News portal “Kyiv Independent” compiled a subjective list of the best moments and events that gave Kyiv, every Ukrainian, and Ukraine’s partners hope that the trajectory of the war will move closer to the victorious end.
Unexpected visit of Joe Biden to Kyiv
A few days before the first anniversary of the large-scale invasion launched by Russia, US President Joe Biden made an unannounced visit to Kyiv.
This was Mr. Biden’s first visit to Ukraine as president, with which he sought to demonstrate unwavering support for Ukraine, which is still stubbornly fighting Russian aggression.
During the five-hour visit on February 20. The US president met with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, visited St. Archangel Michael Monastery and paid tribute to Ukrainian soldiers who died since 2014. the beginning of the Russian war.
The world, watching J.Biden together with V.Zelenski walking through the streets of wartime Kyiv, became convinced that Ukraine is not alone in its fight once morest Russia.
“One year later, Kyiv is still standing,” J. Biden said in February. – And Ukraine is standing. Democracy holds. Americans are with you, and the world is with you.”
International arrest warrant for V. Putin and M. Lvova-Belova
The International Criminal Court (ICC) in March made a decision that gave hope to anyone who supports Ukraine that Russian leader Vladimir Putin will one day be held accountable for his crimes.
“AP”/”Scanpix”/Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights M. Lvova-Belova and Russian leader V. Putin
The court issued the aforementioned arrest warrants to V. Putin and the Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights Marija Lvova-Belova for overseeing the scheme of forcible deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.
Ukrainian authorities have determined that from 2022 February. more than 19,000 people were taken from the Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine. children, although the number is likely to be much higher. This is one of the darkest consequences of Russia’s full-scale war.
“The policy of the aggressor state is evident in its decisions: separating children from their families, depriving them of contact with relatives, hiding them on the territory of Russia and dispersing them in remote regions. These actions are a great evil committed by the state,” on March 17. said V. Zelenski.
Since the International Criminal Court considers Putin responsible for these actions, he can now be arrested in any of the 123 countries that have joined the Rome Statute.
In March, the president of Ukraine called the court’s decision “historic” and added that there is a “real prospect” of getting justice.
Since the arrest warrant was issued, countless missions have been organized by Ukrainian authorities and volunteers to rescue children illegally held in Russia and Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories.
It is estimated that regarding 19 thousand people were kidnapped. children, but so far only regarding 400 children have been returned to Ukraine.
AP/Scanpix/Ukrainian children
Tetiana Bodak is one of the Ukrainian mothers who was lucky because her child was brought home this year. Her eldest son Vladyslav in 2022. in autumn, they were taken from their home in then-occupied Kherson by Russian soldiers.
Vladyslav was held apart from his family for more than eight months, first in Russian-occupied Crimea and then in the Russian-occupied part of Ukraine’s Kherson region.
While searching for Vladyslav, T. Bodak was imprisoned by the Russian military for two days.
“I had nothing to fear because I was just a mother who came to pick up my child,” she told Kyiv Independent reporters in June following being reunited with her son.
Each prisoner exchange with Russia was also bittersweet. When Ukrainian POWs returned home to their families, the horrors they faced in Russian captivity became public.
Volunteers shouldered the Kachovka tragedy
One of the worst tragedies of 2023 occurred when Russia blew up the Kachovka dam in the Kherson region. It also highlighted the extraordinary unity and courage of volunteers in Ukraine.
June the bursting of the dam led to catastrophic flooding and a humanitarian crisis. Ukrainian and foreign volunteers worked tirelessly to rescue people and animals trapped by the flood, providing first aid, drinking water, food and providing shelter.
Photo by Gintautas Švedos/Subsemtas Khersonas
The tragic flooding was not the only threat they faced, as Russian forces continued to shell Kherson, sometimes deliberately targeting rescue missions.
This dangerous work was primarily undertaken by volunteers, non-profit organizations and first responders, as none of the major international organizations, including the United Nations or the Red Cross, sent missions.
Volunteers in the region joined forces and worked alongside local rescuers and law enforcement to make their missions more effective.
“When everything happens in Ukraine, we have to be united,” Arhisht Darchinyan, head of the Kryvyi Rih-based non-profit organization Vikingas, commented to the Kyiv Independent in June.
He himself was one of those who went to volunteer in the earliest hours of the disaster.
“Whether it’s Kherson or Kryvyi Rih, we have to go and help. No one else will do it but us.”
Homecoming of Azovstal defense commanders
The commanders of the Azov plant, who defended Ukraine’s last stronghold in the now temporarily occupied Mariupol until their capture by Russian forces, returned to Ukraine on July 8, just as Ukraine marked 500 days since Russia launched a horrific full-scale war.
The commanders came to Ukraine from Turkey, where they were held following a prisoner exchange in 2022. Their return was another one of those “small victory” moments that brought tears of joy to many.
Photo of the Office of the President of Ukraine/Commanders of the “Azov” Regiment met their relatives in Turkey
Azov regiment commander Denys Prokopenko thanked the president, his team and “every soldier who defended our homeland and continued the fight once morest the occupiers on the front lines while we were in captivity.” He also promised to continue the fight once morest Russia.
“I deeply believe that the armed forces are a team effort, and from today we will continue to fight together and have our say in the battle,” he said.
Liberation of the workshop
While Ukraine has not been able to liberate the territory it had hoped for over the past year, it has freed many small communities from Russian oppression.
Telegram/Ukrainian soldiers raised the Ukrainian flag over Andrijivka
The liberation of the village of Robotynya in the Zaporizhia region at the end of August was probably the biggest achievement of the Ukrainian offensive in the south. The plant had become a Russian stronghold in the region until days of heavy fighting allowed it to be retaken by Ukraine.
Among the other villages liberated during the summer counteroffensive were Storozhevė, Blahodatne, Urožaine and Neskuchne in the south of Ukraine.
On the eastern front, Ukrainian forces in September. liberated the villages of Klishchijivka and Andrijivka near the destroyed city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region. Both villages were heavily damaged during months of intense fighting.
The long-awaited weaponry
In 2023, Ukraine finally received some of the highly valuable weapons it had been asking for since the start of the full-scale invasion, and successfully deployed them on the battlefield.
VIDEO: See: Ukrainian forces received ATACMS long-range missiles from the US
The first batches of modern Western tanks, including German-made Leopard 2 and British-made Challenger 2, arrived in Ukraine in February and March.
In April, Ukraine bolstered its defense capabilities by deploying the first US-made Patriot air defense system. Using the Patriot system, the Ukrainian Air Force was able to shoot down Russia’s infamous Kinzhal ballistic missile for the first time.
Reuters/Scanpix Photo/Patriot Air Defense System
Another highly anticipated delivery took place in September, when the first US-made Abrams tanks arrived in Ukraine.
Perhaps the biggest surprise came in October, when Ukraine used US-provided Army Long-Range Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) on the battlefield for the first time.
Ukraine reportedly used these missiles to strike Russian military airfields in the temporarily occupied cities of Luhansk and Berdyansk, destroying nine helicopters, an anti-aircraft defense system and an ammunition depot.
Accession negotiations to the European Union
December 14 Kyiv celebrated this year’s important political victory – the European Council agreed to start accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova.
“This shows the reliability of the European Union, the strength of the European Union. The decision has been made,” Charles Michel, President of the European Council, told reporters in Brussels.
Reuters/Scanpix photo/Charles Michel and Volodymyr Zelensky
Ukraine and Moldova were granted candidate status in 2022. in June, following which Kyiv was given seven criteria to fulfill in order to start accession negotiations.
A few days following the happy news, V. Zelenskyi said that the European Commission will soon start assessing the conformity of Ukrainian legislation with EU legislation, which will be the first step in the accession negotiations.
“The negotiation process will be difficult, but the most important thing is that, historically, we have decided: Ukraine will always be part of our common European home,” – December 17. noted the leader of Ukraine.
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2024-07-14 08:15:52
