Wars are decided by more than grand clashes. Small acts of courage and tactical wins lift morale, shift strategy, and shape the public’s resolve. In the span of two pivotal years, moments like the Ukrainian flag over Little Snake Island and the sinking of Moscow’s Black Sea flagship marked turning points. From the epic stand at Azovstal to Russian advances toward Port and Soledar, a pattern emerged: large-scale offensives and counteractions that redefined the battlefield and the map of Ukraine.
1. Battle of Kyiv
From the outset of occupation, Russian armored units pressed the city’s northern outskirts, while airborne forces sought to seize Hostomel’s airspace to pave the way for paratroop landings. Yet they encountered resilient resistance. Ukrainian troops and civilian volunteers combined ingenuity with resourcefulness to counter the assault.
Residents and local defense groups blew up critical chokepoints, flooded riverside corridors, and disrupted logistics with calculated ambushes in the suburbs. Drones and rapid maneuver warfare played essential roles as the battle pushed outward from the city core.
Inside Bucha and other towns under prolonged Russian control, brutal acts occurred until orders for withdrawal were issued from the Kremlin.
2. The Fall of Mariupol
Maruipol, a major Ukrainian port city near the Russian border with a population surpassing half a million, represented a strategic objective for Moscow. Its capture would solidify links between Crimea and eastern Donbas, enabling further expansion in the south. The siege was sustained by bombardment and numerical superiority, leaving the city starved, exposed to the cold, and in a climate of fear—an approach that would be echoed in other theaters, including the north.
The confrontation culminated in the surrender of the last Ukrainian defenders and civilians sheltering in Azovstal, a vast network of tunnels and underground refuges. The weeks-long resistance slowed the Russian offensive, buoyed Ukrainian morale, and elevated the Azov Battalion’s standing in the public eye as a capable portion of the Ukrainian armed forces.
3. The Donbas Battle
Western intelligence suggests the Kremlin would seek any negotiated settlement only after securing the Donbas, a region seen as vital to the next phase of the campaign. Moscow focused its efforts around eastern Donbas, with Bakhmut in Donetsk becoming a focal point of sustained combat and a gateway toward Kramatorsk and other locales.
Retaking Donbas posed a stark challenge for Ukraine. The area has seen Russian presence since 2014, with well-prepared defenses and a populace bearing heavy costs after nearly a decade of conflict.
4. Kharkiv and the Counteroffensive Momentum
One maxim from the period—war is waged with deception as much as force—echoed in the Kharkiv counteroffensive. In spring and summer 2022, Kyiv signaled ambitions to reclaim southern and northeastern territories, and when the moment arrived, counterstrikes occurred almost in parallel. The Kremlin faced a reality it had underestimated.
Ukraine quickly reclaimed the province that had been evacuated by Russian forces in early fall. Moscow responded with announcements of annexations for Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhia—claims that looked hollow given the actual control on the ground. A Moscow ceremony framed these moves as permanent, but the ground truth remained contested.
5. A Turning Point: Reclaiming the Right Bank of Kherson
Following Kherson’s fall, which marked the collapse of a major provincial hub under Russian control, cartographic analyses showed Ukraine reclaiming a substantial portion of territory seized since the start of the war. The southern province still required work, as Russian forces had pulled back only from western riverbank areas, leaving parts east of the Dnieper in Russian hands for a time.
Locals in Kherson raised Ukrainian flags, cheered, and welcomed the anticipated return of government control. Official statements later confirmed that Russian forces had withdrawn from the western bank of the Dnipro River, signaling a strategic shift in the region.
Situated on the fertile plains that once fed a global supply, the Kherson liberation restored part of national land and shifted strategic leverage toward the Crimean peninsula. Analysts suggested Crimea might be next, a move that could constrain Moscow’s supply routes if recovered earlier. Soldiers in occupied Ukraine observed the changing tides.