February 24th

Ukraine has a long history of fighting for independence. These are ages of proving our strengths both on the battlefield and during daily life. February 24th is the day when the modern generation of Ukrainians had to face this long-lasting war on the full scale. One way or another, it came to everyone's home and ruined something precious to them. 

Nothing could be comparable to hearing the explosions in your city or down your street. You feel as though you are the hero of some apocalypse movie. It seems that you are not even breathing, and life goes on in slow motion. Then you panic extremely, do not even fear because it is simply no time to be afraid. When you are warned that the war would start, you feel as assembled as possible and ready for everything, but when air raid alarms sound outside your window, all endurance and restraint are completely shattered.

The invasion started around 3:40 a.m. with the first column of Russian tanks in the Luhansk region and later in other borderline territories. Local people were trapped by the enemy troops. Around 5 a.m. decades of Ukrainian cities, including the capital, suffered from missiles. Almost every citizen woke up in fear from the sound of explosions. The Russian Armed Forces were advancing followed by their war crimes and the suffering of thousands of Ukrainians. Everyone had their own experience, but the day of February 24th came to all of us with one message, «The war has started.» 

Every Ukrainian has their own unique experience of that day. This article is full of real stories that belong to students of the Institute for Applied System Analysis from several parts of Ukraine. Their narratives show different perspectives of one horrific event.

February 24th started for citizens of Western Ukraine in different ways. Somewhere Russian bombs and missiles struck Ukrainian military bases and airfields and somewhere people found out about the beginning of the invasion from the news or their relatives.

IASA student from Khmelnytskyi woke up earlier than usual and faced with first troubles:

I had been preparing for the war, so I was not shocked, but I was just worried about my father, brother and his wife, who were in Kyiv.

Allies of our country warned us of a possible «big» war. Almost every person saw satellite photos of enemy armed forces near the border and various intelligence agencies reports. However, many Ukrainians had underestimated the possibility of the invasion, so on the first day, our character became a psychotherapist, trying to help or calm down her family and friends:

My friend’s father went to Odessa at 5 a.m. to pick up her sister. Also, her mother was taken to a meeting, so my friend was hysterical.

Time passed, and more and more people woke up, realizing what had happened. They started to panic because no one knew exactly what was taking place in the country. Great amount of popular mass media, including the official channels, has started to repost Russian disinformation to their audience. People were frightened for their lives and safety. Actually, nobody was waiting for the «Russian world», unlike the claims of Russian propagandists. Someone started packing, someone was buying essentials:

I saw extensive queues at the pharmacy and grocery stores. At 7:30 a.m. traffic jams were in 3 lanes in the west direction. And most of those people were the first refugees from the war.

After a wave of panic, Ukrainians began consolidating. Despite the Territorial Defense Forces have already been recruited, the queues at the Military commissariats, blood donation centers and gun stores were becoming bigger and bigger. Setting numerous aid points, creation and distribution of already existing volunteer organizations — this is what Ukrainians are capable of even in such difficult times. People weaved camouflage nets and «cooked» Molotov cocktails. Also, the first refugee centers were formed that day. Our student visited one of them:

We went to weave nets to the reception point for refugees at the school nearby. Despite the unusual crowd, it was too quiet. Everyone understood everything without saying a word.\

The first after-invasion volunteer requests appeared a little bit later. For example, the Armed Forces of Ukraine found 120 trucks for transporting military aid in less than an hour. The biggest Ukrainian fund «Come back alive» raised more than 48 million UAH by the afternoon of the 24th.

While Russian troops did not advance in Rivnenska and Volynska region, it could seem that Western Ukraine did not feel the horrors of the war. It is untrue. The biggest refugee centers were located there, where tons of military and humanitarian aid were being sorted and formed. Looking ahead, the population of Lviv almost doubled in the first month of the invasion (from 700 thousand people to 1.2 million).

The day for the capital of Ukraine began with a series of loud explosions. At the same time, missile strikes were carried out on the airports of 5 cities. Honestly, not the best sound of an alarm clock. People were receiving information from various media sources about the start of the full-scale invasion, attacks from the border with Belarus, queues of military equipment near our cities, and endless explosions that spread all over Ukraine from 5 to 8 a.m.  

It all started at 5 a.m. I have solar panels in the country house. And there is approximately 10 cm of space between them and the roof. There are heavy winds in winter, so we hear a slight whistling in the house. I was sleeping on February 24th and then heard a terrible sound. I stood up and for a second thought that the roof had come off along with those solar panels. I turned my head and saw Vasylkivskyi Airport from the window. It was like in a movie: «boom-boom», airport missile hits. Most of the attacks were shot down, but the first bang I heard was the sound of 2 rockets being shot down over our houses.

The first civilian casualties became an even greater shock. At this time, someone had already packed an alarming suitcase and gone down to the underground, someone tried to quit the big cities, someone still did not dare to leave home, could not move away from the shock and stop flipping through the news. The real possibility of the imminent death of themselves and their loved ones shook everyone's souls. 

At that time I was at my boyfriend’s home in Cherkasy (Editor’s note: city in Central Ukraine) and we were going to return to Kyiv on February 24. As usual, we took the Cherkasy-Kyiv train early in the morning and fell asleep. I suddenly woke up from a woman who said, «Get up, the war has begun» on the phone. My boyfriend and I decided to leave the train earlier. We got off in some village and immediately went to the station to ask how to get to Cherkasy, but there was no direct train. While he was calling his parents and deciding how to get there, I cried and I was afraid not so much for myself, but for my relatives who were in Sumy (Editor’s note: large city which is 50 km from the Russian border). Then we got to Cherkasy with several transfers and were finally able to breathe. I remember that first alarm there. It was late at night. We dressed warmly and ran to the shelter. I have never felt such fear. Every second when we were running, I thought that something would drop on me. 

Eastern Ukraine suffered, the breakthrough of enemy troops was in the north and south, but Central Ukraine remained in safer conditions for a while, if you could call it like that. But later, the military unit of Brovary (city of Kyiv region), the center of Uman (city of Cherkasy region), the Antonov plant in Kyiv, and lots of other places in the area were hit, and the most terrible thing was the battle of Hostomel. Dozens of enemy helicopters attacked the village near later well-known Bucha and Irpіn to seize the airfield and facilitate the subsequent landing of airborne troops.

The first day ended with news about the repulsed landing force of 200 people in Hostomel and numerous reports of hits and casualties. Some people spend the last hours of February 24th sitting on the cold floor of the shelter, and the rest — get stuck in traffic jams at the exit from the city. But every resident of central Ukraine continued to observe the consequences of the «Russian world» and shudder at each of the countless explosions.

The first tanks began to move towards Kyiv from Chornoby the next day. The attempts to capture Hostomel and land an airborne in Kyiv did not stop. Sabotage and reconnaissance groups were also operating: reports about street fights and gunfights appeared from different cities. By the end of the day, the tension in the Kyiv region had increased in the direction of Bucha-Hostomel-Irpin. The Armed Forces of Ukraine tried to stop the movement of enemy military vehicles.

The night began with the news about the battles near Vasylkiv (the southern city of Kyiv region) and alarming reports from the western districts of the capital. The sounds of explosions mixed with the sounds of gunshots, and residents were urged not to leave their homes after the curfew and reports of many enemy sabotage and reconnaissance groups. It seemed that in a few days Kyiv could become a terrible reality of Russian occupation. In such difficult conditions, people were trying to choose between staying in a potentially dangerous city or leaving it in the face of blown bridges, blocked roads, and the terrifying unknown. 

I woke up from the bustle and the sounds of running around on the floor above. I heard that the war had started and I was as if paralyzed. I sat down at the laptop and realized that I couldn’t do anything… Mom said that we have the opportunity to wait out the beginning of these horrors in a safer (to her mind) place. I’ve just nodded after finding out the place of our redeployment. It was Bucha. If this plan came true, maybe I wouldn’t write this story. Our cowardice in decision-making saved us.

The first night in the basement was so cold, some people sat and slept on stools… Somehow I went away for a while and tried to catch some kind of connection. Before that, we had already heard a couple of explosions from Akademmistechko (Kyiv district). I was not sure if I would live to see tomorrow, so I plucked up the courage to write to the girl about my desire to go on a date with her… Fortunately for me, she answered positively, despite the hundreds of kilometers separating us.

There were the increasingly frequent shelling and airstrikes, constant pressure from the enemy troops, which did not retreat from the capital, during the next week. But despite that it seemed that they would be in Cherkasy, Vinnytsia and other cities in the central part. In spite of the shock and refusal to believe in the reality of the horrors that began to happen in already occupied parts of Ukraine, people continued to think and fight. It was the beginning of the most terrible war crimes in Bucha, irreparable damage to the civilian infrastructure and a breakdown in the economy and society. But that time also marked the beginning of the most unusual phenomenon — the cohesion and unity of people who can stand and support each other in the most challenging times.

A part of Eastern Ukraine has been suffering from the war for 8 years. However, the captured territories became a springboard for the further advance of enemy troops, the seizure of Ukrainian lands and the destruction of thousands of lives of peaceful citizens exactly on February 24th. Nevertheless, many people have experienced war and heard explosions not for the first time. The troops of the self-proclaimed republics staged provocations at the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from time to time. It became especially active for a few days before the full-scale invasion. 

Lots of emotions such as fear, panic and anxiety were felt by Ukrainians from the eastern regions and, in particular, by the citizens of one adamant town on the demarcation line. The city-hero, the city-legend, the city whose name makes the heart skip a beat and sink in a moment. It is Mariupol. Residents of this town, located on the coast of the Sea of ​​Azov, were among the first to face the aggression of the terrorist state. In the middle of the night on February 24th, explosions rang out in one of the Livoberezhnyi District, where thousands of people were sleeping peacefully, studying all night, watching TV series or woke up to lull crying baby. 

Many of them will hear these sounds every day and this awful noise will become commonplace after a while. Within a few days, Mariupol residents found themselves under siege and blockade or constant fire from various types of weapons, without electricity, water, communication and safe way of evacuation, but with unbridled hatred for the enemy and fear for the lives of family and friends.

In other towns of the East, the situation was different. Some people experienced only constant air raids, while others were under occupation from the first days and were subjected to terrible psychological and physical violence. Many of them suffered from constant rocket attacks and were forced to watch how their school, playground in the yard or family home had been destroyed. 

My parents are liable for military service so they went as volunteers to the Territorial Defense Forces on February 28th. We live on the border of the Dnipropetrovsk and Kharkiv regions. When it became known that the enemy’s column was heading towards our city, it became really crazy… And the biggest joy of that time was the news that the column was smashed! One evening, a rocket flew right over our house, very low. A muffled roar and a whistle were heard. The explosion was somewhere a couple of kilometers away, but the walls were trembling. Then there were more and more flights... I had to get used to the howling sirens over and over again, now the brain doesn't even react to it...

For example, Kharkiv faced the war at 5 a.m., like a lot of other cities in Ukraine. Apparently, throngs of people who want to help their country by donating blood or joining the Territorial Defense Forces became such a sign that Ukraine would win. It means that our country is strong and invincible because a huge amount of people were ready to serve in the ranks of the Armed Forces and give their lives for the independence of Ukraine willingly, instead of trying to run away and hide. The enemy was unable to capture or surround Kharkiv, so he tried to destroy the city physically and psychologically by constant shelling of civilian infrastructure and residential areas. A terrible image of such shelling, as well as all Russian aggression, in particular, was a cynical rocket attack on the city center in the first days of the war. There were no military bases and 10 civilians died. Those people just wanted to get to work, go to a store or pharmacy for the necessary medicine or merely walk the dog. But brutal Russian killers decided that these people should not live simply because they are Ukrainians.

The path to victory was a guiding star that helped us not to give up and to follow our path – the path to victory. It is hard not to remember the desperate residents of Energodar (the city in Zaporizhzhia region), where the nuclear power plant is located, which became the subject of blackmail by Russia. From the first days of the war, the civilian population showed all the strength, power and indomitability of the Ukrainian people, when they went to the city outskirts without weapons and with empty hands to stop the column of invaders and defend their land.

At the beginning of the war, no one was particularly worried that the Russians would bomb the city because of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, as this could cause an environmental disaster. Friends from the nearest villages were telling lots of rumors about the whereabouts of the orc columns (Editor’s note: Russian military equipment columns), which were getting closer. Residents barricaded the entrance to the city with tires, cars and garbage trucks. But soon after a large number of vehicles drove into the city itself and the Russians began to bomb the nuclear power plant. The city was occupied. Food wasn’t delivered and humanitarian aid wasn’t brought to the city. Everyone was terrified of a mass famine.

Unfortunately, the terrors did not end there. That was only the beginning, the most terrible one. Our lives will never be the same, but our fighting spirit, patriotism and courage have also changed — they are more powerful than ever.

After that terrible day, many other crimes also awaited our country, which amazed us with their cruelty and callousness. We will elucidate those events in future articles, not a single story will be forgotten. But with each new day and reclaimed territory, our confidence in victory only becomes stronger, and the bright future of Ukraine is approaching us. Dozens, hundreds and thousands of rockets will not break us and our freedom.

But we are at home — in Ukraine. We are fighting for our country, family and each of our compatriots. And, as the Ukrainian writer Oleksandr Dovzhenko once said,

We are fighting for something invaluable in the whole world — for the Motherland.