Ukraine 2024 Recap: Top 10 events in Ukraine that shaped this year

2024 has been a challenging year for Ukraine. The second year of Russia's full-scale war was full of military triumphs and losses, political developments and unwavering support of the allies, and cultural achievements and major tragedies.

As we approach the New Year 2025, Rubryka invites you to join us as we recap the major events in Ukraine in 2024.

1. Ukraine received its first-ever Oscar

In March 2024, Ukraine had its culturally and historically important triumph — 20 Days in Mariupol, a Ukrainian eyewitness documentary film about the first days of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the siege of the now Russian-occupied city of Mariupol, won the Academy Award for the Best Documentary Film.

Risking their lives, three Ukrainian reporters spent 20 days in Mariupol, besieged and bombed by Russian forces, to document Russian war crimes against Ukrainian civilians. When accepting the award for Ukraine's first Oscar, Mstyslav Chernov, the film director, stated he wished he had never had to make this film, but he and his brave colleagues did so that the vital truth about Russia's war is known worldwide.

Find out why you need to see 20 Days in Mariupol in our article here.

Also, if you want to learn more about Ukrainian cinema and find deserving films to add to your list, read our Top 10 Ukrainian films you need to watch. 

2. Russia renews massive attacks on Ukraine's energy facilities

Russia made a series of "events" in Ukraine in 2024 — especially in the early hours of dawn, with multiple rockets and drones, and at the civilian infrastructure. After taking a break from its traditional autumn attacks on Ukraine, Russia renewed strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities with a new force in late March 2024.

From that point on, Russian missile strikes destroyed multiple thermal and hydroelectric plants in Ukraine, including damaging the DniproHES hydroelectric plant on March 22 and obliterating the Trypilska thermal electric plant on April 11, which provided three Ukrainian regions with electricity.

In late August, Russian forces again attempted to destroy a critically important energy facility, the Kyiv hydroelectric plant, launching 127 rockets and 109 drones for the most massive attack on Ukraine during the war, which cost Russia approximately $1.3 billion.

The most recent attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure was on December 13, which left half of the Ukrainian population without electricity. Russia used 94 rockets and 193 drones to perform the attack, damaging critical facilities in western Ukrainian regions over a thousand kilometers from the front line.

3. Ukraine is allowed to strike inside Russia

On its brutal crusade to invade Kharkiv, the second-largest city in Ukraine, and create a "sanitary zone" around the city to stop successful Ukrainian attacks from reaching Russian soldiers and equipment, Russian forces began its new offensive into the Kharkiv region in mid-May 2024. 

Three days after the first attack, Ukraine asked permission to use US weapons against military facilities in Russia's Belgorod oblast, which borders the Kharkiv region and is used to bombard it. To much surprise, President Joe Biden approved the request. Germany and France followed, allowing the use of supplied arms.

In November came the much-anticipated decision to allow Ukrainian forces to strike deep into Russia with American ATACMS systems. It followed after months of requests from Ukrainian officials, soldiers, and the public after Russia used a long-range Kh-101 rocket to strike the Okhmadyt Children's Hospital in Kyiv on June 8. Russians launched the missile from the Tu-95MS bomber jet from the Saratov oblast, 850–900 kilometers (528-560 miles) from the Ukrainian capital.

4. Russia targets UNESСO-listed sites in Odesa and Lviv

Since day one of its full-scale war, Russia made it its mission to target and destroy cultural monuments, having so far damaged or destroyed 468 sites, verified by UNESCO. 2024 was no exception. 

Ukraine's southern city of Odesa, much of which, particularly its historical center, is protected by UNESCO and international law, has seen multiple attacks — ones of the most devastating events in Ukraine in 2024. 

For example, on March 2 and 15, Russia committed the most deadly attacks Odesa experienced, with 12 civilians killed, including five children, on the first instance and 21 dead and 70 wounded civilians ten days later. 

On June 23, Russian forces targeted and extremely damaged 25 UNESCO historical heritage sites, including the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Savior.

On September 4, Russian forces launched rocket strikes at the historical center of Lviv, the western Ukrainian city. According to Ukraine's culture ministry, Russia damaged more than 188 buildings, including at least 19 of them designated as cultural heritage sites. All damaged buildings are within the historic area and the buffer zone of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which has been listed, like Odesa's historical center, as a World Heritage Site in Danger since 2023. The Russian attack also killed seven people, including a family of a mother and three daughters, with only one father surviving.

5. Ukraine officially started negotiations to join the EU

In June 2024, Ukraine reached a historical milestone and officially started the negotiations to join the European Union — two years after signing its application and receiving the candidate status. EU officials stated that the people of Ukraine and Moldova, which also began the accession talks, showed their unwavering commitment and determination to become EU members. "Even in a time of war and turmoil, they have started extensive reforms," said Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Commission.

Charles Michel, the President of the European Council, also added, "We are witnessing a historic moment today… Ukraine's efforts are even more admirable, considering Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine has brought about unprecedented hardship and adversity."  

Ukraine plans to become an EU member by 2030. If it does, it will become the largest member state by land area and significantly impact the EU's agricultural policies.

6. Russian rockets strike Okhmatdyt Children's Hospital

On June 8, 2024, Russian rockets and drones massively attacked the Ukrainian cities of Kyiv, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, and Pokrovsk, killing 47 and injuring 190 civilians. The Ukrainian capital took much of a blow, with 33 civilian deaths and damage to many civilian buildings in six city districts.

Two long-range Russian rockets — the Kh-101 subsonic air-launched cruise missiles — struck the Okhmatdyt Children's Hospital, the largest and one of Ukraine's most advanced pediatric facilities, renowned for treating children with rare or severe diseases, particularly cancer. One wing of the medical facility was destroyed, two medical professionals were killed, and more were injured.

When the strike — one of the terrifying events in Ukraine in 2024, happened, the Rubryka correspondent Mykola Tymchenko rushed to the scene to document the tragedy. Read and see our photo report from the strike site at Okhmatdyt here. Also, find out how Okhmatdyt is recovering from the attack in our article here.

7. Ukraine's Kursk incursion

In early August, the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched a surprising incursion into Russia's Kursk oblast, to the shock of the Kremlin and Ukraine's Western allies. It became one of the most discussed Ukrainian military successes in the full-scale war, with Western media dubbing it as "the most significant invasion of Russian territory since World War II."

Ukraine has taken the Russian city of Sudzha, over 90 towns, and about 1,300 square kilometers of the Kursk region under its control. The Ukrainian forces also destroyed 1,100 units of military equipment and eliminated over 20,800 Russian troops, 7,900 of which are deceased, and over 700 are prisoners of war.

In November, the Ukrainian operation marked a new stage as it clashed not only with Russian soldiers but also with North Koreans. North Korea, which limited itself only to sending weapons and rockets to Russia, sent 12,000 troops to its ally's territory to help the Russian forces repel Ukraine from the Kursk region.

Read our article about Ukraine's pivotal military successes in the ongoing war.

8. Ukraine officially confirms it received F-16 fighter jets

Another much-anticipated event in Ukraine in 2024 was the arrival of the F-16 fighter jets in the summer of 2024. The planes were supplied by the aviation coalition formed by Ukraine and its Western allies — Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Greece — the year prior. Some partners pledged to supply the jets as part of the program, while others offered their facilities and instructors to train Ukrainian pilots.

After much speculation that the fighter jets would arrive in Ukraine in 2024, the F-16s were seen in the Ukrainian sky on August 4 during the ceremony commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Ukrainian Air Forces. Then, President Zelensky finally confirmed that the Ukrainian pilots welcomed the first jets.

At that point, Ukraine received 10 out of 79 pledged F-16s. Other batches of reinforcements arrived in the past few months, but their number is undisclosed. More are expected in 2025.

9. Russia strikes university and hospital in Poltava

The Russian attack on Poltava on September 3, 2024, was the deadliest strike the city in central Ukraine has seen during Russia's full-scale war. Two Russian Iskander missiles hit the building of the Military Institute of Telecommunications and Information Technologies and a hospital, killing at least 59 and injuring at least 328.

At the moment of the attack, at about 9 a.m., the university had classes with 700 people in the building. According to the Ukrainian defense ministry, the time between the announcement of the air raid siren and the strike itself was so short that people didn't make it to bomb shelters in time. This marked one of the most tragic events in Ukraine in 2024 and over two years of the war.

10. Russia uses its infamous Oreshnik rocket to attack Ukraine

Russia has, for the first time, used a ballistic missile called "Oreshnik" to strike Ukraine. The missile, equipped with six warheads, each said to carry submunition, has been described as exceptionally challenging to intercept. According to Ukrainian officials, the rocket, which can develop a speed of 12,300 km/h, was used to attack an industrial facility in Dnipro on November 21, which they believe was the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile strike.

Ukraine's defense intelligence reported the missile used in the attack carried a conventional warhead, but it was designed to be nuclear-capable. Experts and media interpreted Russian President Volodymyr Putin's decision to launch this rocket as a form of nuclear blackmail and psychological pressure.

In the time that followed, Putin continued to repeat his threats of using Oreshnik for further strikes, even offering "a kind of high-tech duel of the 21st century" to "test" the rockets' capabilities against Western-supplied air defense systems. For this, Putin earned the name "dumbass" from President Zelensky, who condemned the Russian dictator's statement on X.