Up to 20,000 in 25BTGs(invasion force, 24 February 2022) 7 brigades(west bank Kherson, May 2022)[11] 20,000–25,000(west bank Kherson, August 2022, per Ukraine)[13] 40,000(west bank Kherson and support units, October 2022, perBudanov)[14] 152,000(Kherson and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts, May 2023, per Ukraine)[15] 200,000(October 2024, per Ukraine)[16]
1,800(24 February 2022, pre-invasion) 8 brigades(west bank Kherson, May 2022)[11] 20,000(west bank Kherson, August 2022)[17]
Kherson wassurrounded two days into the war, after which Russian forces advanced to the outskirts ofMykolaiv,which they failed to capture. The front then stabilised until a Ukrainian offensive in August. Ukrainian forces retook all of the territory west and north of theDnieper river, and the front stabilised again just south of Kherson in November 2022. Kherson, the onlyoblast capital captured by Russia after its 2022 invasion, wasliberated on 11 November.[20]
Background
In the aftermath of theMaidan Revolution in 2014, Russiaannexed theCrimean Peninsula from Ukraine.[21][22] Russian troops occupied the self-proclaimedRepublic of Crimea for the next eight years. TheChonhar Peninsula bordering Crimea was under Russian control until December 2014; the Ukrainian military began fortifying it the following year, placing explosives on several bridges in the area, though most of these failed to detonate on the first day of the invasion.[23]
The Russian military presence in Crimea significantly increased during thepre-war military buildup on Ukraine's borders, with over 10,000 additional troops deployed in late January and early February.[24] On the eve of the invasion, Russian manpower in Crimea was estimated at 90,000.[25]
Ukrainian plans called forOperational Command South, under Major GeneralAndrii Sokolov, to be assigned two brigades of 3,000-5,000 men each, and a battalion of 500 troops stationed directly on the border with Crimea. In case of active hostilities, the formation was to be reinforced with two brigades ofterritorial defense: the110th and124th.[23][26]
In reality, the Ukrainian force in the south mostly consisted of the main units of the59th Motorized Infantry Brigade and the 137th Marine Battalion of the35th Marine Brigade. A planned second brigade was never assigned, the territorial defense brigades had yet to be staffed, and the existing units were only at about 50-60% strength due to losses fromfighting in the east and training assignments for various sub-units in different parts of the country. As a result, the Ukrainian force at the beginning of the invasion comprised about 1,300 men of the 59th Brigade stationed at a camp in theOleshky Sands, 250-300 marines of the 137th Battalion positioned at the entrances to mainland Ukraine from Crimea, and various supplementary forces numbering "a couple hundred".[23][26]
Russian documents captured by the Ukrainian military indicated plans to bypassMykolaiv and land atOdesa within five days, captureBilhorod-Dnistrovsky by the ninth day of the invasion, and reach theMoldova–Ukraine border by the eleventh day.[23]
By 3:30 on 24 February, Ukraine closed all commercial shipping in theSea of Azov, leaving more than 100 ships stuck in port.[27] Starting at 4:00, the Ukrainian military observed over thirty Russian military aircraft taking off from Crimea. The planes flew over theBlack andAzov Seas, launching strikes on Ukrainian military targets at 5:00, including "almost all" the military facilities in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts. Col.Vadym Rymarenko [uk], commanding the 137th Battalion, then reported that the Russian forces in Crimea had opened fire on the battalion's positions on the border.[26]
Russian troops cross into southern Ukraine fromCrimea on 24 February 2022
Shortly after Russian PresidentVladimir Putin announced a military operation in Ukraine, theRussian Air Force began to launchcruise andballistic missiles at targets in several cities inKherson Oblast. With air support, Russian Armed Forces then crossed into Kherson Oblast from Crimea.[28][29][30] TheRussian Navy used a naval blockade in theBlack Sea to prevent Ukraine from providing support to units located near Kherson Oblast, and restrict commercial trade and the flow of goods to southern Ukraine.[31]
By evening, the Russians had reachedKherson. The Russians initially crossed theDnieper River over theAntonovskiy Bridge, but Ukrainian mechanized forces were able to recapture the bridge.[32][33]
Combat engineers of Ukraine's 137th Battalion were ordered to destroy a bridge connectingHenichesk with theArabat Spit, in an attempt to slow the advance of Russian troops from Crimea, allowing the Ukrainians to retreat and regroup.[23][26][34]Vitalii Skakun, thecombat engineer who planted the explosives on the bridge, did not have enough time to retreat from the bridge, and so detonated the mines, killing himself and destroying the bridge.[35][36][37][38]
The Ukrainian military announced that itsOperational Command South had prepared the defense ofMelitopol and was conducting defensive operations outside the settlement ofRykove.[39]
Russian troops moved towardsNova Kakhovka and established control over theNorth Crimean Canal on 24 February.[40][41][42] Following Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, Ukraine had blocked the canal,[43][44][45] which had provided 85% of Crimea's drinking water.[46]Sergey Aksyonov, head of theRepublic of Crimea, told local authorities to prepare the canal to receive water from the Dnieper and resume the supply of water to Crimea the following day.[47]
Russian forces recaptured the Antonovskiy Bridge on the evening of 25 February.[48]
Russian military vehicles at a captured Ukrainian military base near Radensk, Kherson, March 2022
On 26 February, according to Kherson mayorIhor Kolykhaiev, a Ukrainian airstrike forced the Russians to retreat from Kherson, leaving the city under Ukrainian control.[49][50] Ukrainian forces later recaptured the bridge.[51] A Ukrainian official said that Russian forces had killed a journalist and an ambulance driver near the village ofZelenivka, a northern suburb of Kherson.[52]
Another Ukrainian official later claimed that a Russian army column was defeated between the towns ofRadensk andOleshky, just south of Kherson.[53]
In the afternoon of 26 February, 12 Russian tanks managed to break through inKakhovka on the Dnieper and began advancing towardsMykolaiv.[54]Vitaliy Kim, thegovernor of Mykolaiv Oblast, said the city had had five hours to prepare.[55][56] Artillery and other arms were prepared.[57]
By evening, Russian tanks were in the outskirts of Mykolaiv.Oleksandr Senkevych, the mayor of Mykolaiv, ordered citizens to stay indoors, as far away from windows as possible.[58] Shortly after, Russian troops entered the city and abattle erupted outside of a shopping mall about 10 minutes later.[59] According to some reports, tanks "passed through the city".[60] There were also sightings of large fires.[61] The next day, Ukrainian officials claimed that Russian forces were fully driven away from Mykolaiv.[62] The city was extensively damaged.[63][64][65]
On 28 February, Ukrainian official Vadim Denysenko accused Russian forces of trying to use civilians from villages around Kherson as human shields to cross the bridge into Kherson.[72] The same day, Russian troops advanced from Kherson towards Mykolaiv, reaching the city's outskirts and launching an assault at 11:00.[73][74]
A RussianT-72 tank trapped on a bridge demolished by the Ukrainians in Kalynivka,Mykolaiv Oblast, 2 March
Russian forces also shelledBashtanka and Mykolaiv on 1 March. Ukrainian officials later claimed that a large Russian convoy was attacked and defeated by Ukrainian forces during the night near Bashtanka, forcing the Russians to retreat towards the neighboring city ofNovyi Buh. They claimed that "several dozen [Russian] armored vehicles" were destroyed in the attack.[75] Kim stated that during the operation, a Ukrainian helicopter was destroyed, but its pilots survived.[76]
The next day, Russian forces bombardedVoznesensk, which has a bridge that can be used to cross theSouthern Bug instead of the one near Mykolaiv, during the morning. Russian paratroopers then landed at a forested ridge near the town, and an armored column approached it. Forces from the126th Coastal Defence Brigade were attacked while trying to reach them.[77]
The Russian troops, estimated to be 400 by Ukrainian officials, then captured the village of Rakove, whose houses it used to create a sniper nest. Afterwards, they set up a base at a gas station near the town's entrance and assaulted the base of theTerritorial Defense Forces. Ukrainian forces struck back with artillery that night with the help of local volunteers who gave them coordinates.[77] Local volunteers and Ukrainian soldiers were able to repel Russian troops from Voznesensk the next day, forcing most of them to retreat 40 miles (64 km) to the east and others to flee into nearby forests, where ten of them were later captured. Ukrainian officials stated that Russian forces had lost 30 vehicles in the battle, in addition to around 100 soldiers. Ten civilians were killed in the fighting.[77]
In the early morning of 1 March, Russian forces began assaulting Kherson from the west, advancing from Kherson International Airport towards the highway to Mykolaiv. They were able to surround the city and reached the neighboring settlement ofKomyshany.[78] Later in the day, Russian forces entered Kherson.[79]
In the early morning of 2 March, Russian forces seized parts of Kherson, including the city's central square.[80] Later that evening, Kolykhaiev announced that he had surrendered the city to Russian forces, and that the Russian commander planned to set up a military administration in the city.[81] Kherson became the first major Ukrainian city to fall to Russian forces in the invasion.[82]
On 2 March, Kim announced that Ukrainian forces carried out strikes onChornobaivka and in theYelanets area, and that a Russian column leftSnihurivka.[83]
Destroyed Russian artillery and vehicles nearMykolaiv, 3 March 2022
Russian troops attacked Mykolaiv on 4 March. Local officials stated that Russian forces had captured some of the outskirts of the city. Ukrainian forces repelled the attack, recapturingMykolaiv International Airport.[84][85]
On 8 March, theUkrainian Air Force struck the military airbase atKherson International Airport during the day, with Ukrainian officials claiming that more than 30 Russian helicopters were destroyed. Satellite imagery however showed that the number was fewer.[86]
On 9 March, Russian troops entered the town ofSkadovsk. According to local residents they entered at 08:45 and stationed themselves in the central square before being driven away by protesters. They then took over a building of theNational Police of Ukraine in addition to vandalizing the city council building. The mayor Oleksandr Yakovlev stated that they took away computers from the city council building and had ordered that no political rallies be held.[87]
The next day, the Ukrainian General Staff reported that Russia deployed a battalion of the Baltic Fleet's336th Naval Infantry Brigade toward Mykolaiv. TheInstitute for the Study of War opined that "Russian forces are likely experiencing difficulty advancing northwest beyond theInhul River."[88] Heavy shelling hit Mykolaiv during the evening, causing several fires, and Vitaliy Kim reported "active hostilities" nearHur'ivka [uk] north of the city.[89]
Russian forces captured the coastal city ofPrymorsk by 13:40 on 26 February.[93] Russian forces were also able to enter and capture Berdiansk, west of Mariupol,[94][95][96][97] capturing its port and theBerdiansk Airport.[98][99] During the takeover, local authorities reported that one person was killed and another was wounded.[100][101] On 28 February, mayor Oleksandr Svidlo said that Russian forces had left Berdiansk, leaving aRussian military police detachment in the city.[102]
On 27 February, Russian forces took control of the villages ofSkelky [uk],Shevchenka [uk], andPershotravneve [uk] nearVasylivka.[103]Russian forces tried to enterDniprorudne on the same day, but were forced to turn back after being confronted by protesting locals.[104] Vasylivka was held by a force consisting of Ukraine's128th Mountain Assault Brigade,territorial defense forces, and somemarines, until they retreated on 2 March.[103] Nearly encircled, Ukrainian forces withdrew on foot, abandoning their vehicles in Vasylivka, and took up positions in the village ofMali Shcherbaky.[105] The next day, Russian forces began shelling Mali Shcherbaky andShcherbaky [uk], but never managed to take the villages, despite the heavy bombardment.[106][105]
Elsewhere, according to Ukrainian media reports, Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups stole Ukrainian military uniforms from a military depot and engaged Ukrainian forces inTokmak, northeast of Melitopol.[107][108][109] According to Ukrainian authorities, the Russians were identified because they wore bulletproof vests that were used by the Russian army, and not the Ukrainian vests.[110][111] Ukraine claimed Russian forces suffered many casualties and retreated to the southern outskirts of the town.[112]
Russian forces advancing from Tokmak enteredPolohy on 3 March after clashing with a Ukrainianterritorial defense group.[113] On the same day, it was announced by the Russian ministry of defense that its forces had taken the Zaporizhzhia Oblast settlements ofPokrovske [uk],Chystopillia [uk], andNovopoltavka [uk].[114] Russian forces briefly enteredHuliaipole on 5 March, but were pushed back.[115] The city was later attacked overnight amid shelling and airstrikes.[116]
TheRussian 22nd Army Corps approached the city ofEnerhodar on 26 February.[117][118] A Ukrainian official stated that the Russians were deploying Grad missiles and warned of an attack on theZaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which is located in the city.[119] The Zaporizhzhia Regional State Administration later stated that the Russian forces advancing on Enerhodar had returned toVelyka Bilozerka, a village 30 kilometres (19 mi) from the city.[120] On 28 February, Russian troops began asiege at Enerhodar in an attempt to take control of the nuclear power plant.[121] On the same day, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that Russian forces had captured the city and surrounded the power plant, but this was denied by mayor Dmitri Orlov.[122][123] A video later emerged showing local civilians preventing a Russian convoy from entering Enerhodar by barricading the entrance, forcing them to leave.[124]
Ukrainian officials stated that Russian forces had surrounded Enerhodar on 1 March, with a Russian convoy advancing into the city around 14:00.[125] According to the mayor, the city had difficulties obtaining food.[125]
On 3 March, Orlov stated that a large Russian convoy had entered Enerhodar.[126] Later, Russian forces took control of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. During the heavy fighting a fire broke out in a training facility outside of the main complex, which was quickly extinguished,[127] though other sections surrounding the plant sustained damage.[128] Initial reports said that the radiation levels remained normal during this time and the fire did not damage essential equipment.[129][130] However, firefighters were unable to reach the fire due to the fighting.[131]
Clashes at the power plant on 4 March caused a fire to break out.[132] TheInternational Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) subsequently said that essential equipment was undamaged.[133] By 4 March, the nuclear power plant fell under Russian control. Despite the fires, the power plant recorded no radiation leaks.[134]
The next morning, after confirming that there were no changes to radiation levels, Russian forces captured Enerhodar and the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.[135][136][137] On 5 March, Orlov stated that Russian forces controlled the perimeter of Enerhodar and the power plant, while the local authorities were allowed to remain in control in the operation of the city.[8]
Remnants of a shelled hospital in Mariupol, 9 March 2022A destroyed RussianBMP-3 near Mariupol, 7 March 2022
By 3 March, amid heavy combat in Mariupol, Ukrainian officials alleged that hundreds of civilians had already been killed in the city.[144][145][146]
Fall of Mariupol, Ukrainian counterattacks, and stalemate
Mykolaiv and Kherson Oblasts
On 15 March, the Russian Defense Ministry stated that Russian forces had captured all of Kherson Oblast.[147]
On 11 March, Governor Kim stated that Ukrainian forces had pushed Russian troops eastwards by 15–20 kilometres (9.3–12.4 mi) and had also surrounded some units who were negotiating for a surrender.[148] On 16 March, the Ukrainian government said that its forces had begun a counteroffensive near Mykolaiv towards Kherson and captured the town ofPosad-Pokrovske.[149][150] Ukrainian troops in the village said their objective was to retake Kherson International Airport.[151]
By 18 April, fighting continued, and Ukraine claimed that its80th Air Assault Brigade had retaken a number of villages near Mykolaiv.[157] Two days later, Russia counter-attacked and made minor gains at Oleksandrivka.[158] Gerashchenko announced that Ukrainian forces captured three villages near Snihurivka on 27 April.[159][160]
By May, the situation in right-bank Kherson Oblast had become a stalemate, with the opposing forces evenly matched and unable to go on the offensive. Units of the Russian49th Combined Arms Army and the Crimea-based22nd Army Corps held a bridgehead over the Dnieper approximately 160km wide and 50km deep.[11] According to Ukrainian military expert Viktor Kevliuk, the strategic purpose of the Russian bridgehead was to protect the North Crimean Canal and the "land bridge" between Crimea and mainland Russia, as well as to serve as a staging area for a future Russian operation aimed at reachingTransnistria and cutting off Ukrainian access to the Black Sea.[11] Russian forces were said to be preparing second and third lines of defense, fortifying airfields, ports and railway stations, and mining the coast of theKakhovka Reservoir in anticipation of a Ukrainian counterattack.[11]
Reports began emerging on 27 May that Ukrainian troops were conducting counteroffensive efforts over theInhulets River.[161] Ukrainian forces established a bridgehead over the river by 29 May[162] and tookDavydiv Brid by 31 May, but the village had returned to Russian control by 17 June.[163]
In northern Kherson Oblast, units of Ukraine's 60th Brigade took control of the village ofPotiomkyne [uk] on 30 June,[164] and then capturedIvanivka [uk] on 11 July.[165]
In a telephone conversation withEmmanuel Macron on 29 March, Putin stated that the bombardment of Mariupol would end only when Ukrainian troops fully surrendered Mariupol.[166]
On 1 April, a rescue effort by the United Nations (UN) to transport hundreds of civilian survivors out of Mariupol with 50 allocated buses was impeded by Russian troops, who refused the buses safe passage into the city while peace talks continued in Istanbul.[167]
According to theMariupol City Council, by 15 March, 2,357 civilians had been killed during the city's siege.[168] Following a renewed missile attack on 14 March in Mariupol, the Ukrainian government claimed more than 2,500 deaths in the city.[169] By 18 March,Mariupol was completely encircled and fighting reached the city centre, hampering efforts to evacuate civilians.[170] The Russians demanded a full surrender, which several Ukrainian government officials including Zelenskyy refused.[171][172][173] On 24 March, Russian forces entered central Mariupol,[174] seizing the Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God. The city administration alleged that Russians were trying to demoralize residents by publicly shouting claims of Russian victories, including statements thatOdesa had been captured.[175] On 27 March, Ukraine's deputy prime minister,Olha Stefanishyna, stated that Mariupol "simply does not exist anymore," and that Russia's objectives have "nothing to do with humanity." Stefanishyna summarized that: "They (Mariupol's inhabitants) don’t have access to water, to any food supplies, to anything. More than 85 percent of the whole town is destroyed."[176]
On 11 July, Ukrainian forces launcheda missile attack withHIMARS rockets on the Russian-occupied city ofNova Kakhovka. Ukrainian officials claimed that the strike killed the chief of staff for the 22nd Army Corps, Major General Artyom Nasbulin, along with five colonels and a total of 150 soldiers. Russian forces confirmed the strike but did not confirm the death of the officers claimed by Ukraine, claiming that the Ukrainian rocket hit a warehouse that contained chemicals which then exploded.[181][182]
Aftermath of Russian shelling of Kherson city, 24 December 2022
In the aftermath of Ukraine's recapture of right-bank Kherson Oblast, Ukrainian forces began conducting a small-scalemilitary campaign on the Dnieper, conducting raids and incursions on the left bank and on theKinburn Spit.[194]
In December 2022, following previous successful counteroffensives, speculation among Western analysts and media about a prospective Ukrainian campaign to retakeCrimea abounded. In the event of such an offensive, observers and analysts suggested Ukraine could attack along the Zaporizhzhia front and advance towards the strategic city ofMelitopol to cut Russia's "landbridge to Crimea." Throughout the month, Russia reinforced its defense lines in southern Ukraine, particularly along the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson fronts.[195] Attacks on "collaborators" and Russian agents by apparent Ukrainian partisans and saboteurs continued.[196]
On 23 December, Ukraine's mayor of MelitopolIvan Fedorov said the Russians were transforming the city into a fortress, replete withdragon's teeth defenses.[196] Meanwhile, satellite imagery showed that Russian troops had established trenches around the perimeters ofTokmak inZaporizhzhia Oblast, considered a strategic city on the approach towards Melitopol.[197] On 15 May 2023, Ukrainian military intelligence estimated that the Russians had stationed 152,000 troops in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts in anticipation of a potential Ukrainian counteroffensive.[198]
2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive and continued Dnieper incursions
As Ukraine prepared to launch its counteroffensive in the south, there were signs of activity on the Dnieper front.[199] However, on June 6, 2023, theKakhovka Dam inNova Kakhovka was purposefullydestroyed while under Russian control since March 2022, massively flooding the region. Experts assess that Russian forces likely blew the dam up.[200][201] This forced combat to stop along the river for a time.[199]
In early June 2023, Ukrainian forces launched their counteroffensive on the eastern part of the southern front, focusing on multiple directions, includingOrikhiv[202] andVelyka Novosilka,[203] which are located in eastern Zaporizhzhia Oblast and western Donetsk Oblast, respectively. By 11 June, Ukraine had recaptured the front line settlements ofNeskuchne,Blahodatne,Storozheve,Makarivka, andNovodarivka.[204] The progress of the offensive slowed as time progressed, despite the capture of several more villages, includingRobotyne on 23 August.[205] By December 2023, prominent Ukrainian figures and Western analysts began giving negative assessments of the success of the counteroffensive; statements by Ukrainian generalValerii Zaluzhnyi in early November 2023 that the war had arrived at a "stalemate" were seen by observers as an admission of its failure,[206] and followed more definite assessments made by analysts, especially with regard to operational success, from several weeks earlier.[207] Ukrainian forces did not reach the city ofTokmak, described as a "minimum goal" by Ukrainian generalOleksandr Tarnavskyi,[208] and the probable initial objective of reaching theSea of Azov to split the Russian forces in southern Ukraine remained unfulfilled.[209][210][211]
As the floodwaters from the Dnieper receded, Ukraine resumed its incursions across the river on a larger scale. In December 2023, Ukraine established a foothold on the left bank at the villageKrynky.[199]
The Ukrainian military announced on 3 March 2024 that it was spending a record amount of funding on fortifying Zaporizhzhia Oblast on the southern front.[212]
On 17 February, fighting resumed in Robotyne when Russian forces started a large-scale attack on the village, recapturing a position south of it.[213] On 15 May 2024, theRussian Ministry of Defence claimed that Russian forces fully recaptured the village.[214] War analyst Emil Kastehelmi stated toThe New York Times that the village with its recapture "lacks strategic importance to Russia and is now little more than ruins", but however, that it was still "a symbolic blow to Ukraine after fighting so hard to win it back last year".[215]
On 16 June 2024, the Russian military announced the capture of the village of Zahirne in Zaporizhzhia, located south ofHuliaipole. The report could not be independently verified at the time.[216] On 18 July, Krynky was fully recaptured by Russian forces.[217]
In early October 2024, Ukrainian intelligence predicted that Russian forces would restart offensive efforts towards Orikhiv in an effort to sever Ukrainian logistics lines.[218] Russian forces meanwhile restarted combat operations aroundKamianske in western Zaporizhzhia Oblast, advancing near the village and the neighbouringPlavni, following a reported unsuccessful Ukrainian attack.[219]
The war has had a disruptive and destructive impact on the unique plants and wildlife of theKinburn Spit such as theСentaurea breviceps andСentaurea Paczoskiicornflower species,[265] and their sensitive ecosystem.[266] Bombs, and the pollutants that came from them, killed nearby dolphins, and opened the sand and soil to the threat of chemicals seeping in and invasive species, according to the research and policy director at the UK-based Conflict and Environment Observatory Doug Weir.[267] In May 2022 a 4,000 hectares (10,000 acres) fire, started by rockets, inflicted lasting habitat damage to theperennial forests andsalt marshes of the spit.[266][267][268]
^"Nova Kakhovka has fallen to Russia: Ukraine media".The Business standard. 27 February 2022.Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved28 February 2022.Its mayor Volodymyr Kovalenko has reportedly said that Russian troops have seized the city's executive committee and removed all Ukrainian flags from buildings
^Clark, Mason; Stepanenko, Kateryna; Barros, George (27 April 2022)."Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, April 27". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved28 April 2022.Local fighting continued in the Mykolayiv direction, with Russian forces conducting failed attacks towards Tavriyske and Nova Zorya and Ukrainian forces reportedly recapturing Shyroke, Novopetrivka, and Lyubino, 50 km north of Kherson.
^"Unique plants in the south of Ukraine may become extinct because of the war".uacrisis.org.Ukraine Crisis Media Center. 23 December 2022. Retrieved29 December 2022.Oleksiy Vasyliuk, head of the NGO Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group, said that there are unique plants on the Kinburn Spit that grow only there and nowhere else on the planet, for example, two cornflower species – Сentaurea breviceps and Сentaurea Paczoskii.
^Kottasová, Ivana (22 May 2022)."Ukraine's natural environment is another casualty of war. The damage could be felt for decades".cnn.com.CNN. Retrieved24 November 2022.Precious perennial forests and salt marshes in the Kinburn Spit Reserve in the Mykolaiv region were on fire for more than a week, its unique habitats were left devastated, according to Zinoviy Petrovich, the head of Kinburn Spit Reserve.
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Russian Armed Forces
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