It’s hard to believe, but six months have passed since the beginning of the war. Kyiv, Mariupol, Bucha, Kramatorsk, Zaporizhzhia, Snake Island, Kherson – all were the subject of key moments, all were brutal, some showed that Russians have no limits, others showed that there is hope for Ukraine.

February 24 is the day when it all began

Early in the morning, the Russians launched rocket attacks and explosions were heard in many regions of the country, from Lviv to Kharkiv and from Kherson to Kyiv. At dawn that day, President Putin announced a “special military operation” in Ukraine. This term will be obsessively repeated by high-ranking officials of Russia, who say that this is NOT a war. On that day, the greatest fear was that the capital would immediately fall and that the conquest of Ukraine by the Russians would be a formality. But it wasn’t like that. Here’s how to watch HotNews’ first TEXT LIVE coverage of the war in Ukraine, and here you can see what happened on Day 2.

Putin thought he could take Kyiv in 2-3 days and quickly overthrow the Kyiv regime to replace it with Kremlin-controlled “puppet” politicians. This did not happen, although heavy shelling of Kyiv began on February 26. Although the Russian army intensified its offensive, the capital could not be taken, and the Russians could not even permanently occupy the airport in Gostomel to use it.

• How Ukrainians interrogated Russian prisoners (translated from Russian): “What’s wrong with you, there’s not enough territory?”

Not only did the Ukrainian army fight much harder than one might think, but it became clear that the Russian army was not very well organized (problems with supply chains, as well as air supremacy).

• A Russian tank stolen by Roma on Saturday night in southern Ukraine

In those early days, President Zelenskyi became known around the world for the clear messages of encouragement he always sent. The West is beginning to impose tough sanctions against Russia.

Beginning of March – Kherson falls, but not Kyiv and Kharkiv

The Russians have occupied the city of Kherson, near Crimea, since March 2, but Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, is holding out, although shelling has been heavy and has caused chaos in several areas.

It became clear that Russia would not be able to advance in the north and would not be able to capture either Kyiv, Chernihiv, or Sumy. On March 25, the Russians announced that they would focus on the eastern direction for the “liberation” of Donbas, and the withdrawal of troops from the direction of Kyiv began.

• Why are the sounds of airplanes constantly heard in the sky of Romania, especially in the north and in Transylvania

Russia occupied another small town in the south, Melitopol, not far from the Crimea, Russia occupied a number of territories in the south and had better organized supply lines, also taking advantage of the railway network.

Pogroms near Kyiv

At the beginning of April, the Kyiv region was liberated, and it became known about mass killings of civilians in areas such as Bucha. Hundreds of civilians were shot in the head in the street. There were horrific scenes, widely documented by the international press.

More than 400 bodies were found, and the events in Bucha are among the most brutal in these months of the war, because the fighting there lasted for more than a month.

Siege of the city of Mariupol

From the first day, the Russians attacked the city of Mariupol, which has a strategic location in the southeast of Ukraine, creating a link between Crimea and the territories controlled by the separatists.

• “Yes! Shit!” How the “Azov” battalion struck a Russian armored personnel carrier with ATGM

Before the war, 400,000 people lived in the city, and the vast majority left during those months. Several thousand died during the attacks, several thousand more were forcibly deported to Russia. More than 200,000 people fled to other regions of Ukraine.

The Russian army occupied the city in the second half of April, and the defenders of the Azovstal plant held out until May.

1,700 people who stayed at the plant for more than 80 days surrendered in mid-May and were taken to Russia.

Attack on Kramatorsk station

On April 8, the Russians fired two rockets at a train station full of civilians trying to flee the war. At least 50 people were killed and 100 were injured. It is about a railway station in the Ukrainian-controlled city of Kramatorsk, Donetsk region.

This was another proof that the Russians do not shy away from anything. “This is evil without limits. If we don’t punish him, he will never stop,” President Zelenskyy said at the time.

Sinking of the Moscow ship

The Russian warship Moskva sank on April 14, a day after it was reported to have been damaged by shelling or missile fire from Ukraine. It was a symbolic moment for Ukraine, which showed that the military has the power to sink such an important ship. The dive once again showed the limits of the capabilities of the Russian army.

Snake Island

Snake Island was captured by Russian armed forces on February 24, the first day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, after a famous act of defiance by its defenders. On June 30, the Russian military announced its withdrawal from the island.

• VIDEO How they bombed and attacked Snake Island. 13 Ukrainian soldiers stationed there did not surrender and died

The island is located approximately 48 kilometers from Vylkov (Вылкове), the nearest settlement on the Ukrainian coast, 297 kilometers west of Crimea and 45 kilometers from the coast of Romania.

The X-shaped rock is 41 meters above sea level in some places and 1,973 meters long with an irregular perimeter that can be climbed in 40 minutes on foot.

Since the withdrawal from the strategic Snake Island on June 30, 2022, Russia has tried to prevent its use by Ukraine. However, on July 13, 2022, airstrikes by two Russian Su-27 fighters did not hit the island.

The Russians continue their offensive in the east

After mid-May, the Russians occupied new territories in Donbas, there were days when they intensively bombarded some settlements, but no large city was conquered.

• Is President Zelenskyy incompetent or super brave? The former comedian has one of the most difficult tasks in recent European history

At the beginning of June, the Russians withdrew more soldiers and artillery from Dombas, occupied the small town of Popasna, and surrounded Siyeverdonetsk. On June 26, the Ukrainian army withdrew from this small town, and on July 3, from another small town nearby. : Lysychansk. Russia completely occupied the Luhansk region.

Last month, there was no major Russian victory in Donbas

The Russians have not achieved any major victories in the east over the past month, but trench warfare continues, along with bombings that claim daily casualties. For example, on August 16, at least six people died during the bombing of the city of Kharkiv.

The Russians did NOT capture the large cities of Donbas, such as Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, although they made small territorial gains in the area of ​​the cities of Bakhmut and Avdiyivka. Russian forces have made limited use of these gains, and the Russians’ inability to translate tactical gains into operational successes is becoming increasingly apparent.

In the south, in the area of ​​the cities of Kherson and Melitopol, networks of Ukrainian partisans have become better organized in recent weeks.

Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant

The Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine was occupied by the Russians at the start of the war and bombed in recent weeks, opening up the possibility of a major accident just 500 kilometers from the site of the world’s worst nuclear accident, the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. .

The plant, located near a town called Energodar, was occupied by the Russians in March, and in July the occupying forces brought rocket launchers into the plant, turning it into a very dangerous military base. On August 3, the International Atomic Energy Agency said the plant was out of control and needed inspection and repair.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is the largest in Europe and one of the largest in the world. Its construction began in 1980, and the sixth reactor was connected to the grid in 1995.

Zaporizhzhia NPP has six Soviet-designed VVER-1000 V-320 water reactors containing uranium-235, the half-life of which is more than 700 million years.

On July 22, only two of its reactors were operating,