An oral history of the war in Ukraine - The Washington Post

An oral history of the war in Ukraine The Washington Post, February 24, 2023

It’s been one year since Russia invaded Ukraine. The war has claimed tens of thousands of lives, displaced millions and left behind untold amounts of damage. Our colleagues, from on the ground and afar, have been tirelessly covering the war since its first days. To recognize its first anniversary, they’ve put together excellent stories about:

The changing landscape of the battlefield. What the war means for Russian president Vladimir Putin’s own political future. What’s been lost for so many Ukrainian families. How the war has spotlighted new, troubling geopolitical divisions.

In place of The Daily 202’s usual Friday politics-but-not feature, we’re going to excerpt this oral history our colleagues assembled, in which world leaders recall their earliest memories of and reactions to Russia’s invasion. This excerpt focuses on the very first hours of the war. We encourage you to read the piece in full.

LEADERS RECALL DISMAY, FURY ON FIRST DAY OF WAR IN UKRAINE

In Ukraine, Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky woke up to the ringing of his cellphone. The country’s border guard chief told him that Russian forces were swarming across the border in the northeast in an apparent drive to reach Kyiv. Monastyrsky called President Volodymyr Zelensky and said, “It has started.”

Volodymyr Zelensky, president of Ukraine: What I understood in that moment, when I was getting dressed, I thought about the rockets flying over my children, over all of our children. This means that there will be a huge number of deaths. It was clear. David Arakhamia, member of the Ukrainian parliament and Zelensky adviser: To be honest, I hadn’t believed in the invasion scenario. … [Zelensky chief of staff Andriy] Yermak calls me sometime after 4 a.m. I was a little out of it at that hour. He just says, ‘It’s started. Get to the office.’ I didn’t even understand what had started … We had earlier come up with a response plan in the event of this. So that was activated and then we were moved down to this shelter. And that’s how I got stuck down there. I probably left that bunker for the first time a month later. Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council: All the necessary decisions were promptly taken. Monastyrsky was the first to be at the president’s office. I was the second to come at 5:11 a.m. It was in a calm mode … I was only surprised by the president’s white dress shirt. Jake Sullivan, President Biden’s national security adviser: Normally in a crisis like this, there are a lot of hours spent just trying to come to grips with a crisis … trying to decide what you’re going to do about it. In this case, it was all done in advance … We actually had developed a written checklist of elements we would work through … the first 24 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours, 96 hours. Mark A. Milley: Here’s what it wasn’t. It wasn’t chaotic. We’re the military, this is what we do when we’re in combat, in crises. We have procedures we follow … We had made decisions in the days and weeks leading up to the invasion … When they actually attacked, those plans went into action. Antony Blinken: I was at home, it must have been something like 10:30 … and my deputy chief of staff, Tom Sullivan, called to say that Russia had launched its initial salvo of missiles … Most of us have everything we need at home to communicate. I have a secure room at home, phone, video links to everyone else … I talked to the national security adviser [Sullivan] at some point … My main conversation was with the secretary of defense and our joint conversation with the NATO secretary general. Lloyd Austin, secretary of defense: Later on, I forget how long it was, Blinken, the chairman, the national security adviser and I are on the phone with the president, giving him a rundown of what’s transpired. Johnson was among the first to speak with Zelensky. Boris Johnson: What Zelensky is really saying to me is that the situation is absolutely appalling. Tanks are swarming toward Kyiv from several directions. He’s talking about the way the Ukrainians are fighting. The bravery they’re showing … His message is, ‘Give me help.’ His message is, ‘Give me the kit now.’ He has a purpose. His purpose is not just to say, ‘Oh, my God, I’m being attacked.’ His purpose is to say, ‘Johnson, we need military help now. Help us organize it.’ Zelensky also spoke with President Biden. During a conversation between Andriy Yermak, head of the office of Ukrainian president, and Sullivan, Yermak asked Sullivan if he could put Zelensky on the line to speak with Biden. Biden described the call during his visit to Kyiv to mark the first anniversary of the war.

President Biden: It was very late at night in Washington. … Russian planes were in the air. … And the world was about to change. I remember it vividly … I asked [Zelensky], ‘What is there, Mr. President? What can I do for you? How can I be of help?’ … [He] said, and I quote, ‘Gather the leaders of the world. Ask them to support Ukraine.’ … That dark night, one year ago, the world was literally … bracing for the fall of Kyiv … perhaps even the end of Ukraine.