm of the settlement began. Russian troops used the tactics of the fire shaft to force Ukrainian defenders to retreat. So a few days have passed for which they were able to seize part of the village.
According to the commander of the 72nd separate mechanized brigade named after the Black Zaporozhye Alexander "Slavs" Vdovichenko, the battle for the brush looked like hell. "Hell has dropped here. That's the feeling that everything that is bad, everything that is evil, grief, dropped on this small area of the area. In the battles for Kiev he met the best sons and daughters of Ukraine," the Slavs recalls .
He noted that the decision to defend the Moshchun was made by the highest leadership, because there was a direct road to the capital. The village of 76th and 98 landing divisions, the 155th brigade of the Russian infantry, as well as special purpose forces were stormed. The forces of Ukraine's defense were able to withstand and did not allow the occupiers to break through. On March 21, the village was completely liberated.
The Russian troops, as journalists established, lost hundreds of fighters of elite VAT divisions. Among them were the occupiers with the title "Hero of the Russian Federation" and 5 soldiers with medals "for the return of Crimea". The successful defense of Kyiv also happened because the Ukrainian military was able to protect the amounts and Chernihiv from the dominant forces of the Russian invaders. They could not capture regional centers and could not bypass them.
Every day the invaders fired cities, destroyed houses, but despite all the amounts and Chernihiv in the high conditions were able to withstand and delay part of the forces and means. The defenders of the Kiev region did not stand in deaf defense and constantly counterattacked enemy forces. In some places, the promotion of the Ukrainian military was small, but from the second half of March, Russian invaders were increasingly rejected from Kiev.
Initially, they were allowed to go deep into the Ukrainian territories, and then began to cut off from the ways of connections. This made it possible to bleed the Russian forces and efficiently exterminate in the future. On March 21, the Armed Forces liberated the village of Makariv, the next week surrounded Irpin, Gostomel and Bucha. Even then, it was known that the invaders were engaged in looting, taking away foods, medicines and even hygiene products in humans.
During the press conference with journalists, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the worst day for him during a full -scale war was arrival in Bucha, when everyone became clear that the invaders were made. It is already known that only 1,400 peaceful people were killed in Bucha. During the counter -offensive, the Ukrainian military captured numerous trophies that left behind the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
On March 29, the Russian Defense Ministry announced a "dramatic reduction of activity" in northern Ukraine. The statement took place against the backdrop of negotiations that took place between Moscow and Kiev in Turkey. In the Russian Federation, these actions were called "increasing trust between the parties. " However, now the military agrees that it was not a "gesture of goodwill", but the defeat of the invaders.