HISTORY

The air war over Ukraine

A year of bloodshed

Text: Miro Barič

Photo: Ukrajinian armed forces, social media and other public sources

The first UH-60 Black Hawk of the Ukrainian GRU military intelligence.

Even though the Russian aggression against Ukraine started

in the Crimea and Donbas in February 2014, and their terrorist

activities even sooner, in February this year we commemorated

the first anniversary of the Russian attack on the whole Ukrainian

territory. It is the largest conflict in Europe since 1945.

This part of our series will be a summary of the

events in the past 12 months. In the end, as usual,

we focus on the events taking place between

February 1 to March 1 and relevant to

the air war.

February 2022

For several months the Russian troops were

gathering near the Ukrainian borders and the

American intelligence services warned it was not

an exercise but preparation for the invasion. The

government in Kremlin repeatedly stated that it

was not going to attack Ukraine, on the contrary

the troops would be withdrawn after the exercise

was completed. None of it was true. On Thursday,

February 24. 2022, early morning the massive

bombing of the targets all over the entire Ukraine

started and the Russian troops attacked in four

directions – to Kiev, Kharkov, Donbas and Kherson

from Crimea. The most important target was Kiev.

Putin’s army wanted to capture the capital and

consequently the whole country in a couple of days.

The paratroopers from the helicopters were tasked

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to capture the airport Hostomel near Kiev so that

the reinforcements and heavy equipment could be

moved there by the transportation airplanes. The

Russians however failed to capture Kiev and kill or

capture Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.

He refused the American offer to evacuate saying:

“I need ammo not a ride!”

March 2022

The Russian advance on Kiev and Kharkov was

stalled and was very slow in Donbas. The Russians

made a rapid advance in the south only. The local

Ukrainian command there failed miserably in

organizing the defenses, a criminal deed in fact. In

a couple of days, Kherson, north-west of Crimea

and Melitopol, north-east of Crimea, were captured.

Mariupol was surrounded but the advance from

Kherson to Mykolaiv and Odessa was halted by

Ukrainians. The key moment was the Russian defeat

at Voznesensk. At Kiev the Russians tried to break

through with a convoy many kilometers long. The

Ukrainian troops however (and Russian logistical

mistakes) stopped the convoy and significant parts

of it were destroyed. Without supplies the Russians

had to start a retreat.

April 2022

In the beginning of month, the Russians had to

withdraw from the areas north of Kiev. After they left

a lot of evidence was found about the massacre of

civilians in the town of Bucha and other cities. After

its retreat from Kiev, the Russian army started to

focus on Donbas where heaviest fighting has taken

place since. Even though Russians withdrew from

certain areas, they continued to shell the Ukrainian

cities with missiles. Step by step the military aid for

Ukraine started. In the beginning of April Slovakia

was among the first countries to offer aid by

delivering S-300 AA system. In the middle of April,

in the Black Sea, the cruiser Moscow, a flagship of

the Russian Black Sea Fleet was sunk having been

hit by two Ukrainian missiles.

May 2022

The Ukrainians started heavy shelling and bombing

of the Snake Island located near the coast and

border with Romania. The island controls the

shipping routes to Odessa. The Russians captured

it during the first day of war. In the middle of

May, the defenders of the steelworks Azovstal in

Mariupol were ordered to cease the resistance.

By May 20 all of them surrendered. Even though

these days is considered taboo, during this

month the Ukrainians received their first aircraft

April 2023