We were saved by God and heroism of ordinary Ukrainian soldiers
Battle of Hostomel, battle of Moschun, battle of Irpin, etc. These battles saved Ukraine two years ago. When time passes and more and more details become available the fights around Kiev in February and March 2022 are analysed in more and more detail. Here are two papers about those days that saved Ukraine. The first one is in Russian by the Russian service of BBC called
Битва за аэродром Гостомель. Ворота в Киев, которые остались закрытыми.
https://www.bbc.com/russian/features-68383830
This paper easier to read and aimed to ordinary audience.
Another is a series of papers in professional magazine The British Army Review:
https://chacr.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/BAR-187-compressed.pdf
More difficult to read but very interesting. In principle, these papers confirm what former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Miley said: this is a miracle. Or as the former commander of the Ukrainian army, Muzhenko said: we were saved by God and the heroism of ordinary Ukrainian soldiers.
“It was difficult to calm down soldiers during the massive air and artillery strikes… sometimes it was hard to explain that we need to keep this position, however hard it was. Mine and my friend’s weight was very important at that time. We had to be an example for our soldiers. I was scared too. But I said to my soldiers that Russians are also flesh and blood… and your families are behind you, the enemy is cruel and has no mercy. I was convincing myself not to leave the position. Nobody left their positions. Neither my guys, nor those from other groups.” - Interview with a Ukrainian who volunteered to join the army on the 24th February 2022 and led a team that held a position on the banks of the Irpin River, the frontline in the defence of northwest Kyiv>