On the morning of February 24, Russia shelled military and civilian airports across the Ukrainian territory. Several airports in different cities were damaged in these attacks. Nevertheless, many enemy rockets were destroyed by Ukrainian AA systems. Currently, the airspace over Ukrainian territory is closed.

Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has caused one of the greatest migration crises since World War II. More than 6 million Ukrainians had to leave the country, not knowing if they would ever return. More than 8 million became internally displaced persons. When the Russian army retreated from Kyiv Oblast, more and more Ukrainians started to return home. However, for people from territories that are still temporarily occupied, coming back is not really an option yet.

On the first day of the invasion, Russian troops tried to establish control over the strategically important Antonov Airport near the town of Hostomel (25 km from Kyiv). In order to do this, the enemy sent hundreds of helicopters and a group of paratroopers. The fights for the airport lasted until February 27. Eventually, the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroyed the attackers and damaged the runway, which prevented Russian aircraft from transporting the main forces to the airport.

On the first day of the invasion, the Russian occupiers tried to capture Snake Island. The Russian warship ordered the Ukrainian border guards to surrender. They refused, with one of the border guards saying: "Russian warship, go fuck yourself." This phrase became one of the key slogans of this war. Some border guards were killed during the storming of the island, others were taken prisoner. Later, Ukraine exchanged them for the Russian soldiers.

From the beginning of the war, the Russian occupiers tried to seize Ukrainian nuclear power plants. On February 24th, the enemy took control of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant. On March 4th, Russians captured the Zaporizhzhia NPP. Both times, the Russian military carelessly violated nuclear safety protocols. Russians were firing at nuclear plants and even caused a fire at the Zaporizhzhia NPP, terrorizing the World with a possibility of a new nuclear catastrophe. They also tortured workers, placed ammunition depots near nuclear facilities, and dug trenches in the Red Forest near the Chornobyl NPP.

In the territory of Ukraine, the Russian army not only committed war crimes but also resorted to looting. There are numerous reports about Russians stealing not only jewelry, mobile phones, and laptops, but also clothes and household goods, such as washing machines and toilets. Because of this, Ukrainians started to call Russian soldiers the “First marauding army in the World”.

Because of the constant threat of missile strikes, Ukrainians have to hide in the shelters almost every day. Many choose to take cover in the subway system. There, people get to know each other better, support one another, and even fall in love, no matter what.

From the first days of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, even civilians started to prepare to defend their homes from the invaders. Many of them began mixing Molotov cocktails – glass bottles with flammable combinations, popular among participants of the Revolution of dignity in 2013-2014. However, during the war in Ukraine, this flammable solution received a new name – Banderites’ smoothie.

On February 24th, Russians tried to achieve aerial supremacy over the Ukrainian forces. Enemy fighters were flying over Ukrainian cities. During all this, information about a Ukrainian pilot single-handedly taking down multiple Russian jets appeared on social media. The heroic pilot, nicknamed the “Ghost of Kyiv,” was claimed to have won numerous air battles in the sky of Kyiv. Eventually, the Ukrainian military stated that the Ghost of Kyiv is a collective image of the pilots of the 40th Tactical Aviation Brigade of the Air Force, which protects the capitalʼs sky.

Attacks on health care infrastructure are classified as war crimes. But the Russian army violated the principle of medical non-interference. Since February 24th, it has repeatedly shelled Ukrainian hospitals and perinatal centers – including the biggest children's hospital in Ukraine, Ohmatdyt. Overall, more than 300 medical institutions were damaged in these attacks. Nevertheless, Ukrainian doctors are fearlessly saving lives while working under the shelling.

Since the war began, millions of Ukrainians have had to spend their nights in bomb shelters. For example, in the school basements or at the subway stations. However, even in such conditions, Ukrainians continue to help and support each other, sharing blankets and mats. To have fun, in some shelters people even organize movie screenings.

Russian troops began shelling Ukrainian cities from the first days of the war. On February 25, Russia started firing rockets at residential buildings in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. Rescuers evacuated people and animals from burning houses under the threat of repeated fire.

Russian aggression against Ukraine killed more than 200 children in just three months. More than 400 were injured. Even those, who were not hurt physically, were not unaffected. Because of the war, their peaceful lives were disrupted, and their childhood was destroyed. Nowadays, many kids across Ukraine live in bomb shelters, hiding from Russian missile strikes and artillery shelling. Others had to temporarily leave the country, leaving their friends and families behind.

In the temporarily occupied regions of Ukraine, thousands of people became hostages of the Russian army. There are many instances of the enemy thwarting Ukrainian evacuation efforts, shelling cars with civilians, including children, and making people who want to leave on their own go through inhumane filtration camps. Russians also forcibly evacuate Ukrainians to the territory of the Russian Federation. Nevertheless, Ukrainian citizens living in the occupied regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson Oblasts try not to lose hope and wait for the establishment of green corridors that will take them to Ukraine-controlled territory.

On February 25, the Russians captured Demydiv – a small village in the Kyiv Oblast. From there, they were going to advance on Kyiv, telling the locals that the war would soon be over and that they would take the Ukrainian capital in two days. Ukrainians disrupted these plans. They opened the dam and flooded the village, so the Russians could not cross the field, thus saving the Ukrainian capital from occupation. Three months later, many houses in Demydiv are still flooded with water. But the residents have no regrets: “Everybody understands, and yet nobody regrets it for a moment. We saved Kyiv”.

On the second day of the Russian invasion, the Armed Forces of Ukraine decided to stop the advance of the Russian tank column moving from the Russian-occupied Crimea Peninsula by blowing up the Henichesk bridge. Marine Vitalii Skakun bravely volunteered to fulfill this task. He blew up the bridge, slowing down the Russian invasion and potentially saving civilian lives. Unfortunately, it cost him his life. Before the explosion, the soldier did not have time to leave. The hero was 25 years old.

Since the very first days of war, rallies in support of Ukraine began taking place worldwide under the slogan #STANDWITHUKRAINE. Thousands of people attended them to show solidarity with Ukraine and protest against the Russian aggression.

On February 27th, in Koryukovka, Chernihiv Oblast, citizens took to the streets and stopped the Russian tank column from advancing. Dozens of unarmed civilians blocked the road and started to walk toward the tanks, forcing them to retreat without a single shot.

Since the first weeks of the war, thousands of people worldwide have been asking NATO to close the sky over Ukraine to protect its cities from Russian missiles and aircraft. The petition to close the sky received more than a million votes at the Open Petition. However, the sky is still not closed.

Since the end of February, the Russian occupiers have been trying to take the strategic airfield in Chornobayivka in the Kherson Oblast. Ukrainian Armed Forces destroyed enemy troops and equipment during each attempt. Ukrainians have already defeated Russian forces near the village 20 times. The repeated defeat of Russians under Chornobayivka became a local meme, with Ukrainians even joking that the Russians repeat the plot of the famous movie "Live. Die. Repeat.: Edge of Tomorrow" in Chornobayivka.

During the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 27th, 2022, one of the World’s largest and most powerful aircraft Mriya (which name can be translated into English as The Dream), was destroyed due to a Russian air attack on Hostomel Airport near Kyiv. The aircraft was being repaired, so it did not have time to leave Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelensky had already promised to rebuild the plane, and a new phrase became popular among Ukrainians: “Ukrainian Mriya never dies”.

On February 25th the Associated Press published a news story stating that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected the U.S. evacuation offer in the first hours of the war. In a conversation with a U.S. government official, he reportedly said, “The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride.” Shortly after publication, the quote went viral.

From the first days of the war, Mariupol city in the Donetsk Oblast, with a population of 450 thousand people, was at the forefront of the Russian attack. On March 1st, it was entirely encircled by enemy troops, but the Ukrainian garrison continued to fight the occupiers. Trying to defeat the resistance, the Russians were shelling the city with heavy artillery, aiming at military positions and critical infrastructure. Cut off from the rest of Ukraine, the residents of Mariupol were left without electricity, water, food, and medicine, and they didn’t have the option to leave for Ukraine-controlled territory. The Russians repeatedly disrupted any Ukrainian evacuation efforts. More than 20 000 civilians died in the siege – some from the shelling, others from hunger and sickness. The city itself was destroyed. Those who survived the blockade said that ‘It’s not even comparable to hell.’

On May 20th, the last defenders of Mariupol, who had been fighting larger Russian forces for more than 80 days, left the city. The humanitarian catastrophe in Mariupol is ongoing.

Even Ukrainian farmers are fighting the Russian occupiers. They tow Russian vehicles using tractors and steal enemy tanks and anti-aircraft missile systems, promising from now to use them for good deeds as the sowing period has begun. It's hard to say exactly how much equipment was stolen. But Ukrainian police still confiscate tanks from the civilians in different parts of the country.

During their offensive, Russian invaders managed to capture several Ukrainian cities. Eventually, the Armed Forces of Ukraine squeezed the enemy out of the central and northern Oblasts of the country, but, unfortunately, many settlements remain under occupation. Citizens of Energodar, Nova Kakhovka, Kherson, Melitopol, and other settlements refuse to live under Russian rule. They organize pro-Ukrainian meetings, holding Ukrainian flags and patriotic banners, and join the partisan movement. On March 13, thousands of Knerson residents took to the streets to protest against the Russian occupation.

On March 16, the Russians dropped a bomb on the building of the Donetsk Drama Theater in Mariupol. About 1000 civilians who lost their homes in the shelling were hiding there. The building was destroyed, but the storage in the basement survived. Ukrainian rescuers worked tirelessly and rescued 200 people from the rubble. Later, it became known that the Russians purposefully dropped a bomb on the theater even though they knew civilians were hiding there, and the inscription in large letters "Children" was drawn near the building.

Since the third day of the Russian invasion, Oleksiy has been playing at the Lviv railway station, raising the spirits of Ukrainians who are forced to relocate. During one of his performances in late March, an air raid began. The musician continued to perform the soundtrack from the movie Inception with an air raid siren sounding in the background protesting against "bombs, murders, and war." The author of the piece, Hans Zimmer, showed a video of the Ukrainian's performance at a concert in London.

On April 2, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reported that the entire territory of the Kyiv Oblast had been liberated from the Russian occupiers. It should be a happy day, but horrifying details about Russian war crimes in the previously occupied territories soon began to emerge. Journalists that arrived in the liberated cities documented burned bodies lying on the streets and numerous mass graves. They also gathered stories about rape, torture, and executions that the Russian army inflicted on civilians in cities like Bucha, Irpin, and Borodyanka. These horrors shocked the World and forced many countries to recognize the Russian actions on Ukrainian territory as genocide. You can find out more via this link.

In the first days of the war, Russians tried to take Kharkiv – the former Ukrainian capital, home to more than 1 million people. When the attempt failed, they decided to destroy the city and began to shell it with rockets and heavy artillery. Kharkiv Freedom Square and several districts of the city were almost completely obliterated. Hundreds of people died, and even more were injured. On April 15th, the shelling killed 10 civilians, including a seven-month-old baby. However, at the beginning of May, Ukrainian Forces pushed occupiers further from Kharkiv, making it harder to attack the city with artillery.

On April 16, Ukraine struck Russia's Black Sea missile cruiser, Moskva, with its Neptune missiles. The Russian flagship that gained notoriety after calling on Ukrainian border troops defending Snake Island in the Black Sea to surrender sank. The Russian defense ministry said ammunition onboard exploded in an unexplained fire, and the ship sank because of the storm while being towed to port.

After the Kyiv offensive failed and the occupiers were forced to retreat, Russia shifted most of its focus to eastern Ukraine. On April 18, the battle of the Donbas began. Trying to take Ukrainian cities under their control, occupants use a scorched-earth policy, destroying residential buildings and infrastructure in such cities as Popasna, Severodonetsk, and Lysychansk with no regard to civilian casualties. However, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are doing everything possible to deter the offensive and protect the civilians.

A small Jack Russell Patron, whose name can be translated into English as “ammo” or “cartridge”, works with SES rescuers in the northeastern city of Chernihiv. Together with his owner, he helps to demine the territory of Chernihiv Oblast, which Russia put under siege and subjected to heavy shelling for almost six weeks before retreating. So far, Patron has detected more than 200 explosives, potentially saving dozens of lives and preventing serious injuries. On May 8, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky presented a medal to Patron and his owner for their services to the nation.

On May 9, celebrated as the Day of Victory over Nazi Germany in Russia, U.S. President Joe Biden signed the Ukraine Lend-Lease Act to help Ukraine fight the Russian occupiers. Thus, he revived the old program that was used during World War II and allowed the United States to ‘lend’ weapons to its allies.

On May 15th, the Ukrainian folk-rap group, Kalush Orchestra won the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 with their song ‘Stefania’. The band received a record-setting 438 points from the public. “Stefania” was written as a tribute to the frontman’s mother, but since the beginning of the war has been transformed into an anthem of the whole Ukrainian nation, as the lyrics “I’ll always find my way home, even if all roads are destroyed” took on a completely new meaning.

Russian troops surrounded Mariupol in the first few days of the full-scale invasion. After most of the city came under the control of the Russian military, the Azovstal steel works became the last stronghold of the Ukrainian defense in Mariupol. Trying to squeeze Ukrainian soldiers out of the factory, enemy troops dropped bombs on the plant and shelled it with heavy artillery. Despite challenging conditions and lack of supplies, defenders of Mariupol held their positions, fighting the enemy for more than 80 days. Their bravery disrupted the Russian plan to encircle the Ukrainian troops in the Joint Forces Operation zone and saved the lives of thousands of civilians.

During all this time, Dmytro Kozatskyi, a member of the Azov Regiment, also known as Orest, documented the daily life of Mariupol defenders. When on May 20, the last defenders of Mariupol left the plant, following the new order from the command – to save the soldiers' lives, he published the link to all photos on his Twitter. "Well, that's it. Thank you for sheltering me, Azovstal, the place of my death and my life", – wrote Orest.

Defenders of Azovstal are currently held in occupied territories. Their fates remain uncertain.

Before the war, Ukraine was the World's breadbasket, exporting 4.5 million tons of agricultural produce per month through its ports. But since Russia launched its invasion in February, everything has changed. The occupiers blocked the Ukrainian ports and took the grain hostage, threatening the World with a major food crisis.

Despite all the destruction and death brought by the war, three months after the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, Ukrainians didn’t lose their spirits. They are fearlessly resisting occupiers in the East, making plans for the liberation of temporarily occupied territories and postwar rebuilding. And even though currently, no one in Ukraine knows when the war will end and at what price, there is one thing that everyone is sure of – it will end with Ukraine’s victory.

Due to the Russian aggression, many Ukrainian families were torn apart, with women transporting their children to safety and husbands staying to protect the country. And while European countries are doing everything to help Ukrainians who were forced to escape the war, all of them are waiting for the moment when the war ends, and they will finally be able to return home, reuniting with their loved ones.