On 24 February 2022, early in the morning (5:55 a.m. Moscow time, 3:55 a.m. Warsaw time), Vladimir Putin announced his decision to launch the “special military operation” in eastern Ukraine. At the same time, he declared that he did not plan to occupy Ukrainian territory, while “the peoples of Ukraine have the right to self-determination.” In Putin’s rhetoric, the operation in Ukraine was to be conducted with a view to denazifying the country. He warned Western leaders that any intervention by external powers to counter the Russian attack would be met with a “response that will be immediate and will lead you to such consequences that you have never experienced in your history.”

Just after Putin finished his speech (4:00 a.m. Warsaw time), Russia started its invasion of Ukraine. The operation began with rocket artillery striking targets across the territory of Ukraine. Large cities, including Kyiv and Kharkov, were shelled, causing panic among the civilian population. Ukrainian airports, command headquarters and Ukrainian air defence facilities were also struck.

The President of Ukraine declared martial law effective throughout the country.

Then (8:00 a.m. Warsaw time), land forces of the Russian army crossed the borders of Ukraine and entered the Kharkiv, Sumy and Chernihiv oblasts from the north, as well as from Crimea into the Kherson oblast. A few hours after the invasion began, Russian airborne troops (VDV) made an air landing on the Hostomel airport. Ukrainian forces initially drove the Russian units out of the airport, but in the following days the Russians counterattacked. The battle of Hostomel, as part of a large-scale offensive of the Russian Armed Forces aimed at encircling the capital of Ukraine, lasted until 1 April 2022.

In the south, Russian troops penetrated deep into Ukrainian territory, reaching the Dnieper in the Kherson region.

The defence of Snake Island in the Black Sea, and especially the response of the island’s defenders to the call to surrender, became a symbol of the first hours of the Russian aggression and the steadfastness of Ukrainian soldiers. 

Before the close of the first day of the full-scale war, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree on the universal mobilization of all Ukrainian men aged 18 to 60 years. They were banned from leaving Ukraine.

Photo: Russian ammunition vehicle marked with the letter "Z".