War Archive

It is the early morning of February 24th, 2022. Just minutes after the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin declares his “Special Military Operation” or simply full-scale invasion in Ukraine, the Russian 3M-54 Caliber Cruise Missile is on the way toward its target. First, it seems like it will strike the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv, like many other missiles today. However, its real target is the military base 3018 of the National Guard of Ukraine, just 10 kilometers away from the city. Around 6 am, the missile explodes on the empty exercise ground in front of the barracks. A couple of minutes later, another one hits near the local residential buildings. This is the first attack on the small town, which will become known for one of the most significant and fierce battles of the first days of the full-scale Russian invasion. This town is called Hostomel.

It’s the early evening of April 13th, 2022. Just 120 kilometers from the shore, Ukrainian land radar detects some large vessel. After carefully verifying and analyzing data, Ukrainians come to a surprising conclusion. On the 49th day of the Full-Scale Russian Invasion, they finally tracked down something big. The target is correctly identified as the warship Moskva, the flagship of the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet, which performs its duties as a part of invading force.

It’s the early morning of October 8th, 2022. At approximately 6 am, the policeman checks the truck that travels from Russia to the annexed part of Ukraine. After the brief talk with the driver, the policeman takes a look inside. Seeing only some industrial film reels policeman decides to come back to more important business and lets the truck continue its journey to the Crimean peninsula. The only way to get there is via the Kerch Strait Bridge, which connects the Russian mainland with the territory of Ukraine, occupied by Russia in 2014. The policeman, however, did not realize that the truck that he had just inspected will never get to the end of Crimean Bridge.

It is the early morning of February 24, 2022. Russian forces in the Belgorod region that for months were amassing on the Ukrainian border under the cover of military exercises are now ready to fulfill their true mission. Three Russian Armies, 1st Guards Tank, 20s Guards Combined Arms, and 6th Combined Arms plan to launch a land attack on one of the key Ukrainian cities. In total, they have around 20000 men with hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles, backed up with rocket and conventional artillery. Their target is the second largest city in Ukraine, Kharkiv. Major industrial, economic, and cultural center with a pre-war population of 1.5 million people. After the capital Kyiv, it has the second-largest number of military-related enterprises such as tank and armored vehicle factories as well as suppliers of a variety of military aviation components.