Day one
Russia’s multi-pronged attack on Feb. 24 rocked Ukraine’s defenses and in some places pushed them back dozens of kilometers. The Kremlin’s apparent goals of the day were to overwhelm Ukrainian defenses, devastate civilian morale, demolish Ukrainian military infrastructure, and take ground that would allow a quick capture of the capital Kyiv, and the national government.
At most if not all locations, Ukrainians appear to have fought hard, in some cases ferociously. In some places they gave ground before slowing the Russian advance, particularly in the south. Russian airborne units took a critical airfield near Kyiv, then lost it to Ukrainian helicopter-borne infantry. The fight appeared still to be in progress the next morning.
By sunrise on Feb. 25, it was clear Russian President Vladimir Putin’s initial plan to behead Ukraine’s government and deluge the country’s soldiers and people in a lighting campaign, against minimal resistance, had failed. The Ukrainian leadership held together during the first 24 hours of the war. The Ukrainian army was still ready to fight.
Official sources said 137 Ukrainians – civilians and military – were killed in the days fighting, and another 316 were wounded. Estimates of Russian combat losses ranged from 800 to 2,000 killed. The Ukrainian military said it destroyed 30 tanks and 130-190 armored personnel carriers over the course of the day.
During the day, official and civilian sources posted images and video of small groups of Russian prisoners of war (POWs) captured in Akhtyrsk, Schastiya and Hostomel, among other locations.
Initial Russian missile strikes
Russia commenced its attack on Ukraine with a wave of missile strikes almost all targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure like barracks, headquarters, airbases, and air defense emplacements. Estimates of numbers of missiles fired ranged from 30-70 but, during the early morning of Feb. 25, at least four more were launched.
At two locations the missiles killed or wounded between 10 and 20 people. In some locations the missiles missed, sometimes hitting nothing and sometimes civilians or civilian buildings. Some strikes were in far western cities such as, Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv. The Ukrainian leadership said the missile strikes caused some but not devastating damage. Internet images seemed to support this assertion.
Hostomel airfield battle
Possibly the most dramatic battle of the day took place at Hostomel airfield about 15-20 kilometers to the northwest of Kyiv. According to government statements, the Russian goal was to capture the airfield and use it as a base to land powerful reinforcements, which would race into the capital and take over the government. Russia’s quick advance on Kyiv, a city of nearly 3 million people, was enabled by Belarus from where they invaded and which offers the nearest route to the capital city.
The landing by a helicopter force of 20-30 aircraft, depending on the source, took place mid-morning. Ukrainians shot down two transport and one attack helicopter with hand-held guided missiles. A Ukrainian National Guard unit at the airfield fought but was pushed back. The Ukrainians brought up artillery and, by mid-afternoon, a unit of their own helicopter-carried infantry, which according to official reports had recaptured the airfield by early evening. The Ukrainians initially announced a major victory and the Russian infantry destroyed, but later amended official reports to describe the Ukrainians as controlling the airport, but that a fight was still in progress with the Russians in the vicinity.
If the Russian plan was to use Hostomel airfield as a platform for a lightning coup to take Kyiv, it failed. However, a Russian infantry force of some size appeared to be still present and capable of fighting, complicating communications between the capital and forces to the north.
Before attempting to seize Hostomel, Russian forces gained full control of the Chernobyl Exclusion zone further to the north by mid-morning on Feb. 24, according to presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak. Ukrainian authorities accused the Russians of damaging infrastructure and creating a radiation hazard threatening Europe.
Possible Russian delays in the north, fierce fighting in the east
Russian forces appear to have attacked Ukraine on a wide front from the north. In most cases, official sources and civilians with phone images or texts said the Russians used armored columns with a mix of tanks and armored personnel carriers (APCs).
In the vicinity of Hlukhiv in Sumy oblast, according to official sources, Ukrainians used Javelin missiles to wipe out a 15-tank column, after which the front stabilized. Russian forces reportedly had surrounded the town of Konotop in the same region but Ukrainian forces seem to have kept on fighting. By the morning of Feb. 25, an interior ministry official had posted images of a Russian POW and a burning Russian armored vehicle. Allegedly, civilian defenders were responsible.
In Sumy, a city and road intersection south of Konotop, close infantry fighting was in progress, according to both official sources and web images. There were also unconfirmed reports of street fighting in the eastern suburbs of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city located 40 kilometers from Russia.
Fighting along the old line-of-contact seemed most intense around the village Schastiya in Luhansk region, against a background of engagements at many locations along the front line of eastern Ukraine. By the end of the day, the Ukrainian defenders reportedly had held.
Russians make a quick start in the south
The Ukrainian high command repeatedly described the southern sector as “complicated.” Russians ground forces simultaneously attacked five southern regions by invading from the occupied Crimean peninsula. By the end of the day on Feb. 24, the Ukrainians said they had organized a defensive line in the vicinity of Melitopol in Zaporizhzhya oblast. There were images of street fighting in Kherson, a regional capital further to the south.
By the end of the day, the Russians captured the small Ukrainian Zmiyiv (Snake) Island located in the Black Sea off the Romanian coast. Its defenders were attacked from the air and sea and were reported to have fought heroically to the end.
