From night ambushes on ATVs and drone attacks to deliberate sabotage of road and railway bridges, Ukrainian forces have repeatedly thwarted Russia’s military plans.
This means that on the anniversary of Moscow’s victory on Monday, any attempt by Russian President Vladimir Putin to claim that his invasion of Ukraine was successful has been significantly undermined, according to Ukrainian defenders involved in the battle.
They said their unconventional tactics had helped prevent Russian troops from doing what was supposed to be a lightning strike on the capital in the initial phase of the offensive.
Ukraine’s ability to resist also shows that Russia is facing a costly war of attrition in the south and east of the country, although the threat of a second push to Kyiv remains. This is something that Ukrainian forces in the capital have said they are ready for and will repel again.
The first battle for Kyiv, which began when President Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine on February 24, was a fierce, five-week battle that pitted Ukrainian troops, border guards and volunteers against one of the world’s most powerful militaries.
Western defense experts have predicted that the capital will fall within days.
But the Ukrainian side, aided by a clear defense plan and aided by an influx of increasingly deadly Western weapons, defied the forecast and pushed Russian troops backwards, forcing them to regroup and reposition themselves to the east.
Sky News spoke with Ukrainian soldiers, border guards and volunteers involved in the battle, as well as with ordinary families whose lives have been devastated by Russia’s war.
These are their stories.
“Two killed and 60 under rubble” after Russia “dropped a bomb on a school” – the last war in Ukraine
Image: Destroyed vehicle
The invasion
One of Russia’s first targets shortly after 4:30 a.m. on the first day of the invasion was a border post in the woods near Ukraine’s northern border with Belarus.
Major Artem Lazutin, 41, said a drone had dropped explosives on a group of tents where border guards were in a sleeping camp, injuring seven of them.
“When I heard these explosions, I realized that the war had begun,” he said.
The officer and other border guards took up defensive positions next to a main highway bridge as well as a railway bridge, both leading to Belarus via the Dnieper River.
“That afternoon, working with the military, we blew up bridges with mines to prevent Russian vehicles from passing,” he said.
The deliberate destruction of bridges was a tactic repeatedly used by Ukrainian defenders to thwart Russia’s offensive.
Still, the huge volume of tanks, armored vehicles, artillery, trucks and other elements of the Russian military machine was too large for Ukrainian defenders.
Border guards were withdrawn largely to help protect key northern cities such as Chernihiv, although a number of officers found themselves behind enemy lines.
From there, they risk their lives by providing information on the movement and location of Russian positions, according to the head of the national border forces in the wider Chernihiv region.
Asked how he felt when he learned that Russian troops were invading, Colonel Alexander Chorny said: “I wanted to destroy them all and drive them out of our land. This desire has not disappeared. I think that every Ukrainian will fight until all these evil spirits leave our land. territory. “
Russian commanders attacked Kyiv and the northern part of the country by land from multiple entry points – moving from Belarus, down through the Chernobyl and Chernihiv regions to the north, and entering from Russia, through the northeastern region of Ukraine, Sumy.
They also launched an air raid to try to capture what was supposed to be the main target from day one – an airport in an area called Hostomel, about 12 miles northwest of Kyiv.
Some of Russia’s most elite paratroopers landed by helicopter in a vast province outside the air base, while others attempted to land directly at the facility.
They had to take over the civilian airport, home to the world’s largest transport plane, because Russia wanted to be able to land its own transport planes on the runway to fly with hundreds of troops who would then take part in the attack on Kyiv.
However, Ukrainian forces had other plans.
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Image: The commander in charge of helping protect the airport on the first day of the invasion
One commander, who asked not to be named, was in charge of helping protect the airport on the first day. He saw Russian helicopters descend low around 11 a.m.
Russian missiles blew up a minibus at the front airport at the beginning of the attack.
Ukrainian defenders opened fire, smashing at least three helicopters from the sky. They also had to face the paratroopers who landed.
“We shot at them while we had ammunition,” said the commander, his face covered in a black balaclava. “Then we aimed our own artillery at the runway to damage it. This prevented the enemy from landing his transport plane.
After withdrawing the ammunition, the commander regained his strength.
The airport and the suburbs on the outskirts of the capital became a critical front line over the next five weeks as the battle for Kyiv raged.
The human price
In the end, Russian forces were repulsed, though not before inflicting heavy damage.
The town of Bucha, near Hostomel, was among the worst affected.
The discovery of a mass grave on church grounds, street bodies and evidence of torture, murder and rape has caused worldwide horror. International investigators are working with Ukrainian authorities to charge Russia with war crimes.
But the traces of terror are enormous and can be traced right to the border with Belarus.
One of the lesser-known places of misery is Yahidne, a small, once picturesque farming village just outside the northern town of Chernihiv.
Now it lies in ruins.
Image: The destroyed village of Yahidne Image: The school in Yahidne
Russian troops effectively held more than 300 villagers – including more than 60 children – captive in a school basement for nearly a month while occupying the village.
There was no ventilation in the crowded underground space, limited access to food and water, and bombs falling outside.
The only light came from candles. The only distraction for children, from just two months old to teenagers, was the thin collection of textbooks and a few pastels.
Families were crammed together, with babies sleeping on blankets on the floor while terrified parents sat in small school chairs watching them.
For many seniors, the conditions were a death sentence.
About 12 people died in the basement, survivors said. Sometimes it was not possible to move the bodies of the dead for several days, which means that they lie among the living.
Image: Russian troops effectively hold more than 300 villagers captive in a school basement
Local resident Tanya declined to give her full name.
She stayed in the basement with her husband and their two boys, aged 10 and 12.
The bucket was used as a shared toilet. When bombs exploded outside, she lay over her children — as other parents did — to try to protect them.
“I was horrified when someone died – and when you find yourself in such circumstances, with a dead person lying next to you,” Tanya said. “It was scary. When the second and third people died, there was a feeling that maybe we would all die soon.”
The names of some of those killed in the basement are written in black on the wall, as are the names of villagers killed in the Russian bombing.
Image: The names of the dead were written on the walls
The children also painted on the walls to spend time. There are pictures of people with sad faces, as well as calendars counting the days spent underground.
Tanya described her relief when Ukrainian forces finally managed to drive Russian troops out of the village as part of a sudden withdrawal across the north.
“On April 1, we saw our flag peering out of the woods. It was such a moment, “she said, and began to cry with relief at the memory.
“They [Ukrainian troops] come here. We shouted that we were civilians, we shouted: “Glory to Ukraine”. They replied, “Glory to the heroes.” They came here. We hugged. It was a long-awaited moment. “
At the age of 86, Alexius Potius, another resident of Yahidne, came out of the basement as the oldest man in the village after his elders died.
He survived World War II, but nothing could prepare him for Russia’s invasion.
Image: Alexis Potius and his wife Alexandra
“Everyone died, suffocated because there just wasn’t enough air,” he said of those who failed to escape alive, admitting he thought he would be next.
“When I got home, I went to the bathroom to wash. I was afraid to look in the mirror – there were only bones, “said Mr. Poti, tapping the sleeve of his jacket to show how thin his left arm was.
Like many in the north and in Kyiv, he fears Russian forces may return.
“I’m still worried,” Poti said, leaning on a cane.
“Every time I hear a crash, I think: what is this?”
Drones, ATVs and combat
The effect of the invasion could have been even worse.
Initially, a 40-kilometer column of Russian armored vehicles was heading for Kyiv, amid warnings that the capital could inevitably fall.
But the column seems to have stopped for …
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