In their blitzkrieg against Ukraine, Russian troops are closing in on the country’s three largest cities. A huge escape wave is heading west.
Russian soldiers advance from the Crimean Peninsula towards Ukraine. The “Z” marking had already been noticed in many places in the past few days – it is now clear that it marks military vehicles involved in the invasion.
The invasion of Ukraine, which began before dawn on Thursday, brought important preliminary decisions during the first day. The Russian ground forces managed to break through into Ukrainian territory in several sections of the border. Advances were made from the east, from the south via the Crimean peninsula, which has been occupied by Russia since 2014, and from the north from Belarus, which is an ally of Russia.
Russia invades from all sides
Kiev is one of the main destinations
It quickly became clear that this was by no means a limited military action to protect the Russian-speaking population in the eastern Donbass region, but a complex operation intended to overwhelm and subdue the Ukrainian state. The Russian attacks are specifically targeting the country’s three largest cities – in addition to Kiev, Kharkiv in the east and Odessa on the Black Sea.
Although there had been signs of an invasion towards Kharkiv in the past few days, the Russian armored formations from the Belgorod area were able to advance quickly across the border. Fighting was reported from the city of Kharkiv, which continued even after dark.
Odessa is threatened by a ground operation from the Crimea; Russian troops are currently in front of the provincial capital of Cherson, 200 kilometers to the east. Initial reports of a major landing operation near Odessa have not been confirmed. But amphibious naval formations are nearby, in the Black Sea, on hold.
The widespread expectation that Russia would confine itself to the eastern part of the country – east of the main river Dnipro – in the event of a military intervention has not come true. While it is conceivable that the invaders only want to occupy the eastern half of Ukraine for a longer period of time, they are also carrying out airstrikes in the far west. This also happens over Belarusian territory.
Hours of fighting raged along the strategically important, around 150-kilometer route from Belarus to Kiev. The attackers also captured the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear facility in the early evening. It was there in 1986 that the world’s worst reactor catastrophe had occurred; the site is still heavily contaminated. According to Ukrainian sources, a building for the storage of radioactive waste is said to have been damaged.
Superior Russian Air Force
As expected, the Russian Air Force was able to demonstrate its superiority throughout the country. Air defense is one of the major weaknesses of the Ukrainian armed forces. A few hours after the start of the major offensive, Russian helicopters and fighter jets were sighted in the Kiev area. According to Ukrainian data, Russia also used ballistic missiles; they are probably Iskander-M missiles, which can fly up to 500 kilometers and are equipped with bombs of very high explosive power.
Like any modern army, the Russian Armed Forces have precision-guided bombs, cruise missiles, and missiles at their disposal, albeit not in vast numbers. They are now trying to destroy objects of military importance, including runways, anti-aircraft positions, radar systems and ammunition depots. The obvious goal is to significantly weaken Ukrainian forces on day one.
Nevertheless, the Russians encountered considerable resistance. An unknown number of fighter planes and helicopters were shot down, and images of burned-out battle tanks are piling up. American and British anti-aircraft weapons, including Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and Javelin and NLAW anti-tank weapons, which were delivered only a few weeks ago, are undoubtedly being used against the attackers.
The Ukrainian government reported an important success late in the evening with the alleged recapture of Kiev-Hostomel airport. This had been taken by Russian troops a few hours earlier by conducting an airborne operation across enemy lines. The airport is just outside the capital.
Fatalities on both sides
Reliable information about casualties on both sides is not available. Moscow only admitted the crash of a fighter plane. The Ukrainian Ministry of Health spoke of 57 dead and 169 wounded Ukrainians in the evening. The true numbers are likely to be much higher.
The major attack came as a severe shock to the more than 40 million Ukrainian population. Until recently, many residents had not really believed that the worst was going to happen. In Kiev, where the state of emergency has been in effect since Thursday, like the rest of the country, many residents crowded into the subway stations. These had been recommended by the authorities as temporary shelters.
Under the impact of the attacks, tens of thousands have decided to flee. But civil air traffic has been completely stopped, and by no means all those who want to flee can still get a seat on a train. Vehicles are jammed in endless columns on the motorways all the way to the west of the country. Queues also formed at the border crossings in the direction of the European Union.