Fighting spread across Ukraine's regions on 25 February 2022
A retrospective on the second day of the Russian invasion, from Sumy and Chernihiv to the Black Sea coast near Odesa.
What was happening in Ukraine's regions on 25 February 2022, the second day of the Russian invasion? Reports from that day pointed to fighting in the north and east, strikes on shipping near Odesa and a Ukrainian missile attack on a base inside Russia.
North and east
On 24 February, Russian troops entered Sumy and took control of the road leading from Kyiv to Moscow, while battles were under way for strategic cities on the railway to Sumy. By 25 February, Russian forces were reported to have retreated from Sumy. Later accounts described the fighting there differently: Ukrainian paratroopers were ordered to withdraw from the city on the evening of 24 February, leaving its defence to local volunteers, and Russian forces then shifted to encircling and bypassing it, according to the background to these events.
Near Chernihiv, a captain and a corporal from the Russian 11th Guards Air Assault Brigade surrendered to the Armed Forces of Ukraine on 25 February.
Strike inside Russia
On the same day, Ukrainian officials said OTR-21 Tochka missiles had hit the Millerovo air base in Russia's Rostov oblast, destroying two Russian Air Force warplanes. Images appeared to show the base on fire.
The Black Sea coast
On 25 February, Moldova's naval agency said a Moldovan-flagged chemical tanker had been hit by a missile near the Port of Odesa, seriously injuring two crew members. It was unclear who had launched the missile. A day earlier, Turkey's Directorate General of Coastal Safety had reported that a Turkish-owned vessel was bombed off the coast of Odesa, with no casualties reported.
The background
The fighting followed the events of 24 February. Ukraine confirmed that Russian Ground Forces had entered Luhansk, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, Chernihiv and Zhytomyr Oblasts and had crossed the border from occupied Crimea. Russian troops also attacked Odesa and Mariupol in amphibious landings. Missiles struck cities and airfields, and eighteen people were killed in Odesa. A missile also hit the Ministry of Defence intelligence headquarters in Kyiv. Russia announced that it had taken control of the North Crimean Canal in Kherson Oblast and restored the water supply to Crimea.
On 23 February, the Verkhovna Rada had introduced a state of emergency across Ukraine, except for the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, citing the threat of attack by Russia. Ukraine had also urged all its citizens to leave Russia immediately.
