Vladimir Putin unleashed a new war in Europe on February 24 2022. At the time, the Russian President brazenly claimed he had been left with “no other option to protect Russia and our people” but to launch an illegal, full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Citing a request for help from the internationally unrecognised republics in Donbas and fears over what he called a “NATO expansion to the east”, Putin claimed the war did “not come out of a desire to infringe on the interests of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people”.
In the months that followed, Russian troops would kill at least 10,000 Ukrainian civilians – including more than 560 children – and injure more than 18,500 members of the public in the war-torn country, according to data released by the United Nations in November last year.
Between February 2022 and November 2023, Ukraine likely lost more than 25,000 soldiers, according to the Ukrainian Book of Memory project.
Russia is also believed to have sustained heavy military losses, with the Ukrainian Armed Forces claiming more than 400,000 Russian troops have died over the past two years. Neither Ukraine nor Russia release data on their war casualties.
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Ukraine has heavily relied on Western military support to fight against Russia. Over the months, it has received billions in aid, including long-range weapons, and is set to get F-16 fighter jets later this year.
The UK also hosted on its soil the training of more than 30,000 Ukrainians, prepared for war during gruesome training coordinated by Western allies.
In recent months, however, Kyiv has seen military aid drying up, with the US Congress barring the delivery of billions worth of support. In the EU, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban prevented for several weeks a £42bn aid package from being approved.
US President Joe Biden blamed the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the frontline city of Avdiivka earlier this week on the inaction of Congress.
Despite the huge losses, Russia can instead count on the help of both allies – North Korea and Iran, which have in past months delivered Russia ammunition and drones respectively – and its Soviet-era armaments.
A report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) published earlier this month noted that Russia has lost more tanks on the Ukrainian battlefield than those it had when it launched the invasion.
However, the think tank added: “Despite losing hundreds of armoured vehicles and artillery pieces per month on average, Russia has been able to keep its active inventory numbers stable.”
Russia can sustain the war against Ukraine “for another two or three years, maybe even longer”, as it is ready to roll out older systems – some dating back to the 1950s.
Yet, despite the issues being experienced by Ukraine, the country continues to have the unwavering support of its Western partners, particularly the UK, which have also tried to hit the Kremlin by issuing several rounds of economic sanctions.
