Liam Collins and John Spencer
The Battle of Kyiv occurred between February 24 and April 2, 2022, during the Russia-Ukraine War (February 2022–present). Kyiv is Ukraine’s capital and its largest city—with a prewar population of over three million—covering 839 square kilometers (324 square miles). Major urban areas along the capital’s periphery include the small cities of Brovary (population 110,000) to Kyiv’s east, and Irpin (70,000), Bucha (37,000), Hostomel (17,000), and the small village of Moshchun (794) to Kyiv’s northwest.
The Kyiv metropolitan area contains three large airports. Boryspil International Airport is located ten kilometers to the city’s east-southeast. Sikorsky International Airport is located within Kyiv and prior to the closure of Ukraine’s airspace due to the war was primarily used for domestic air travel. Antonov Airport—also called Hostomel Airport—is a former Soviet air base located ten kilometers northwest of the city. It has a 3,500-meter runway, typical of modern air bases, and is capable of handling large cargo planes.
The Dnipro River splits Kyiv into eastern and western sides. The dam at the Kyiv hydroelectric power plant just north of the city turns the river into a massive reservoir that stretches all the way to the Belarusian border. A robust network of natural and man-made waterways around Kyiv supports its agricultural industry. These rivers and the irrigation ditches that run perpendicular and parallel to them create significant obstacles for vehicular movement, especially during the spring rainy season, forcing vehicles to the roads and the bridges that cross the waterways. The Irpin River, just west of Kyiv, presents a significant obstacle to vehicular movement. Although only ten to twenty meters wide in many places, it is extremely difficult to ford but more easily crossed using pontoons.
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