Battle of Okhtyrka

Overview

On 24 February 2022, as part of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian military crossed the Russia–Ukraine and Belarus–Ukraine borders into northern Ukraine, entering the oblasts (regions) of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, and Zhytomyr. The Russian operations in northern Ukraine were initially launched as an attempt to capture Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine and the seat of the Ukrainian government.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Russian advance into northern Ukraine on 24 February 2022 represented the opening thrust of the full-scale invasion, with forces crossing from both Russia and Belarus into the oblasts of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, and Zhytomyr. The stated operational objective was the capture of Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital and seat of government. With Russia committing approximately 70,000 troops against a Ukrainian force of roughly 20,000 in the northern axis, the operation sought a rapid decapitation of Ukrainian state authority. Failure to achieve that objective would prove consequential for the entire campaign, as Ukrainian resistance in the north ultimately forced a Russian withdrawal from the Kyiv axis and shifted the war's center of gravity to the south and east.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (2)