For a year to the day, the Russians have been trying to take control of Ukraine. Facing them, the armed forces of kyiv retaliated relentlessly, holding and retaking, meter by meter, kilometers by kilometers, the occupied territories. Fighting raged in Mariupol, Kherson and Odessa. So many names which, in a year of war in Ukraine, marked the news. This Friday, President Volodymyr Zelensky assured that these cities, theaters of atrocities committed by the Russians or even symbols of the occupation or the resistance of the army of Kiev, were “capitals of invincibility” Ukrainian. Where are they today? 20 minutes make the point.
Mariupol 90% destroyed
About fifty kilometers from the Russian border, in the Donbass basin, some 400,000 Ukrainians lived in Mariupol when Vladimir Putin launched his “special military operation” in Ukraine on February 24, 2022. This port metropolis was from the start of the conflict a strategic target of the Russian offensive: taking Mariupol was to create a supply strip between Crimea (annexed in 2014) and pro-Russian Donetsk, then to deprive Ukraine of access to the Sea of Azov.
On March 16, the Russians besieged the city, shelling it incessantly. A strike on a theater, where hundreds of people had taken refuge, caused carnage: at least 300 people lost their lives there, according to the town hall of Mariupol and no less than 600, according to an investigation by the Associated Press . A maternity hospital was also bombed, killing at least three people, including a little girl.
For three months, the Russians have continued to launch bombs and rockets on the city, killing more than 22,000 civilians, according to a representative of the Ukrainian government. According to the United Nations, during the siege Mariupol was 90% destroyed. And the guerrilla warfare that was waged there remains to this day, in terms of the number of civilian casualties, the bloodiest.
This without counting the battle of Azovstal. This gigantic iron and steel site of Mariupol was until its fall in May 2022 the symbol of the fierce resistance of the Ukrainians, despite a deficit in men and weapons. Fighters from the Azov regiment, branded as Nazi extremists by Moscow, held the steelworks and its underground maze for weeks, while the rest of Mariupol fell to the Russians, at the cost of immense destruction.
The defenders of Azovstal eventually surrendered, due to lack of food and ammunition, but are still considered heroes by the Ukrainians. As for Mariupol, Moscow claimed its capture on April 21. Russia still controls it. And following an annexation not recognized by the international community, Moscow now considers Mariupol as its own.
Boucha in search of justice
At the start of the invasion, the Russian attempt to take kyiv came up against a tenacious Ukrainian army, galvanized by a Volodymyr Zelensky transformed into a real warlord. Having failed to conquer kyiv, the Kremlin withdrew its forces from northern Ukraine at the end of March. On April 2, the planet discovered the images showing the bodies of executed civilians, some with their hands tied behind their backs, strewing the streets of Boutcha, a town on the outskirts of the capital that the Russian army had occupied. At least 73 bodies of coldly executed civilians were found in the streets.
The images of these massacres attributed to Russia have provoked the indignation of Westerners and the UN. For the West and Ukraine, obviously, war crimes have been committed, as will be confirmed by testimonies, videos and forensic expertise. Moscow sweeps away the accusations, denouncing a staging.
Twelve months after the start of the conflict, calm has returned to Boutcha. The survivors in search of justice try to resume their lives, even if the fear of a return of the Russians is in everyone’s head. “It’s terrifying,” Nadejda Stenenkova, 75, told AFP in July. In Boutcha, 70% of the homes were damaged or destroyed during the fighting and, for those still there, it is time for reconstruction.
Kharkiv still bombed
From the beginning of the war, the second city of the country, Kharkiv is targeted by the Russian offensive. 35 kilometers from the Russian border, the “very firm” resistance of Ukrainian soldiers prevented the capture of the metropolis.
Struggling for more than six months, the Ukrainian army succeeded in pushing Vladimir Putin’s army out of the Kharkiv region in early September, achieving a surprise and lightning breakthrough of the Russian lines in the northeast. The scene of heavy fighting, Kharkiv is still very regularly bombarded, with a whole section of the city in ruins. And this, while today, the front line is more than one hundred kilometers from the metropolis.
Kherson in search of pro-Putin
From the start of the conflict, on the north bank of the Dnieper, a few dozen kilometers from Crimea, Russian bombs rained down on Kherson. On March 3, a week after the start of the conflict, Moscow announced the capture of Kherson. For nearly eight months, the Russian flag flew through the streets of the city. Moscow even organized a referendum – illegitimate in the eyes of the international community – to attach the Kherson oblast to Russia. But in early September, as part of a broad counter-offensive, the Ukrainian armed forces put the Russians in difficulty, who were forced to abandon Kherson on November 9, leaving behind them a city in ruins.
On November 11, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the official recapture of the city, calling the day “historic”. To understand how, in part, Ukraine took over this precious bastion and its region, here is a montage made by 20 minutes before and after a barrage of Ukrainian missiles on a Russian weapons depot.
The police quickly began to flush out pro-Putin “collaborators”. On the spot, the Ukrainians are trying to resume their lives, even if the Russian bombardments continue to target civilian infrastructures, like a strike on December 24 on a market which left at least ten dead and 55 injured.
Zaporozhye or the specter of the nuclear accident
Zaporozhye is, still a year after the start of the war, one of the hot spots of the conflict. On February 10 again, the city and its region were plunged into darkness after a rain of missiles fired at strategic energy sites. One of them is particularly scrutinized by all: the nuclear power plant. With its six Soviet-designed units, this power station is the largest in Europe and the permanent attacks pose the constant risk of a Chernobyl bis.
On March 4, when the site was taken over by Moscow, Ukrainians and Europeans had feared the worst. The last strikes aimed in a “deliberate and targeted” way at these nuclear infrastructures date from 20 November. Although the Russians never managed to take the city of Zaporozhye – which did not prevent Vladimir Putin from declaring its annexation illegal – Moscow still retains control of the central and southern part of the oblast.
On January 21, the Russian army said it would continue to carry out offensives in the region, ensuring a “sharp increase in the intensity” of the fighting. And whether or not the Ukrainians regain control of the infrastructure, the international community will continue to keep an eye on the plant.
Odessa between mines and sirens
From the first hours of the war, as in Mariupol, kyiv or Kharkiv, Russian bombs shook Odessa. The largest Ukrainian city on the shores of the Black Sea since the loss of Crimea in 2014, Odessa represented in the eyes of the Russians “the gateway to the even greater destabilization of Moldova, Romania and European territory in as a whole,” a source at the Quai d’Orsay told AFP in January. Already deprived of access to the Sea of Azov, kyiv would feel a blow to lose access to the Black Sea.
For twelve months, the Russians have been constantly bombarding Odessa, causing the anti-aircraft sirens to go off. In this former seaside resort, the power is still very often cut there, due to the damage caused by the Iranian-designed kamikaze drones targeting the power stations. In early February, a Russian strike deprived no less than 500,000 people of electricity.
Even though the fighting has gradually moved away from the oblast, Ukrainian soldiers still ensure control of the region to this day. All along the coast, mines are buried by Ukrainian forces in anticipation of a potential Russian landing. The fear of all the inhabitants of the port city.
Bakhmout in “fortress” mode
Since last summer, the Russian army, supported by paramilitaries from the Wagner group, has come up against one city in particular: Bakhmout. In this bastion, the Ukrainian soldiers dug trenches, suggesting a war of positions. Described as “hell on earth” by the Ukrainians, the battle of Bakhmout is the deadliest since the beginning of the conflict. There, the invading forces are advancing meter by meter. “Bakhmout will not be taken tomorrow,” said Evguéni Prigojine, the boss of the Wagner group, a few weeks ago. According to the Russian general staff and the head of Wagner, the city could be taken in the spring. Faced with this the Ukrainians, boosted by Western armaments, claim to kill up to more than 1,000 Russian soldiers a day.
Bakhmout has become a symbol, even though strategically it does not have great military advantages. This city has become a symbol for the Russians because, chaining defeats for more than six months, the hope of a victory makes Russian officers dream. It is also a symbol for the Ukrainians, who despite 365 days of conflict continue to tirelessly defend their positions.
