Southern front of the Russo-Ukrainian war (2022–present)

• 1. Initial Invasion And Early Advances

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  On the 24th of February 2022, the Russian military invaded Kherson Oblast in southern Ukraine from Russian-occupied Crimea. Within hours, elements of this offensive joined forces with units advancing from the Donbas to surround Mariupol. By evening, Russian troops had reached Kherson and crossed the Dnieper River over the Antonovskiy Bridge. Ukrainian mechanized forces recaptured that bridge later that day. A combat engineer named Vitalii Skakun planted explosives on a bridge connecting Henichesk with the Arabat Spit but could not escape before detonating them. He died destroying the bridge to slow the enemy advance. The city of Mykolaiv faced heavy shelling starting at 11:00 on the 28th of February. Tanks passed through the city center while large fires erupted nearby. Despite initial setbacks, Ukrainian officials claimed by the 3rd of March that Russian forces were fully driven away from Mykolaiv. The city sustained extensive damage during these early days of fighting.

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• 2. Siege Of Mariupol And Humanitarian Crisis

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  By the 15th of March, 2,357 civilians had been killed during the siege of Mariupol according to the Mariupol City Council. Following a renewed missile attack on the 14th of March, the Ukrainian government claimed more than 2,500 deaths in the city. On the 18th of March, Mariupol was completely encircled as fighting reached the city centre. The Russians demanded a full surrender which President Volodymyr Zelenskyy refused. By the 24th of March, Russian forces entered central Mariupol and seized the Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God. Ukraine's deputy prime minister Olha Stefanishyna stated that Mariupol simply did not exist anymore. She summarized that residents lacked access to water or food supplies. More than 85 percent of the whole town was destroyed. A rescue effort by the United Nations using 50 allocated buses was impeded when Russian troops refused safe passage into the city while peace talks continued in Istanbul.

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• 3. Ukrainian Counteroffensive And Kherson Liberation

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  On the 29th of August, Ukraine launched a counteroffensive on the Kherson front after months of preparation. During a three-day period from the 2nd of October to the 4th of October, Ukraine liberated 11 settlements in northern Kherson including Davydiv Brid. On the 9th of November, Russia announced the withdrawal of troops from Kherson. Ukrainian troops reportedly entered Snihurivka the next day. On the 11th of November, Ukrainian troops entered the city of Kherson itself. Crowds of Ukrainian citizens chanted Slava Ukraini and Glory to the ZSU while expressing gratitude by lifting up soldiers and waving flags. This marked the liberation of Kherson, the only oblast capital captured by Russia after its 2022 invasion. The front stabilized again just south of Kherson in November 2022. Ukrainian forces retook all territory west and north of the Dnieper river during these operations.

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• 4. Stalemate And The Dnieper Campaign

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  By May, the situation in right-bank Kherson Oblast had become a stalemate with opposing forces evenly matched. Units of the Russian 49th Combined Arms Army held a bridgehead over the Dnieper approximately 160km wide and 50km deep. On the 6th of June 2023, the Kakhovka Dam in Nova Kakhovka was purposefully destroyed while under Russian control since March 2022. Experts assess that Russian forces likely blew the dam up which massively flooded the region. This forced combat to stop along the river for a time. As floodwaters receded, Ukraine resumed incursions across the river on a larger scale. In December 2023, Ukraine established a foothold on the left bank at the village Krynky. By the 18th of July, Krynky was fully recaptured by Russian forces. The strategic purpose of the Russian bridgehead included protecting the North Crimean Canal and serving as a staging area for future operations aimed at reaching Transnistria.

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• 5. The 2023 Southern Front Operations

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  In early June 2023, Ukrainian forces launched their counteroffensive focusing on multiple directions including Orikhiv and Velyka Novosilka. By the 11th of June, Ukraine had recaptured front line settlements such as Neskuchne, Blahodatne, Storozheve, Makarivka, and Novodarivka. The progress slowed despite capturing several more villages including Robotyne on the 23rd of August. By December 2023, prominent Ukrainian figures began giving negative assessments of the counteroffensive's success. Statements by Ukrainian general Valerii Zaluzhnyi in early November 2023 described the war as having arrived at a stalemate. Ukrainian forces did not reach the city of Tokmak which was described as a minimum goal by General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi. On the 17th of February, fighting resumed in Robotyne when Russian forces started a large-scale attack. War analyst Emil Kastehelmi stated that the village with its recapture lacked strategic importance to Russia but remained a symbolic blow to Ukraine after they fought so hard to win it back last year.

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• 6. Environmental Destruction And Ecological Impact

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  The war has caused disruptive damage to unique plants and wildlife of the Kinburn Spit including Centaurea breviceps and Centaurea Paczoskii cornflower species. Bombs and pollutants from them killed nearby dolphins according to Doug Weir, research and policy director at the UK-based Conflict and Environment Observatory. In May 2022 a fire covering 4,000 hectares started by rockets inflicted lasting habitat damage to perennial forests and salt marshes of the spit. The open sand and soil now face threats from chemicals seeping in and invasive species. The sensitive ecosystem continues to suffer from shelling and fires resulting from military activities. Research indicates that the environmental destruction will have long-term consequences for the region's biodiversity and ecological balance.

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