For nearly 1,000 days, Russia has been waging its full-scale war against Ukraine and has been failing to suppress the spirit of the Ukrainian people. When the Russian boots and tanks crossed the borders of multiple Ukrainian regions, and Russian jets launched their first long-range rockets to strike peaceful cities across Ukraine, the Kremlin expected to take over the neighboring country in "three days."
What Russia didn't expect was that Ukrainian soldiers wouldn't put down their arms and would put up a big fight to protect their loved ones and their homeland. After two and a half years of outpouring international support with weapons and training and the unbeatable unity of the Ukrainian people, the Ukrainian military resistance is going strong.
As Ukraine celebrates its brave soldiers and veterans and honors the memory of those who died defending their country on Defenders Day, Rubryka recounts five key Ukrainian army victories in full-scale war — a testament to soldiers' courage, incredible skill, and strength.
1. Defending Kyiv: Ukraine's north is free
Key Ukrainian military successes: A Ukrainian armored vehicle patrols a street in Bucha. Photo: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP
In the first days of the large-scale invasion, Russia's goal number one was to capture the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, overthrow the country's political leadership, and install a puppet government that would obey Putin's orders. Nothing went according to Russia's plan. President Zelensky and other leaders refused to flee, Ukrainian civilians revolted against their "liberators," and the Ukrainian soldiers refused to give up.
Creeping on Kyiv from the territory of Belarus and Russia, Russian troops occupied the Hostomel airport and the suburban towns like Bucha and Makariv near Kyiv, committing horrendous atrocities against Ukrainian civilians. In the meantime, Ukraine's command made a series of tactical decisions that could avert Russia's plan of encircling the capital. Thanks to them and the heroic Ukrainian soldiers protecting the Kyiv region and the neighboring regions of Sumy and Chernihiv, Kyiv was safe from occupation.
In late March 2022, the Ukrainian Armed Forces began the counteroffensive, securing the needed positions to protect Kyiv and evacuate thousands of civilians. The counterattack successfully repelled the Russian troops, who began to withdraw from the Kyiv region and, ultimately, from other northern provinces.
On April 2, the official date of the Kyiv region liberation, the Ukrainian forces, leadership, law enforcement, and international journalists discovered the evidence of what the Russian occupation really meant — Russian soldiers killed, tortured, raped, and committed many other war crimes in Bucha, Irpin, Makariv, Borodianka, and other towns, against Ukrainian civilians violating all possible conventions and laws.
As the Russian war crimes were documented for the international tribunal prosecution, the Ukrainian soldiers began fighting with even more force and resilience on other fronts to save their people in occupation from the "Russian world."
2. Kharkiv counteroffensive
Key battles in Ukraine war: Ukrainian Territorial Defense soldiers pose near the entrance sign newly repainted to blue and yellow in the village of Shevchenkove, Kharkiv region, liberated from the Russian occupation in September 2022. Photo: ArmyInform
For Russia, seizing Kharkiv, one of the most major Ukrainian cities, was as crucial as occupying the Ukrainian capital. During the early days of the full-scale war, Russian forces managed to grab nearly half of the northeastern region, including the strategically important towns of Kupiansk and Izium, but failed to overtake the regional capital.
Russians were at a disadvantage because they were fighting against highly motivated and skilled Ukrainian soldiers who happened to also be locals of the Kharkiv region, who knew each town, road, and ditch like the backs of their hands. Ukrainians could keep most of the region within their control despite being pounded by Russian artillery, bombs, and rockets.
Approaching the autumn of 2022, the Ukrainian army devised a clever plan to liberate the occupied territories. First, it targeted Russian bases and warehouses with newly arrived HIMARS artillery rocket systems supplied by the United States, weakening the enemy. Then, the Ukrainian Armed Forces diverted the attention of Russian command and, knowing how unprepared Russians were to repel the attack, launched a successful lighting counteroffensive in September 2022 — now seen as one of the most impressive Ukrainian army victories.
Ukraine's counterattack came as a surprise for the Russian forces because Ukrainians loudly advertised the offensive in the southern Kherson region, as many believe, in the hope that Russia would pull its troops and equipment to defend Kherson, the only regional capital it could occupy in this war. The trick worked, and in a swift move backed by US-supplied rockets, Ukrainian soldiers liberated almost 12,000 square kilometers of Russian-occupied territory in the Kharkiv region and eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, changing the course of the war.
3. Kherson counteroffensive
Key Ukrainian military successes: Kherson residents met Ukrainian soldiers with jubilation at the main city square on November 11, 2022. Photo: Ukrainian ground forces
Using occupied Crimea as a base, Russian forces also attacked Ukraine from the south, occupying vast territories of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions and capturing major cities of Kherson and Melitopol. They were met with robust resistance from Ukrainian civilians who took to the streets with blue and yellow flags, banners, and slogans, like "Russian soldier is a fascist occupant" and "Go home!" to protest the occupation. In response, Russian forces started mass prosecution of locals, abducting, detaining, and interrogating civilians in a network of torture chambers.
Despite prosecution, Ukrainians continued the fight through partisan movements targeting Russian bases and troops and helping the Ukrainian Armed Forces to strike and destroy Russian military equipment. On the other side of the front line, Ukrainian forces were skillfully pushing out the enemy and liberating towns and villages in the Kherson region. By October 2022, the front-line initiative was led by the Ukrainian armed forces, who recaptured 1,170 square kilometers of Russian-occupied lands in the Kherson region.
Russia, fearing Ukrainian advancement and the loss of territories amid the successful Kharkiv counteroffensive, held a sham referendum to annex Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk. Any illegitimate attempts to claim that occupied regions are "Russian forever" blew up in Russia's face because, by the time November 2022 came, the Kherson counteroffensive — one of the most outstanding Ukrainian military successes — was in full swing.
One by one, the towns on the right bank of the Dnipro River were liberated by Ukrainian troops reinforced by "artillery systems, guided munitions and long-range rocket launchers sent by the West." Locals met Ukrainian soldiers with cheers, flowers, and food, thanking them for their feat. Meanwhile, Russians were fleeing in chaos. The events culminated on November 11, when Ukrainian forces entered Kherson, the regional capital, where they were met with mass celebrations by the locals singing Ukrainian songs and waving Ukraine's flags. Kherson was free again.
4. Battle of the Black Sea: Snake Island and naval drones
Key Ukrainian military successes: Soldiers install the Ukrainian flag on Zmiinyi (Snake) Island. Photo: Ukrainian defense intelligence
While the Ukrainian forces on the ground and in the air were pushing out the Russian troops from the occupied Ukrainian towns, the country's navy was working to reclaim the waters of the Black Sea. Since brave Ukrainian soldiers on Snake Island said, "Russian warship, go f*** yourself," the ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet have done just that — sinking to the bottom of the sea and pulling back far to the ports in Russia.
Despite not having ships of their own, the Ukrainian navy could achieve ones of the finest Ukrainian army victories. In April 2022, two Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missiles struck and sank Russia's flagship, the Moskva, the exact same one that threatened Ukraine's border guards on Snake Island and was told the iconic phrase. Later that year, Ukrainian special forces led a successful operation to liberate the infamous island, tipping the scales of influence in the Black Sea to Ukraine's benefit.
In 2023, Ukraine launched multiple raids and rocket and drone strikes in occupied Crimea, destroying Russian air defense and radio warfare systems and the Russian Black Sea Fleet bases and headquarters in the city of Sevastopol. In the meantime, Ukraine introduced its innovation, naval drones, to target and damage Russian warships in the Black Sea, like frigates Admiral Makarov and Admiral Essen, the minesweeper Ivan Golubets, and the patrol ship Ladny. Ukraine's attacks depleted the Russian navy so much that it had to move its ships from Crimea to Novorossiysk, the port in Russia's Krasnodar region.
After many triumphant operations and strikes, including the destruction of the soon-to-be-commissioned Askold, a Russian warship and missile carrier, with a France-supplied SCALP-EG missile, Ukraine could liberate more than 25,000 square kilometers of the Black Sea, disable the third of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, and use its ports to export grain on nearly a pre-war level. With newly delivered long-range weapons, Ukrainian forces continue causing fear to Russian ships safely tucked in Russia's ports.
5. Kursk incursion
Key Ukrainian military successes: Ukrainian military vehicles stand behind a damaged sign near a border post in Sudzha, Kursk region. Photo: David Guttenfelder/The New York Times
In early August this year, the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched a jaw-dropper incursion into Russia's Kursk region — one of the latest Ukrainian military successes in the full-scale war. Unbeknownst to Russia's leadership and Western allies, Ukrainian troops advanced up to 30 kilometers into Russia and took the city of Sudzha under their control, which marked what many Western media dubbed as "the most significant invasion of Russian territory since World War II."
The "Russian operation" was soon confirmed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, with Ukrainian troops controlling over 100 Russian towns and more than 1,294 square kilometers of the territory. Ukraine has captured 594 Russian soldiers as an exchange fund to return Ukrainian prisoners of war from Russian captivity and fortified positions to hold the ground. Its forces also blew up bridges to delay or stop possible attacks from the Russian troops and destroyed their fortifications.
The incursion has been seen as an effort to force Russia to redeploy troops from Ukraine's east and relieve pressure on Ukrainian defenses. It also may strengthen Ukraine's position in potential peace negotiations, which the Kremlin has mentioned many times only to put forward its presumptuous terms.
Whatever the outcome might be, for now, Russia is trying to minimize the importance of the Kursk incursion while Ukraine is celebrating the moment of success. Part of the victory was also to show that Russian borders aren't ironclad, and Putin's threats about the new red line being crossed, the use of nuclear weapons, and escalation of the conflict lack substance. The situation in the Kursk region is developing and shifting the balance of the war.
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