Today A Year Ago, Russia Invaded Ukraine

Time is running fast, but Ukraine is not yet free. Various kinds of victims have been eliminated, including the lives of humans and animals.

One of the Ukrainian soldiers is ‘fighting’ wounds given by Russia. (Metin Aktaş via Twitter)

On this occasion, we will summarize what we have obtained during one year of observing this bloody war. The purpose of writing this art is to remind us all that the war between Russia and Ukraine has been going on for a year.

This is a continuation of our art uploaded in December 2022. Entitled “The Russo-Ukrainian War and My Memories”, the art was created to share Written by IRIZU founder’s experience in witnessing the beginnings of this historic war.

A Russian Sukhoi Su-35 iron bird was shot down. (Twitter)

Historical Records

I, as the founder of Written by IRIZU, during my observation journey, have gone through several events, of which one of the most common was Russian helicopters being stung by the Ukrainian FIM-92 Stinger, a portable missile product known as the Man Portable Air Defense System (MANPADS). Not to forget, the moment where the Ghost of Kyiv was highly glorified, a local myth of a Ukrainian fighter who managed to bring down as many as 40 enemy planes. The BBC News explains that Ghost of Kyiv is a representation of some Ukrainian fighters defending the skies of the capital, so it is not a combat record of just one person. Through my glasses and memory, the following is a list of several important events during the war (click the linked title to view documentary evidence. Watch out for dangerous evidence):

• MiG-29 vs A Sukhoi Air Combat
  On the first day of the war, a close air battle or better known as a dogfight began, in which a Ukrainian Mikoyan MiG-29 chased what was suspected to be a Russian Sukhoi, but was also possible as a MiG-29. Please understand that the fighter with the black smoke trail at the start is a confirmed Ukrainian MiG-29.
• Epic Action on Snake Island
  Taking place on February 24, 2022, a group of Ukrainian soldiers guarding a small island in the Black Sea, namely Snake Island, refuse to surrender when threatened by a Russian warship. A Ukrainian soldier even scoffed by saying, “Russian warship, go fuck yourself.” Unfortunately, those were the last words of the 13 Ukrainian soldiers, before they were killed by Russian bombs. President Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy awarded the title Hero of Ukraine to the 13 brave soldiers.
• Bucha Massacre
  One month after the initiation of the war, in March to be precise, Russia committed a war crime by massacring the City of Bucha for 33 full days, as quoted from Al Jazeera. More than 400 innocent lives were lost by immoral acts, of which the exact figure is at least 458. Five months after the massacre, dozens of bodies are still unidentified.
• Ukraine Sinks Their Ship
  On March 3, 2022, images appeared of the Krivak 111/Menzhinskiy class Ukrainian frigate named Hetman Sahaidachny in a semi-submerged position. The 3.5 thousand ton flagship of Ukraine, which was initially under repair, was then sunk by order of the ship’s commander. The goal is to avoid being hijacked or taken over by enemies.
• The World’s Largest Aircraft Destroyed
  The world’s largest aircraft, the Antonov An-225 known as the Mriya, was destroyed allegedly on the fourth day of the war (per Al Jazeera reports), when the Mriya was based at Gostomel Airport, near Kyiv City. The Russian shellings obliterated the Antonov operational aircraft as well as the pride of Ukraine. CNBC states that the destruction of this large aircraft is expected on February 27, 2022.
• Confiscation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant
  Zaporizhzhia City is home to Europe’s largest nuclear plant with six reactors. Since early March 2022, the plant has been under Russian military control but is operationally run by Ukrainian staff. The reactors on the front of the war, which Putin says have been annexed, have been damaged by the conflict and all six of the reactors have been shut down. Until November 28, 2022, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is still under the control of the Kremlin.
• The ‘Vanishing’ City
  The Port City of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov was devastated by a massive Russian siege and bombardment, which Ukraine says has killed tens of thousands of civilians. After two months of siege, which is around April, Putin declared that the city had been ‘liberated’. Mastering Mariupol meant that Russia also controlled the entire coastline of the Sea of Azov. Russia denies that they are not targeting civilians, although, in fact, they are attacking the city’s main drama theater which has the word “kids” scrawled in the street in front of the building.
• The sinking of Moskva
  Moskva was a guided missiles cruiser with 510 crews that sank on April 14, 2022, after being hit by two Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missiles. The Kremlin said that the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet ran aground after catching fire. The fall of the Moskva marked the largest Russian warship sunk in battle since World War 2 (WW2). This definitely gave a morale boost to the Ukrainian side.
• Explosion at the Crimea Bridge
  The 19-kilometer bridge, the longest in Europe, was destroyed at one point. Occurring last October 8, 2022, the explosion caused the middle of one of the two bridge lines to collapse into the sea and also damaged the railroad tracks. This bridge on the Crimean Peninsula is a key supply route for Russia in Ukraine. As per a BBC News report on October 14, 2022, Russia blamed Ukraine for this explosion as well as the deaths of at least three people, but Kyiv has not yet given a statement.
• The Fall of A Ukrainian Missile on Polish Land
  On November 15, 2022, a missile fell near the Polish Village of Przewodow, which is about six kilometers from the Ukrainian border. The fall of the missile, which is strongly suspected of belonging to the S-300 air defense system, killed two people. The Kyiv Independent stated that the missile belonged to Ukraine, but Andrzej Duda as President of Poland blamed Russia for this incident.
• Kherson liberation
  The main news during November 2022 was about the liberation of Kherson City, where the Ukrainians succeeded in forcing the Russians out of their occupation in Kherson. The attack launched by Ukraine succeeded in making Russia with around 30 thousand troops retreat and release Kherson. Unfortunately, they retreated while committing crimes and atrocities against civilians, such as killing and raping.

Apart from these events, there are also other important events that occur very frequently, for example, the action of the Ukrainian Bayraktar TB2 drone, which routinely completes missions successfully. Furthermore, there is also the success of Ukraine’s portable weapons systems, such as the Anti-tank Guided Missile (ATGM) and MANPADS whose job is to dynamically stun enemy vehicles. Global state donations are also important events because they are a contributing factor to Ukraine’s victory.

“As a result of the full-scale Russian aggression, 443 children in Ukraine were killed, 855 were wounded,” said the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine on December 8, 2022. (Twitter)

Conclusion

Ukraine still has many bitter pills to swallow. Even so, their struggle to restore independence continues and will continue to be supported by the global community. Ukraine’s long journey must be properly managed by Zelenskyy and Oleksii Yuriyovyich Reznikov as Defense Minister.

As of December 9, 2022, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense via the Defense of Ukraine Twitter account released data on enemy defeats since the initial period of the war, in which 93,390 Russian military personnel were claimed to have been neutralized. Of course, this is a one-sided claim. In addition, the Oryx website claims that in total the Russians lost 8,736 pieces of their arsenal, of which 5,187 of them were destroyed and 2,686 captured by the Ukrainians. From the Ukrainian side, a total of 2,563 combat devices were lost from inventory, with details of 1,584 destroyed, 107 damaged, 64 abandoned, and 808 hijacked by the enemy.

A pile of Russian projectiles and missiles that hit Kharkiv City. (Twitter)

Please understand that this art may be propaganda in nature, as we ourselves condemn any conflict. Not only in Ukraine, but we also support the independence of other countries that have the right to independence, including the State of Palestine which is currently occupied by Israel. We want peace, everyone needs peace.

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Bibliography

• BBC News - “How Ukraine’s ‘Ghost of Kyiv’ legendary pilot was born”
• Indomiliter.com - “Increment 3 — Program Rudal MANPADS Pengganti Stinger, Prototipe Perdana Meluncur Di 2023”
• Twitter - “Dogfight between a Ukrainian MiG-29 and a Russian Su-35 over the skies of Ukraine today”
• Al Jazeera - “Bucha killings: ‘The world cannot be tricked anymore’”
• The New York Times - “‘We Do Not Want Unknown Graves’: The Struggle to Identify Bucha’s Victims”
• Twitter - “Total combat losses of the enemy from Feb 24 to Dec 9”
• Oryx - “Attack On Europe: Documenting Russian Equipment Losses During The 2022 Russian Invasion Of Ukraine”
• Oryx - “Attack On Europe: Documenting Ukrainian Equipment Losses During The 2022 Russian Invasion Of Ukraine”
• Firstpost - “Did Ukraine sink its own ship Hetman Sahaidachny? Here’s what you need to know”
• Al Jazeera - “Antonov An-225 Mriya: World’s largest plane wrecked in Kyiv fight”
• CNBC - “Photos show world’s largest cargo plane destroyed in Ukraine”
• World Nuclear News - “Ukraine, Russia and control of Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant”
• Reuters - “Russia denies planning to give up vast Ukrainian nuclear plant”
• Reuters - “Explainer: Mariupol, the ruined port city that Russia says it has “liberated””
• NBC News - “U.S. intel helped Ukraine sink Russian flagship Moskva, officials say”
• EURACTIV.com - “‘The liberation of Kherson is a big victory, though there are many battles ahead’”
• CNN - “Soldiers on Snake Island reacted with defiant words to threats from Russian warship”
• BBC News - “Crimea bridge: Russia ‘to repair blast damage by July 2023’”
• BBC News - “Ukraine war: What happened in Poland missile blast?”
• The Kyiv Independent - “President: Ukrainian air defense missile fell in Poland but Russia is to blame.”