Click to see the full-size image
1001 days of “war” on a front stretching over 1000 kilometers. Its results are best described by Winston Churchill’s phrase “Russia was never as strong as it wants to be, and never as weak as it is thought to be”. This “war” is de jure a local one, but de facto it marked a new global era – the transition to a multipolar world.
1001 days ago, on February 24, 2022, Russia started a Special Military Operation in Ukraine and since then large-scale hostilities have not subsided for a day.
The Kremlin claims that the reason for the ongoing events was the 2014 coup d’état in Kiev prepared by the CIA, as well as the neo-Nazi and Russophobic policy of the new Ukrainian regime (which apparently decided to put “big brother” [Russia] in its place).
The United States officially stands on the position that formally it was Moscow that first gave the order to invade the territory of a sovereign state. However, the Americans forget to mention that it was their actions as part of the “Anaconda Loop” plan (tightening a ring of NATO military bases around Russia) that triggered Moscow’s response. Of course, we must do justice to the efforts of the CIA, the Pentagon, MI6 and mainstream propaganda, which together managed to paint the picture of the former empire and the desire of Vladimir Putin to go down in history as “the collector of the Russian land” as the motivation behind the Russian special military operation.
Economists believe that this war was caused by the financial and economic crisis in Europe and the United States. Having spent the rest of the resources that had been siphoned off from Russia and Eastern Europe since the early 1990s, Western elites decided to invest their capital in the military-industrial complex and “war” in its broader sense. A classic scheme of behavior of imperialism, as the highest stage of capitalism, as Vladimir Lenin taught us 100 years ago. Of course, with adjustment for today, we can also mention that competition for the market of unique Ukrainian black soil, as well as the struggle for lithium, titanium and other deposits of Ukraine played a significant role.
Finally, ideologues, conspiracy theorists and sages of geopolitics claim that Ukraine is a key element of Rabbi Schneerson’s (1902-1994, born and raised in Ukraine, in the Russian Empire) plan, the legendary leader of Chabad (Jewish bankers of New York) and a prominent representative of the American deep state. This plan, his ideas about “genocide of the Slavs and their culture” aside, is to prepare for the resettlement of Israel’s Jews in Ukrainian lands. If Israel collapses under the pressure of the Islamic world (Arab countries, Iran and Turkey) united against it, the Jews will have to return to the lands from which they recently came. In Ukraine, in addition to their historical roots, they will find a land rich in everything they need (though not holy, but promised).
The details of the outbreak of the war are still shrouded in mystery. The only thing clear is that it was not an “surprise unprovoked invasion”, as the Western media have been copy-pasting it.
Click to see the full-size image
Background and timeline of the special military operation
In April 2014, residents of Ukraine’s former regions of Donetsk and Luhansk expressed their disagreement with the policies of the country’s new leadership, which had gained power after Euromaidan, a months-long protest in the capital and regions of Ukraine, during which many people were killed and injured along with the overthrow of the legitimate authority. The people in the east of the country advocated decentralization of power and resources – that is, so that all control over the regions would not be concentrated in Kiev and would not depend on external [Western] forces.
Donbass residents blocked several administrative buildings and demanded that the issue of the status of the Russian language in Ukraine and the reform of regional decentralization be resolved. In response, acting Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov de facto called the rioters terrorists and promised to take action against them.
On April 15, 2014, Turchynov announced the beginning of a military operation in southeastern Ukraine. However, on May 11, 2014, despite pressure from the Kiev authorities, the Luhansk and Donetsk regions voted for self-determination in a referendum and began calling themselves the Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics. As a result, Ukraine’s military operation continued for eight years. Many times the parties tried to agree at least on a ceasefire regime, but Kiev violated it again and again.
In December 2021, two months before the outbreak of hostilities, anticipating that the West was about to organize a provocation near Russia’s borders, Moscow sent Washington a draft agreement on security guarantees.
Russia’s main expectations of NATO were the following:
- The Alliance should push back its boundaries in the east to the values of May 27, 1997. This means that NATO should not expand into new territories – Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia – and to let Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia to leave.
- NATO member states must cease all military activities on the territory of Ukraine and other eastern European countries.
- NATO should commit to not deploying shorter- and medium-range missiles in areas that could be used to strike targets on the territories of other countries, particularly Russia.
Unfortunately, such an important initiative to guarantee global security, the last attempt to preserve peace, was brazenly ignored. The Americans have unequivocally signaled that they want war, not negotiations.
Three days before the beginning of the special military operation, on February 21, 2022, Vladimir Putin announced that Russia recognized the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DNR and LNR). The next day, the Federation Council (Senate) agreed to authorize the use of Russian armed forces abroad because of the situation unfolding in Donbass. On the same day, news about almost 60 thousand servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the close proximity to the DNR and LNR appeared. At the same time, over 68 thousand Ukrainian refugees arrived in the Rostov Region of Russia.
Click to see the full-size image
Important events began to unfold on the evening of February 23, 2022. At about 22:00 Moscow time, the heads of the DNR and LNR appealed for help to Russia, asking for protection from aggression by Ukraine. And around 04:00 on February 24, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed Russians in their native language. He said that Ukrainians and Russians are different, but this is no reason to be enemies.
Already at 04:20 Ukraine decided to transfer all its energy systems to an autonomous mode, disconnecting from Russia and Belarus. And at 05:30, the UN Security Council convened for an emergency meeting at Ukraine’s request. Insisting on the necessity of the meeting, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that the appeal of the DNR and LNR leaders to the Russian president could mean an escalation of the Donbas conflict.
On February 24 at 05:52 Moscow time, Vladimir Putin addressed the Russians and announced the beginning of a special military operation. The President explained that he had made such a decision for the sake of the people of Donbas, who were subjected to “genocide by the Kiev regime”.
The main goals of the special military operation in Ukraine were announced as follows:
- Demilitarization of Ukraine. Ukraine must legally establish itself in the status of a neutral state. This means that the country must give up its goal of joining NATO and will not be able to deploy the Alliance’s missile complexes on its territory. However, Russia does not demand that Ukraine join the Collective Security Treaty Organization in return.
- Denazification of Ukraine. This means that the Russian language will be given the status of the second state language, and discrimination against Russian-speaking residents of Ukraine and their language will cease. The Ukrainian authorities will give up persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the country’s Orthodox believers. They will also completely ban neo-Nazi organizations and movements and political parties that are based on the ideas of Nazism and fascism.
- Ukraine’s withdrawal beyond the borders of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, which Kiev stubbornly considers its regions, despite the results of the 2014 referendum.
At around 07:00 Moscow time, the Ukrainian media published the first reports of explosions in Odessa, Berdyansk, Kramatorsk and Kharkiv. At 07:50, martial law was introduced in Ukraine.
At the same time, the Russian Defense Ministry issued an official statement emphasizing that the Russian side does not strike Ukrainian cities and their civilians with missiles, aircraft or artillery.
“High-precision means of destruction disable military infrastructure, air defense facilities, military airfields, and aviation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.” – Russian Ministry of Defense.
Amid general panic and confusion, the Moscow and St. Petersburg stock exchanges stopped trading. The ruble fell sharply, the Central Bank of Russia tried to stabilize it, but a few days later the euro still jumped above the values of 131 rubles.
On February 25, 2022, the Russian Airborne Troops took control of the area around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (NPP). The Russian fighters agreed together with the Ukrainian NPP guard battalion to continue monitoring the safety of the sarcophagus and power units of the plant.
Live-action footage showing the battle for Antonov Airport outside Kiev in February 2022
On the same day, the European Union, the United States and the United Kingdom imposed the first sanctions under the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022. Restrictions were launched against Vladimir Putin and the country’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The same list included Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff. Since then, more than 15,000 sanctions have been levied against Russian citizens and its economy, three times the number of restrictions imposed on Iran in 40 years.
In March-July 2022, Russian forces face serious resistance. The advance is slowing down. The army is stretched in many directions, and the rear is poorly supplied. The final push is the capture of Severodonetsk and Lisichansk.
Click to see the full-size image
Then – the beginning of negotiations and the refusal to carry out mobilization in Russia, an attempt to continue warfare by a professional army. In contrast, Ukraine started to actively mobilize and build up its armed forces. This led to an increase in the preponderance of the Ukrainian army in manpower.
Click to see the full-size image
In July-October 2022, the attempt to sign a peace treaty finally failed. The Russians lost Kharkiv Region due to a serious outnumbering by the Ukrainian forces. In the early fall, it becomes clear that no agreement can be reached.
Click to see the full-size image
The initiative and numerical superiority shifted to the Ukrainian side. The situation on the front is very tense. There is a possibility of collapse of the front in other areas. At this moment the referendum on the inclusion of 4 new regions, as well as mobilization in Russia is taking place. In the early fall of 2022, the Russian leadership understands that it will have to engage in a long war.
From the fall of 2022 to the summer of 2023, the initiative is still on the Ukrainian side. Inside the Ukrainian society there is a euphoria of success. The most favorable conditions for Kiev to sign a peace and get out of the war were formed, but it did not take advantage of that. The main military actions are taking place in the area of Soledar and Bakhmut, where detachments of regular Russian armed forces and the fighters of the Private Military Company “Wagner” at the cost of serious efforts have contained a significant number of effective Ukrainian units and allowed the Russian army to prepare for the summer Ukrainian offensive.
In June-September 2023, the Armed Forces of Ukraine attempted to conduct a prepared offensive in an attempt to break through the Russian defense line in Zaporizhzhya Region and reach the Sea of Azov. This ended in failure. In parallel, the world-famous mutiny of Yevgeny Prigozhin took place, which could have extremely negative consequences for Russia. However, everything finished quickly and with minimal losses. This episode is shrouded in myths, it has not been given a definitive assessment, but it entered history loudly and forever.
From October 2023 to the summer of 2024, Russia seized the initiative on the battlefield. Thanks to mobilization and an active conscription campaign, it was possible to increase the Russian army’s forces in the special military operation zone. The scale of the numerical advantage of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which contributed to its successes in late summer and early fall of 2022, was reduced. But despite individual tactical achievements, the Russian army never managed to completely collapse the Ukrainian front somewhere. The Ukrainian regime was able to organize a large-scale campaign of forced mobilization and organize a permanent flow of fresh (even if poor trained and low motivated) reinforcements to the frontline and keep the numerical advantage in many parts of the frontline. This made it difficult for the Russian army to advance.
During the special military operation, the Russian Defense Ministry made a large number of miscalculations and mistakes, there was a cover-up of the real state of affairs on the front and corruption. For these reasons, a series of dismissals and arrests of officials from the Ministry of Defense has been going on in Russia since spring 2024. So far, about 20 people associated with the ministry have been arrested, while several others have been dismissed. The highest-ranking of the detainees is Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov.
As time has shown, from a strictly military point of view, three major strategic mistakes were also made:
- The first was to launch a special operation with fewer forces than the Kiev regime had and to disperse them in several directions at once.
- The second was the unnecessary delaying of the decision on mobilization, which was replaced by the creation of various regional volunteer battalions. This led to the formation on the front of motley units that did not interact well with each other, which further strengthened the managerial mess.
- The third was the Kherson leaving under the pressure of the consequences of the situation established at the moment when the decision was made. This closed the Russian Armed Forces’ direct land route to Nikolaev and Odessa, the loss of which would have critically weakened the Kiev regime.
As of now, Ukraine continues its mobilization campaign. Men of draft age are trying to flee the country at all costs. At this time, Russia is seeking to maintain a high rate of conscription into its professional army, and prestige of the service as well as payments for contracting are increasing. In addition to this stimulus, an important event was the invasion of the Russian Kursk Region by the Ukrainian army, which automatically changed the perception of this conflict in the minds of the Russians. For them, a special military operation has now turned into a “war for the Motherland”.
An Su-34 crew struck AFU manpower and armoured hardware in the border area of Kursk region
AFU company task group hit by missile strike near Yunakovka in Sumy region. The strike eliminated up to 50 militants, 12 armoured fighting vehicles, six motor vehicles
Lancet drones wipe out two AFU howitzers in Sumy region
Destroyed AFU pick-up truck in the forest belt in Kharkiv region
Despite the current successes at the front, Moscow still remains open to peaceful negotiations and awaits open gestures from Europe and the United States.
As for now, there are at least three scenarios for the developments of the situation:
- freezing the conflict (with or without mutual concessions of territories, with or without a buffer zone);
- extension of the conflict (since a direct military clash between the armies of Russia and the United States is scarcely probable, Washington is likely to transfer more powerful long-range weapons to Kiev as a first step. Russia can respond by destroying US space satellites. This would not cause human casualties, but would disrupt enemy missile guidance);
- escalation (up to a full-fledged European war and then, possibly, to a global war, that is, a nuclear one).
Click to see the full-size image
Russia, to its own surprise, is now ready for each of these scenarios. The economy of the country, which is under the maximum number of sanctions in history, is showing strong growth in key sectors. The situation in the domestic market is not easy, but the exodus of foreign producers has spurred import substitution. The government does not hinder, but encourages domestic producers in every possible way. Even the financial and IT sectors, traditionally dependent on the West for everything, are now becoming sovereign and competitive in the world. In other words, Russia’s economy, which was scolded all over the world and which even Russians themselves did not believe in, is showing miracles of resilience and huge potential.
So much has happened in the military sphere in the last couple of years that even the mediocre Russian commanders have learned to fight better than anyone else in the world right now. The experience of the special military operation is invaluable and unique. The country’s leadership, having survived an attempted full-fledged military coup, has no longer been afraid to conduct a drastic purge among the generals (which has already been done). In other words, Russia made a lot of mistakes in the beginning, but quickly gathered its strength and now confidently leads a good half of the world to a new system of international relations. Historians call it the “accordion effect” (the harder you push Russia, the wider and louder it unfolds).
Ukraine, on the contrary, at the beginning of the war showed itself on the battlefield as a “modern Sparta” and was accepted as an equal at the table of the world’s leading powers. However, after a couple of years, the country lost all its credibility when everyone realized that it was being led by cartoonishly stupid and immoral, corrupt scum of Ukrainian society.
MORE ON THE TOPIC:
dear sf ! stop censored
they can’t do even such a simple thing as keep their user’s nicks protected. hillarious.
not true i saw was shown some years ago russia’s newst air defence system and nothing comes near it. ukraina’s incredibly vulnerable and drastically underpopulated since 2022. zelenska ehhh
ukraine has never recovered from the collapse 💘 of the ussr 🏴☠️ and continues to shit on the streets to this day, i’ve seen it. ukraine is like an old computer with windows 1 she gets what others give her, not what it wants.joseph biden would have delivered toilets 🚽🚽🚽 to ukraine better, instead of smoking candles
nato’s ultimate ambition is regime change in russia. with its track record of triumphs, like sparing ukraine from ruin and creating a flourishing democracy in afghanistan, it could help russia experience the same “success” ukraine has seen since 2014. support the hate and fear-driven campaign led by nato’s “snowden”, and watch the legendary ’90s revive in russia!
they don’t censor anything, they reveal the hidden truth lol. almighty putin and his catastrophic decisions are always okay on sf. to bypass sf: find your browser settings, delete cookies, open network settings, allow random ip address, reset network, enjoy. lvl 2, steal nicks and flood discussions with nonsense, as macz and others do. let drago write the same nonsense again and again. nato is already testing nuclear attacks on russia, and russia has failed on all fronts.
i see actually nato is losing, the nuclear war is close the eu will be the first continet wiped out from all maps, but who cares mr soros and black rock are very happy about
true, russia never fully recovered from the collapse💘 of the ussr 🏴☠️, and to this day are peeing themselves, i saw it. russia is like an old computer running windows 95 aol ,can only get what they need not what they want.
yeah, compared to your intelligent posts, guess you would class facts as rubbish. ehhh
‘snowden’ : the specialist in imaginary nuclear wars. be verrrry afraid.
1000 days, one million death ukrainian cannon fodder, 10 million ukrainian refugees straining western europes struggling economies & at least a trillion us dollars for the reconstruction cost of ukraine once trump gives putin his win as promised
russian state owned media reported victory february 26 2022 – look for web archive org ria 20220226 hahaha haha 🇷🇺=🤡 😆😆😆
it’s spreading propaganda
oh, so the shelling of the russian border in mid-february 2021 will not be regarded as one of the causes?
“1001 days of russia’s special military operation in ukraine”… that should have been 3 months 9 years ago!… fixed it!
what do you mean, after 1001 days of war, the kremlin’s neo nazis ordered the invasion of a sovereign country, continue to beg for butter in russia? this guy, luxury product only for the elite