On 24February, 2022, the wicked Kremlin enemy start to wage a full-scale war on Ukraine. The orcs deliberately invadeto kill, rob, rape and destroy everything in their vile path.
In the Chernihiv Region, the morning of 24February, 2022 begins with missile strikes and explosions, immediately followed by the russian horde’s full-scale invasion. At 5am, the russian troops attack Ukraine along the entire border line: in the Chernihiv, Sumy, Luhansk, Kharkiv and Zhytomyr Regions.
The entire country is being shelled.
CHRONOLOGY OF WAR
FEBRUARY
24 February
In the Chernihiv Region, the russian invadersfirst open fire at the Dniprovske border crossing. The enemy drop explosives from their drones into the border guards’ tented camp. 7 border guards are injured. After this attack, the surviving comrade-in-arms blow up the bridge across the Dnipro.
It isover this bridge that the russian troops planned to invade our land from the Belarusian territory. Belarus is less than a kilometre from the bridge.
In the first hours of their offensive, the russians carry out a missile attack on the Main Control Point of the Airfield of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in the town of Nizhyn. Six people appear under the rubble. The Control Point of the Nizhyn Airfield is completely destroyed by a missile strike, with 3 Emergency Service officers injured and the police colonel Oleksandr Yatsyk killed. Later, two more rescuers are reported to have been killed.
The occupiers also open fire at one of the buildings (educational building) of the military unit in the urban-type settlement of Honcharivske.
The Pivtsi Airfield, which is near Chernihiv, is also struck. The enemy shells the airfield several times. Generally, the russians had some special plans for this facility. After capturing the airfield, the enemy could directly use it for their logistical purposes. If Pivtsi were seized and airborne troops were sent theredirectly, the military assume that Chernihiv would have enormous troubles.
From the very morning of 24 February, the russian troops begin to cross the state border of Ukraine from the Russian and Belarusian territories and advance inland at a frantic pace. The enemy’s troopscome in different ways, including through the settlements of Senkivka and Dobryanka.
24 February, 2022. Armoured military columns of the Russian Federation cross the state border of Ukraine at the Senkivka border checkpoint
Also, largearmoured columns have already pushed through the town of Horodnia towards Chernihiv.
In the first hours of the offensive, nearly the entire border area of the Chernihiv Region hasbeen either occupied or isolated.
Russian military equipment in the town of Semenivka
The defence of Chernihiv is held by the 1st Separate Tank Brigade and the 58th MotorisedInfantry Brigade. A little later, a National Guard regiment from the Sumy Region comes the Chernihiv residents’ rescue. The number of troopsisoverwhelmingly unequal. The ratio of tanks (asthe military estimate), for instance,is about 1 to 25, or even 1 to 30. Unfortunately, not in our favour.
According to the head of the Chernihiv DefenceStaff, Colonel Dmytro Bryzhynsky, in the first days there are only about 30 Ukrainian tanks stationed in the city. But thanks to the heroism and professionalismof our tank crews, in particular, the enemy are beaten all the time.
A A destroyed russian tank near Chernihiv
About 30,000 russian soldiers are sent to capture the north of Ukraine (Chernihiv and Sumy Regions). The Chernihiv Region has to deal with 13,000-15,000 occupiers and about 5,000 units of equipment. The Centre troop group is entrusted to take both Chernihiv and Kyiv ‘in 2-3 days’.
«After lunchtime, on 24 February, they were in Sedniv. The village literally shuddered from the military equipment. Their armoured columns went along the central road without stopping,»Tetyana Morylyak, a secretary of the local council, recalls the first day of the occupation of Sedniv.
On the very same day, the invaders enter the neighbouring village of Chernysh, which is 25 kilometres from Chernihiv.
On24 February, at 3.30pm, the Operational Command North reports that units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine fight back the russians in the area of Rivnopillya inthe Chernihiv District. The enemy’s troops have been stopped.
Destroyed hostilearmoured vehicle near Chernihiv
25 February
The russians continue their offensive towards Chernihiv. Their regular armoured columns enter the territory of the region. On this day, many fierce battles take place on the approaches to the regional centre.
Near the urban-type settlement of Ripky, the occupiers try to attack Chernihiv again with an armoured column of 500 vehicles. The attack is repulsed again.
Destroyed Russian armoured vehicles. The Chernihiv direction
About 20 units of hostile equipment are destroyed by the Ukrainian military in the direction of Minsk. An armoured column of hostile vehicles moving from the Homel direction to Chernihiv is also destroyed.
Near Horodnya, on 25 February, the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroy up to 20 units of hostilearmoured vehicles (tanks, artillery units, IFVs) with a missile strike.
In the course of successful battles, they capture some good war trophies(enemy’s equipment and documents with personal data of russian soldiers).
According to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhny, on 25 February, the units of the 1st Tank Brigade stop the overwhelming troops of the occupiers along the Bilous River in the direction of Chernihiv.
Also, on this day, the building of the SBU Regional Office in Chernihiv is destroyed.
SBU Regional Office Building after the fire on 25 February, 2022
The SBU Regional Office in Chernihiv kept the KGB archive with masses of documentary materials: about 13,000 declassified files of Ukrainians repressed by the Soviet authorities, as well as documents of the Soviet Special Service like orders, correspondence, personal and agency files of the 20th century. In total, more than half a million documents were declassified. The fire damages the roof and interior of the building, destroying the archivecompletely.
On 25 February, theRegional Military Administration headed by Vyacheslav Chaus is created on the basis of the Chernihiv Regional State Administration. Other military administrations arealso formed in five more districts of the region on the basis of the district state administrations.
The entire reconnaissance platoon of the 74th MotorisedRifle Brigade of Russia surrenders near Chernihiv.
One of the prisoners, Sergeant Kostyantyn Buynichev (74thMotorisedRifle Brigade, Kemerovo Region).
26 February
Russia’s offensive continues. Throughout the region, people form guerrilla units and create resistance forces. Chernihiv actively prepares for street fights, digging city trenches, setting up barricades and roadblocks, preparing Molotov cocktails. Thousands of volunteers form territorial defence units. The whole city of Chernihiv unites and prepares for fierce street battles. The enemy carry out aerial reconnaissance and see that the residents are ready to stand up for themselves. This will also play an important role: the russians understand that they cannot take Chernihiv so easily. The invaders begin to realise that the northern fortress is a hard nut to crack.
On the afternoon of 26 February, the russian troops shell Chernihiv from Grads, multiple rocket launchers.
Chernihiv. An apartment block in Belova Street (currently — 1st Tank Brigade Street) after shelling (A photo by eyewitnesses)
Apartment blocks and hospitals are shelled. Chernihiv rescuers heroically put out fires. The areas in the ZAZ neighbourhood and near anEpicentre hypermarket appear to be mostly damaged.
During an attempt to break into the city, 2 tanks of the occupiers are destroyed and two russians are captured (see more details on this in Chapter II).
A destroyed russian tank near Chernihiv
27 February
Fierce battles continue. Russian troops launch a missile attack on central Chernihiv. The attackis aimed at the premises of the Chernihiv City Council, but the missilestrikes the yard betweena children’s dental clinic, children’s library and 9-storey apartment block.
It is established that the enemy conductedtheir airstrike with one of the most modern modified Iskander-K cruise missiles.
Modern modified Iskander-Kcruise missiles launched byrussians tostrike central Chernihiv
By the way, around the same time, the russians also attack the premises of the Kharkiv City Council and the building of the Regional Administration. The enemy struck the administrative buildings of the city authoritieswhich did not surrender and put up heroic resistance.
The russians also shell the youth hub, the former Shchors Cinema, on that day. The blows are also aimed at the Chernihiv City Council, but happen to fall nearby.
Thecinema premises after the airstrike
On this day, the local residents of Ichnya chase away the russian invaders. Near the city of Pryluky, one of the units of the Armed Forces destroys a tank company of the russian army along with its personnel.
It becomes known that the russians deployed their offensive control headquarters in the village of Vyshneve (Ripky community). A large logistics point is also organised there.
28 February.
Russian hostile shelling intensifies.
At night, a missilestrikes an apartment block in the centre of Chernihiv. Mass shelling of the outskirts of the regional centre continues. As a result of shelling, the Epicentre hypermarket catches fire that burns it to the ground within a day.
The occupiers shell the village of Kyiinka with cluster munitions.
On the outskirts of Chernihiv, a few hostilesabotage and reconnaissance groups trying to break into the citywith the support of armoured vehiclesare discovered. The saboteurs areeliminated.
The centre of Chernihiv after shelling. Photo credit: Chernihiv City Council
Also, on the last day of February 2022, as a result of another missile attack on central Chernihiv, the buildings of Kotsiubynsky Central City Library and Dovzhenko Children’s Library are partially destroyed.
Anotherhostile rocket strikes a five-storey residential building in Remisnycha Street: two apartments on the first and second floors catch fire. A projectile hits a store in the Central Market. A kindergarten building is shelled in the same area. The military believe that all of these strikes are aimed at a television tower located in the area. This object has an important communication value
A craterafter a missile strike near Kotsiubynsky Library
MARCH
1 March
The russian armoured vehicles travel through the occupied northern communities inthe Chernihiv Region. The invaders set up their checkpoints in the occupied border villages. The headquarters are being set up in some villages as well.
The occupiers shell the residential areas of Chernihiv from the Grad missile systems. The shelling of the Masana neighbourhood and Myru Avenue (leaving the city in the direction of Ripky) is carried out.
On 1 March, the enemy occupy the village of Stara Basan in the Bobrovytsia community.
«It was very scary. They were shooting everywhere with their automatic firearms. They took some people captive. They took my son-in-law and then came to us. The children were standing next to me crying… We were all frightened. There were four of them. Then two more drove up in an armoured personnel carrier. For a whole hour, me, my husband and four children stood in front of some machine guns. They were looking for Ukrainian soldiers. They forced a child to pick up a hand grenade,» recalls Inna Sira, a resident of the village, the first day of the occupation.
On 1 March, the territorial defence unit of the village of Olyshivka detains two saboteurs near the local underground gas storage facility. The protection of the facility is being strengthened.
The construction of fortifications is underway in Chernihiv. The city is actively preparing for street fights.
Chernihiv. March, 2022
2 March
The enemy continue massingtheir troops in the Chernihiv direction. The shelling of Chernihiv and surrounding villages continues. The sounds of explosions can be heard dozens of kilometres away.
Bombed private houses in Novoselivka. Photo by Yury Bilak
With an airstrike, the russians hit the Chernihiv District Hospital, damaging maternity, labour and covid departments. Many premises are damaged. There is a temporary power cut in the hospital.
Healthcare workers of the district hospital preparing food outside due to the power cutcaused byan airstrike
On the very same day, the Bobrovytsianeighbourhood is also attacked with missiles.
3 March
One of the most difficult and tragic days for Chernihiv. Onthat morning, the russians strike the oil depot, with fuel catching fire immediately. During the day, the occupiers mercilessly bomb Chernihiv from their aircraft. At approximately 12.16pm, the aviation of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation drops unguided aerial bombs on the residential areas of Chernihiv. According to Amnesty International, the Russians dropped at least 8 aerial bombs on the residential area alongChornovola Street. According to other data — 6 bombs.
Aerial bombs fall on the apartment blocksin Chornovola Street
After the airstrike, 4 craters are discovered, with 2 holes recorded in the residential buildings. This indicates that there were probably 6 bombs. At the same time, one aerial bomb falls literally a few meters from another apartment block.
If the third bomb had hit the apartment block,the consequences would certainly have been much more tragic.
According to the Chernihiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office, as a result of the airstrike on the residential buildings in Chornovola Street, 14 people die.
An apartment block hit by an aerial bomb in Chornovola Street. The photo is from the Internet.
Aftermath of airstrike
Aftermath of airstrikes on apartment blocksin Chornovola Street. Photo by Yury Bilak
The russian aircraft also attack two schools in the Stara Podusivka area and private houses. On 3 March, the Ukrainian kickboxing champion Yevgeny Zvonok, silver medalist of the World Cup, diesdue to a russian airstrike on school No. 18. His body is found under the rubbleon 6 March.
According to the information of the Chernihiv Regional Military Administration, 47 people (38 men and 9 women) die as a result of airstrikes on 3 March.
According to the international NGOs (Human Rights Watch&Amnesty International), these airstrikes are directly the russian army’s war crime.
On 3 March, the occupying forces enter the village of Yahidne, the Chernihiv Region. In Yahidne, the russian military invaders keep more than 350 local residents, including 77 children and 5 infants, in aschool basement. The occupation of Yahidne is one of the most brutal pages of the war…
4 March
The active phase of the war continues. The enemy systematically shell the residential areas of Chernihiv with artillery. They also shellthe critical infrastructure facilities.
On entering the urban-style settlementof Ripky, the russian military seize the local police department, shooting an unarmed local resident to death.
«The enemy’s soldiers took a tractor and a KAMAZ truck from the locals, looted two grocery stores. At night, the aggressor’s vehicles drove through the streets and blinded residents’ windows with searchlights. According to available information, a column of military equipment marked ‘O’ arrived at the general meeting of citizens, which took place near Ripky’s St. Nicholas Church. The representative of the invaders, who called himself a police colonel, began to dictate his orders to the people. In case of disobedience, he threatened to use force, up to shelling the village with artillery. He demanded to hand over all cargo equipment and declared a curfew. The representative of the invaders forbade the locals to gather, remove the military equipment and approach the police station. The townspeople did not bother with the invaders’ proposals.They sang the national anthem and expressed their patriotic position. They showed the ‘visitors’ photos and videos from the Internet how the Ukrainian army meets the enemy. To this, the interveners denied that their losses were much smaller. The person who identified himself as a police colonel said he would report to the leadership about the local population’s rejection of the occupation. Instead, he started negotiations with a resident of the citywho until 2010 had beenRipky’s police chief. The townspeople did not delegate any authority or negotiating powers to the specified person,»this message appears on the website of the State Border Service of Ukraine on 4 March.
On the outskirts of Chernihiv, the Ukrainian military shoot down the latestsupermaneuverable fourth-generation russian multi-purpose Su-35 fighter (40-65 million US dollars) with the help of the 1985Igla-1 MANPADS.
On 4 March, some FSB officers come to the occupied villages of the Snovsk community, talk with the headmen and ask all important information about the infrastructure facilities.
The russian special services are on the prowl in the villages ofKhotunychi and Kamka. After a careful study of the territory and the situation of7 March, the occupiers set up their checkpoint in Khotunychi.
5 March
The enemy continue their offensive.
The units of the 6th Combined Arms Army of the Russian Federation and the 1st Tank Army of the Western Military District of the Russian Federation advance to carry out their offensive on Chernihiv and Nizhyn.
On the outskirts of Chernihiv, in the Masana neighbourhood, the Ukrainian military shoot down therussian Su-34 attack aircraft that bombed the Chernihiv Region. Both pilots eject, both are found. One dies, and the other, Oleksandr Krasnoyartsev, survives. After landing, Major Krasnoyartsev kills a local man who went out of his house. The pilot is taken captive.
Oleksandr Krasnoyartsev, the russian pilot downed near Chernihiv on 5 March
Later, Krasnoyartsev was exchanged for our five pilots (the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, Major General Kyrylo Budanov told about this in one of his interviews).
Several aerial bombs are found in the area where the plane crashes. According to expert reports, the plane was equipped with four OFZAB-500 aerial bombs (high-explosive and incendiary aerial bombs).
Aerial bombs from Krasnoyartsev’s plane
The use of such aerial bombs is prohibited by the international law.
When the plane was shot down, the russian pilot made an emergency bomb drop on Chernihiv.
6 March
The Chernihiv Region continues to defend itself and fiercely resist the invaders. As a result of constant shelling, many settlements are left without electricity.
The enemy keep conducting their offensive. The russian occupiers drop heavy bombs intended for fortifications on residential buildings.
A FAB-500 unguided Russian aerial bomb (500 kilograms)
On 6 March, the enemy shell the Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky Museum-Reserve and the Hryhoriy Galagan Regional Art Museum.
7-9 March
The shelling continues.
On 7 March, the Russians shell a Chernihiv kindergarten and school No.19. YeletskyiDormition Monastery is also damaged.
On 8 March, the Russian occupiers drop several FAB-500 unguided aerial bombs on Chernihiv. The suburbs and residential areas of the city continue to be shelled. On 9 March, the russian inhumans fire at the civilians who were trying to leave Chernihiv. A 15-year-old boy and a woman die.
On 9 March, several units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces liberate the village of Viktorivka of the Ivanovo community and the neighbouring village of Drachivshchyna from the russists.
Destroyed occupiers near Chernihiv (the Kolychivka direction)
These are among the first liberated settlements in the Chernihiv Region. The enemy entered the village of Viktorivka on 6 March. In total, there were more than 50 units of hostile equipment in the village. After the escape from Viktorivka, the russians continue shelling the village and its surroundings.
Destroyed hostile armoured columns near Chernihiv
On 9 March, a fierce battle takes place in Lukashivka.
The military state that this battle was one of the largest throughout the whole defensive operation inthe Chernihiv Region.
Lukashivka. Photo credit: Operational Command North
The servicemen of the 2nd Company of the Chernihiv 21st Separate Rifle Battalion and the 16th Separate MotorisedInfantry Battalion of the 58th OMPBr named after Hetman Ivan Vyhovsky holdthe defensive line both in and around Lukashivka, preventing the russian troops from completely encircling Chernihiv.
Destroyed equipment near Lukashivka
In the battles for Lukashivka, the Russians used cluster munitions.
Cluster munition remnants in Lukashivka
10 March
The Armed Forces of Ukraine destroy a division of the Iskander-Moperational-tactical ballistic missile systems on the territory of the Chernihiv Region. Also, on this day, one of the units of the Operational Command North is engaged in battle with the overwhelming enemy forces. As a result of the heroic actions of our soldiers, trophies are taken: 10 working tanks, an anti-aircraft missile system and an armoured evacuation vehicle.
11 March
At night, the russian aviation carries out a few airstrikes on GagarinStadium and some civilian infrastructure objects. Before that, the stadium was mortared several times. Some territorial defence units were stationed on the territory of the sports training centre.
Gagarin Stadium destroyed by the Russians in Chernihiv
Three 500-kilogram bombs destroy the house of Vasyl Tarnovsky (a late 19th-century architectural monument which contained a youth library).
Chernihiv.The children’s library after airstrikes
One bomb also falls into the stadium under the stands and does not explode.
At approximately 6.30pm, the enemy shell residential buildings in the Sherstyanka neighbourhood. The objects of social infrastructure are also destroyed: heat, gas, electricity and water supply facilities.
A unique photo: residents of the occupied Horodna with Ukrainian flags. On the right are the russian invaders.
The people’s resistance continues in the districts of the region.
Border guerrillas and trophy equipment. Photo credit: Operational Command North
Anatoly Kulheiko, the head of the Ripky district community of hunters and fishermen, blows himself up and two occupiers with a hand grenade to keep the lists of local hunters unseen. The hero from Ripky dies of injuries in hospital.
Anti-tank gunners of one of the military units of the Operational Command North destroy 9 units of tanks, IFVs, armoured personnel carriers and about 50 servicemen of the occupying army. Also, on this day, the defenders of Chernihiv eliminateahostile Su-34 fighter.
12 March
At approximately 2am, the russians destroy the Ukraine Hotel in Chernihiv by a missilestrike.
The Ukraine Hotel destroyed by a missile in Chernihiv
Fortunately, there were no casualties since there were no people in the hotel or nearby. However, a propaganda video clip was shown on russian television about how the occupiers hit the base of foreign mercenaries stationed in the hotel in Chernihiv with the latest weapons. The russians announced the destruction of several dozen legionnaires. And in general, about two hundred ‘Nazis’stayed in the hotel. I wonder if the propagandists themselves believe in the delusion they make up? By the way, the cost of the rocket used to destroy the building of the Ukraine Hotel is approximately commensurate with the cost of the hotel itself.
The firing of the missilewhich struck the Ukraine Hotel (a screenshot from the news onrussian television)
Also,in early morning (around 3.25am) the occupiers carry out an air raid on Zhabinsky Street and Lokomotiv Stadium.
13 March
The russians commit another terrorist act in Chernihiv. At night, the occupiers conduct three air raids. As a result of airstrikes, several apartment blocks in the ZAZ neighbourhood are damaged. They destroy a dormitory and kill a family of 5 people, three of whom were children (three-year-old twins — a boy and a girl — and their 12-year-old sister)… It is also known about the death of a man who lived on the 6th floor.
The apartment block destroyed by airstrike in the ZAZ neighbourhood
The russian occupation forces shellthe city centre and sleeping areas.
In the evening, the enemy attempt to break through to Chernihivtwice. Their offensive actions are accompanied by an air raid and the use of the Grad missile systems. Fierce battles take place on the outskirts of the city. Near Chernihiv, our military shoot down another russian plane.
14 March
The 19th day of the full-scale war continues.
At night, the enemy target the Chernihiv Polytechnic National University. The educational building is damaged. At around 6am in Chernihiv, one of the pumping stations that supply water to the city is destroyed by a bomb attack. As a result of the bombing, four people die.
At approximately 9am, a projectile hits the administrative building of the Chernihivgaz JSC during russian shelling.
The russian invaders once again shell residential buildings and social infrastructure. According to the General Prosecutor’s Office, 10 people die as a result of shelling on 14 March.
On this day, the russians shell the city of Nizhyn, using the Uragan missile systems.
And in the village of Mokhnatyn, the russian beasts shoot three teenagers from an IFV. The victims are 17-year-old twin brothers Bohdan and Yevhen Samodiy and their 18-year-old friend Valentyn Yakymchuk. The occupiers opened fire at the boys when they were just walking down the street. As a result of the incident, Valentyn Yakymchuk’s leg was torn off and half of his head was blown off. One of the twin brothers, Yevhen Samodiy, died of serious injuries on the spot, and the other, Bohdan Samodiy, died on the way to the Chernihiv hospital.
On 14 March, the Ukrainian troops destroy the russian command post as well as a significant number of its personnel and military equipment as a result of a well-targeted fire attack.
15 March
The enemy do not stop trying to seize Chernihiv.
The defenders from the military unit of the North Military Base destroy five hostile BM-21 Grads and transport-loading vehicles.
16 March
Another tragic day of war — a day of heavycasualties…
At around 10am in Chernihiv, the russian troops open fire at a group of people standing in a queue for bread. At least 18 people die and 26 are injured.
Those civilians were standing in a queue for bread at a kiosk near the back entrance to the Soyuz store in Dotsenko Street. The strike was made from the Grad multiple launchrocket system. There were many people in the queue.
The place where Chernihiv civilians standing in a queue for bread were killed
Around the same time, shells also hit a nearby apartment block consisting of two adjoining buildings at 25 Dotsenko Street and 127 Pukhova Street. The place caught fire immediately, taking the lives of two people.
On this day, the russians mercilessly shell the townspeople.
53 people are killed duringone day…
In the suburbs of Chernihiv, a group of 16 saboteurs enter a position near a Ukrnafta petrol station. Four of our defenders are captured by the russians: Oleksandr Antonenko, Mykola Komlachenko, Yury Ahopshuka and Oleksandr Ostapenko.
Oleksandr Antonenko was exchanged at the end of 2022, and he returned home.
At the time of writing the book, the rest of the soldiers remain captive.
At night, the Ukrainian air defence forces destroy a russian Su-34 military bomber that carries out airstrikes on Chernihiv.
Volodymyr Andriichenko, a Chernihiv journalist, combat medic, junior lieutenant of the 1st Separate Tank North Brigade, dies near Chernihiv. He was driving his car to extract the wounded when the Russians shot him.
Volodymyr Andriichenko
Volodymyr Andriichenko’s car shot by the Russians in the suburbs of Chernihiv
The orcs once again try to break through the defences of Chernihiv with the support of aviation and artillery. Our defenders shoot down the second Su-34 fighter.
The territorial defence forces stop the russian military’s attempt to advance to Chernihiv. The artillery of the Ukrainian Armed Forces destroysan ammunition warehouse and more than 10 refuelling stations of the russian occupiers.
The ranks of the russian army begin to panic. Their great losses prevail over the propaganda and schizophrenia of grandeur. The Kremlin botsstart to clearly understand that they may not return home. At least alive…
17 March
At about 10am, the russian troops open fire at Chernihiv civilians who areinthe central streets. 14 people die, many are injured. The examination establishes that the russians killed the residents of Chernihiv with cluster munitions. It happened in Chornovola Street.
Deadly cluster munition remnants in Chornovola Street
Due to significant damage to water pipes and pumping stations, there is no water almost everywhere in the city. The residents take water from the Stryzhen and Desna rivers.
The russian troops make two straight attempts to advance to the city. They are repulsed by the defenders of Chernihiv twice.
The resistance forces defeat a group of invaders near the city of Pryluky. The defenders replenish their fleet of equipment with aunit of the Uragan anti-aircraft missile system. The other one is destroyed. On this day, the Kremlin army in Chernihiv region suffers significant losses both in equipment and personnel.
18 March
The Ukrainian defenders from the troops of the Operational Command North destroy some hostile equipment: a Torn-MDM system and thethe BTGr wheeled armoured command post.
The defenders neutralised two enemy batteries with an artillery strike on the enemy’s artillery.
19 March
The shelling of Chernihiv continues.
The russians shell Chernihiv City Hospital No. 2.
20 March
In the evening in Chernihiv, the russians fire at a minibus delivering water to civilians. Two people die. Two others are seriously injured.
21 March
The enemy do not conduct any offensive operations in the Chernihiv direction. The occupiers are licking their wounds and recuperating.
In the North direction, the russian troops deploy additional units on the territory of Ukraine, in particular, several BTGs of the 90th Tank Division.
22 March
The russian troops attempt to advance to the northern outskirts of Chernihiv from the side of the occupied village of Tovstolis. A significant number of armoured vehicles storm the ski base located on the northern outskirts of Chernihiv.Taking the base gives the occupying forcesan opportunity to gain a foothold in the suburban areas of the city.
A ski base near Chernihiv destroyed by the occupiers
On the morning of 22 March, some units of the 41st Army occupy part of the ski base, encircling part of the Ukrainian servicemen. However, the scouts of the 1st Tank Brigade and the 134th Guard Battalion knock out the enemy from their occupied positions.
23 March
At night, the russian aircraft bomb the road bridge over the Desna near Chernihiv.
The destroyed bridge over the Desna. Photo by Maksym Dondyuk / DER SPIEGEL
The occupiersalso shell the pedestrian bridge in Chernihiv. A few people, including an 11-year-old boy, receive shrapnel wounds.
The russian army shells a food enterprise in Chernihiv. A projectile enters the engine room and damages the main ammonia pipeline. The concentration of ammonia in the air is within normal limits. The disaster is avoided because ammonia was pumped out in advance at the beginning of hostilities.
The defence forces of the Chernihiv Region destroy the russian multi-purpose armoured vehicle Tiger.
24 March
The month of valiant resistance to the invaders.
Due to the lack of success at the front, the enemy rage and continue to shell the civilian population. During the night, the russian artillery and aviation conducts artillery and air strikes on Chernihiv. Unfortunately, there are losses on that day: at least two dead and one wounded.
An interesting fact about the libraries of the temporarily occupied territories of Luhansk, Donetsk, Chernihiv and Sumy regions: the russian military begins to confiscate Ukrainian historical and literary books. For this purpose, the russian units of the ‘military police’are involved.
In Horodna, the Chernihiv Region, there are known several cases of seizure of the book The Case of Vasyl Stus by Vakhtang Kipiani. The occupiers have a list of forbidden names: Mazepa, Petliura, Bandera, Shukhevych, Chornovil. Books on the history of the Ukrainian Maidans, the ATO/OOS, the history of Ukrainian liberation struggles, school textbooks on the history of Ukraine, scientific and popular historical literature are either destroyed on the spot or taken in an unknown direction.
25 March
Chernihiv is supposedly under the enemy’s operational encirclement. The last bridge (pedestrian) over the Desna is closed due to constant shelling and huge damage.
For at least 90 minutes, the russian military shell the humanitarian corridor to Chernihiv. There is a large number of civilians and cars waiting for permission to cross to Chernihiv or pick up their relatives from there. A hostile drone detects a crowd of people, and shelling begins immediately. At first, the russians fire from a Smerch, then from 122mm artillery, then they engage a mortarand at the final stage — even a tank.
These crimes against the civilian population are recorded by foreign journalists, in particular, the TRT World Channel camera crew (Turkey). At that moment, the well-known Ukrainian journalist Andrii Tsaplienko also receives a shrapnel wound.
Andrii Tsaplienko
«I screwed up. Got a small shrapnel wound. The doctor promisesI’ll be on the mend before victory.It happened on 25 March around 4.50pm during the shelling of the humanitarian corridor to Chernihiv,»Tsaplienko notes.
On 25 March, the russians abduct Oleksandr Medvedev, the mayor of Snovsk, and Hryhoriy Bozhek, a local businessman. Several local men are also taken captive. In total, the occupiers take 7 people with them.
26 March
The russian military attack Chernihiv again. As a result of shelling, two schools and many residential buildings are damaged.
The enemy also conduct an airstrike on one of the villages of the Chernihiv District and shell a village in the Nizhyn region.
27 March
The occupiers still hope to seize Chernihiv. Lieutenant Colonel Oleksandr Kornyk, the Chief of the Staff of the 40th Engineering and Sapper Regiment (Military Unit 14330, Ishim, Tyumen region, Russian Federation), dies during the construction of a pontoon bridge across the Desna near Chernihiv. Together with him, 8 Russian soldiers die and 17 are wounded. Six bodies of the killed russian soldiers cannot be retrieved from the water, so they float downstream in an unknown direction following the ‘russian warship’.
According to the military, in the Chernihiv Region, there are two Chornobaivkas (so-called locations where our troops constantly destroy the enemy en masse): Shestovytsia and Sedniv.
28 March
The russian army shells residential areas in northern city several times, causing significant damage to the buildings and civil infrastructure. According to the official notification of the city authorities, as of 28 March, more than 350 residents of Chernihiv are already known to have died (the period from 24 February to 28 March, 2022). At the end of March, there are about half a thousand wounded people admitted to the city’s hospitals. Most of them are civilians. Approximately 40 people are taken to the two hospitals each day.
On 28 March, the occupiers destroy the bridges around the settlements of Konotop, Stara Rudnya, Smyach, Maly Dyrchyn, and Velykiy Dyrchyn (Northern ChernihivRegion).
According to the available data, the russian military withdraw from the settlements of the Snovsk community.
The invaders continue to block Chernihiv.
In the Chernihiv Region, the Ukrainian Military Unit North destroy: 2 Tiger armoured vehicles, a Ural truck and a T-72 tank. Also, our military damage 8 units of the enemy’s equipment, seizing another Uraltruckwith dry rations. According to the Operational Command North, the enemy’s manpower loss per day is up to 22 soldiers.
On 28 March, the russians return Hryhoriy Bozhok, a businessman from Snovskkidnapped on 25 March, from captivity. Together with him, three more local residents are returned from captivity. Hryhoriy Bozhok pays the occupiers a hefty amount of money for his freedom. Also, the FSB agentssteal the businessman’s expensive luxury car.
29 March
The battles for Chernihiv continue. Putin’s soldiers carry on killing civilians and shelling residential areas of the city. A group of volunteers carrying cargoes for the military and citizens comes under artillery fire near Chernihiv. The people suffer shell shock and injuries, with both the cargoes and cars being destroyed.
The russians takeAnatolySiry, the headman of the village of Novi Borovychi in the Snovsk community, captive. The man never returns. He is still (at the time of writing the book) considered missing.
AnatolySiry, the man captured by the russians
On 29 March, the russian mass media RIA Novosti publishes the statement of O. Fomin, the Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation,»Following the results of the first day of the Istanbul negotiations, the russian delegation announces two steps to de-escalate the conflict in Ukraine: in the military sphere — a drastic reduction of military activity in the Kyiv and Chernihiv directions«.
However, the active hostilities and shelling continue.
30 March
At night, Chernihiv, the suburbs of Nizhyn and Nizhyn itself suffer powerful artillery and air strikes. The civilian infrastructure is damaged. In Nizhyn, 6 civilians are injured, including 1 child. One person dies. 10 private houses are damaged, 3 are destroyed.
In Chernihiv, there isa series of small arms shootouts. As it turns out later, this was another attempt made by hostile saboteurs to penetrate the city.
As a result of shelling, the building of Korolenko Chernihiv Regional Library is damaged.
Korolenko Chernihiv Regional Library after shelling
At approximately 11am, five buses of civilians and volunteers come under the target fire of the russian military when attempting to drive into the besieged city to evacuate the people.
Together with the volunteers, about 10 other people come under fire. As a result of this terrible terrorist act, one volunteer dies, four other people are injured.
On 30 March, the Ministry of Defence makes a statement, «According to the reports from local residents, in the village of Novi Byky (Chernihiv region), russian soldiers took local children hostage and put them in trucks. The purpose of these actions is to ensure the convoy of military equipment on the march. In addition, the occupiers use children as hostages — as a guarantee that the local population will not give the coordinates of the enemy’s movement to the Ukrainian defenders.» The Ministry of Defence also adds that similar cases were recorded in the Sumy, Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Zaporizhzhia regions.
On this day, the Armed Forces of Ukraine destroythe logistics unit of the russian military in the Chernihiv Region.
On 30 March, the russians shell the building of the Main Post Office in Chernihiv. It is one of the last acts of shelling in Chernihiv before the occupiers leave.
The shelled Main Post Office in Chernihiv
31 March
In the Chernihiv Region, the Ukrainian military liberate two settlements: Sloboda and Lukashivka.
Lukashivka. The first days of occupation.
Lukashivka was under occupation for 21 days.
In the local Church of the Ascension, the orcs set up their headquarters and ammunition depot.
After the liberation of the village from the russian inhumans, the bodies of shot people are found near the church. During the occupation, the russian military were engaged in looting the population, taking food and livestock. In Lukashivka, the invaders shot Ukrainian captives and tortured civilians. Several cases of russians shooting captured Ukrainian soldiers have been recorded.
Also, within the first days of the occupation, the invaders abused a local 17-year-old boy, beating him, cutting his neck with a knife and threatening to behead him.
On 9 March, a russian projectile strikes a house at 33 ZelenaStreet. A family of villagers (Oleh and Svitlana Boyarchenko) dies. Locals note that their grandsons — boys aged 13 and 14 — were also in the house. As a result of the fire, the house burned to the ground. The remains of only two people have been found.
According to locals, in Lukashivka, the russians burned the bodies of killed civilians, military personnel and their fallen soldiers in a crematorium.
A case of high treason is also recorded in Lukashivka. According to local residents, the 18-year-old (according to some other sources, 17-year-old) boy Denys Boyarchenko, on the very first day of the occupation, went over to the enemy: he settled them in his own house, provided all the necessary information about the villagers, surrendered former soldiers, participants of the anti-terrorist operation, surrendered the positions of Ukrainian units stationed on the farms near Lukashivka.
Childrenswinging in the de-occupied Lukashivka
During the liberation of the village, the retreating russian troops are defeated while crossing the Desna. Some of the invaders are still on the run.
The russians release the mayor of Snovsk, Oleksandr Medvedev, from captivity.
According the Operational Command North, about 700 russians are killed and twice as many are wounded in the Novoselivka direction. The Ukrainians destroy more than 30 out of 90 armoured vehicles, 4Grads, 2Uragans, 10 self-propelled guns and tanks. The casualties of the Ukrainian troopsconstitute up to a hundred killed, with about 300-400 wounded and 4imprisoned.
The military personnel (soldiers, officers, paratroopers) who died on the battlefield on the hills in Novoselivka, near Novoselivka, at the ski base, at Yatsevo cemetery and on the way out of Chernihiv (data from the joint project ofAltitude and Texts and the newspaper News):
4 March
1. Andriy Katkov (50, Pereyaslav-Khmelnytsky).
2. Mykola Halytsky (40, Vorozhba, the Sumy Region).
5 March
3. Volodymyr Pipkin (35, Chernihiv).
9 March
4. Yaroslav Shulha (40, Chernihiv).
5. Oleksandr Seriy (53, Birky, the Kozeletsky district)
10 March
6. Taras Tyshevsky (36, Chernihiv).
7. OlehZavhorodny (58, Nedanchichi, the Ripky district).
8. Oleh Kurylenko (23, Snovsk).
11 March
9. Yury Kosmin (37, military, residence unknown).
10. Valentin Matsuta (66, Novoselivka).
13 March
11. Serhiy Borovyk (31, Chernihiv).
12. VolodymyrBolshak (50 років, Chernihiv).
14 March
13. Oleh Prymachenko (47, Chernihiv).
14. Andriy Myhailov (45, military, residence unknown).
15 March
15. IvanKartsan (26, Korosten, the Zhytomyr Region).
16. OleksandrBukyn (34, Chernihiv).
16 March
17. Volodymyr Pileko (54, Uhlova Rudnya, the Ripky district).
18. EduardTyhun (45, Dmytrivka, the Poltava Region).
19. DmytroTatarenko (34, Chernihiv).
20. Volodymyr Andriichenko (37, Chernihiv).
21. ValeryIsachenko (59, Chernihiv).
22. YuryBilyk (53, Novhorod-Siversky).
23. AndriyKrasnotal (39, Novoselivka).
24. MykolaSelivon (49, Novoselivka).
17 March
25. VitalyKravchenko (30, Kyiv).
26. OleksandrKovtun (50, Bakhmach).
27. ViktorDychuk (27, military, residence unknown).
28. OlehLebedev, died at the ski base (52, Oster).
22 March
29. Oleksandr Мироненко (39, the Novhorod-Siversky district, near Yatsevo cemetery).
23 March
30. VasylMykhailov (48, Chernihiv).
31. OleksandrNasinnyk (30, Chernihiv).
32. DenisFedotov, died at the ski base (34, Bobrovytsia).
33. ViktorMelnichenko, died at the ski base (59, Chernihiv).
34. VitalySikan, died at the ski base (46, Kozelets).
35. AndriyKraskovsky (33, Chernihiv).
36. Yury Herasimenko, died at the ski base (51, Kulykivka).
The date of death is unknown
37. RomanHurin (47).
38. Volodymyr Hryhorenko (33, the Mykolaiv Region).
39. YevhenyiMovchan (47, Chernihiv).
40. OleksandrRudenko (46, Poliske, the Kozelets district).
41. YevhenyiTetyanenko (28, Pohoriltsi, the Novhorod-Siversky district).
42. OlehZarichansky (48, Lyubechanyniv,the Kozelets district).
This list includes only those who died during the fighting, whose bodies were found, removed and identified.
In fact, the death tollismuch higher…
Some could not be found and identified, some died in hospital or clinic later.
1 April
A turning point since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.
As a result of the russian shelling of the Chernihiv Regional Centre of Modern Oncology, two healthcare workers suffer shrapnel wounds, with another one receiving a concussion.
On 1 April, 2022, a russian serviceman of the 21st Separate MotorisedRifle Brigade of Military Unit No. 12128 of the Russian Armed Forces shoots dead two residents of the village of Haivoron. The people were kept in a cellar in the Dmitrivska community of the Nizhyn district. One of the killed was a member of the ATO, the other was a local hunter.
After the enemy’s withdrawal, the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine take control of the settlements of Rudnya, Shevchenkove, Bobryk, Stara Basan, Nova Basan, Makiivka, Pohreby, Bazhanivka, Volodymyrivka, Shnyakivka, Salne, Sofiivka, Havrylivka.
The russians leave Horodnia. Before leaving, russia’s occupying troops blow up the crossing and cut off part of the community from Chernihiv. On the outskirts of Horodna, the russians leave their broken equipment.
Hostile military equipment near Horodnya
2-3 April
2 April: the fateful day
The Chernihiv Regionis completely liberated from the occupiers.
2-3 April: final clearing operations
Pavlo Solodovnyk
