The soldiers and many civilians had taken refuge in the plant in part because of its vast underground tunnels and defended the compound for weeks against Russian attacks. Hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers and trapped civilians ended their defense of the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works plant. The situation elsewhere, and especially in the Donbas, is less clear in this period, with Russians taking control of a hamlet or village one day and then losing control of it to Ukrainians on the next day. The Ukrainians have attempted counter offensives in other parts of the country too, including in the south around Kherson. The Ukrainians launched a counteroffensive in Kharkiv in early May and have successfully pushed the Russians back gradually toward the border. The Moskva was the ship Ukrainians reportedly told to "f*** off" in February when it approached Snake Island and demanded Ukrainians surrender. The ship initially battled a huge fire and eventually sank in the Black Sea. The Ukrainians had struck it the day before with two Neptune anti-ship missiles. On April 14, the Moskva, the flagship of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, sank. has continued to provide heavier equipment and more training for the Ukrainians. The training was another step beyond what the administration had done previously. began training Ukrainians on the Howitzers in locations outside of Ukraine. On April 13, the Biden administration committed to sending M777 Howitzers to Ukraine, the heaviest piece of weaponry the U.S. It is much more open and - and lends itself to armored mechanized offensive operations on both sides." General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Senate panel in early April that "The fight down in the southeast, the terrain is different than it is in the north. and other countries shifted the type of assistance to Ukraine in preparation for a long slog of a fight in the Donbas. April 13Īs the Russians began to prioritize the Donbas, the U.S. Scott Berrier, estimated in Senate testimony in May that between 8 and 10 Russian generals had been killed in Ukraine so far. It's unclear what effect he has had on the campaign in Ukraine so far. Dvornikov was nicknamed the "butcher of Syria" because of his disregard for civilian harm while in charge of Russian forces in Syria. Before his appointment, Russia did not have an overall commander-in-charge of the invasion. Seven weeks into the invasion, Putin appointed General Alexander Dvornikov to lead the invasion in what was seen by many as an attempt to fix all the screwups at the front. The graves combined with the images of murdered corpses lining the streets in Bucha horrified the international community and prompted Biden again to call Putin "a war criminal." April 9 Ukrainian officials also said several mass graves were discovered in Bucha after the Russian retreat. In the town of Bucha, Ukrainian officials said the Russians cruelly killed an estimated dozens of civilians, many of whom were shot in the head while their wrists were tied behind their back. Russian battalion tactical groups began to pull out of Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Sumy back into Russia to be refitted and resupplied for the fight in the Donbas.Īs the Russians withdrew from around Kyiv, evidence of brutal atrocities started to emerge. On March 25, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced it would focus on "fully liberating" the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine. The Russians captured Berdyansk in March as they worked towards the strategic city of Mariupol. The Russians conducted the only amphibious assault of the invasion so far early on, putting troops from the Sea of Azov near the town of Berdyansk. In the south, Russia made more progress because its supply lines ran from Crimea, where they've had a presence since 2014. 28 - March 24Ībout a week into the war, the Pentagon characterized the Russian advance in the north around Kyiv, Chernhiv and Kharkiv as "stalled." The Russians never made it closer than about 15 kilometers from Kyiv and stayed at this distance until retreating to focus on the Donbas. He reportedly turned down another nation's offer to evacuate him from Kyiv by saying, "I need more ammunition, not a ride." Feb. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy started posting social media video addresses from the capital asking for help from the international community. For instance, already, the Pentagon assessed the Russians were having to expend more fuel than they had planned for in the north. From the start of the invasion, Russians faced greater resistance from Ukrainians than they had anticipated and suffered logistical setbacks.
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