2 Years After Russia’s Invasion, Ukraine Is Still Standing Strong — but the Fight Isn’t Over
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is preparing his military for a third year in battle, saying, "We must continue to be resilient, we must continue to be determined"
It was Feb. 24, 2022, when Russian forces launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine, a move that marked the first major land conflict in Europe in decades and drew swift condemnation around the world.
The invasion, ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, has drawn increasingly severe economic sanctions against Russia. Despite them, Putin has persisted.
Related: Moving Photos from the First Year of the Ukraine War, as Russia Continues Its Attacks
At a virtual address at the U.S. Capitol shortly after the invasion began, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy showed a video that spliced together images of pre-war Ukraine with footage of the country after. Large, colorful buildings were reduced to rubble, and images of smiling children replaced by tears, blood and bombs as the words "this is a murder" appeared on the screen.
Two years later the war rages on — and remains a hot-button issue in international politics, both because of the human toll and because Ukraine needs additional support to keep defending its territory.
Related: War Crimes Investigation Opened into Russia as Kindergarten, Orphanage Reportedly Fall Under Attack
CNN, citing the Kiel Institute’s Ukraine Support Tracker, reports that the EU and its regional allies have spent more than $100 billion funding Ukraine’s defense effort so far.
Still, with Ukraine continuing to arm itself amid the invasion (and having recently suffered a crushing defeat in the region of Avdiivka), more outside aid is needed, and Ukrainian leaders have expressed frustration at the apparent lack of urgency.
Oleksiy Danilov, head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, told local news outlet Ukrainska Pravda, “We fight and will continue to fight. We have only one request to our partners: to help with weapons, with ammunition, and with air defense.”
Related: These U.S. Plastic Surgeons Reconstructed the Faces of the Wounded in Ukraine: Exclusive Photo Essay
Denmark heeded the call this month, as Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen pledged to provide her nation's "entire artillery" arsenal to Ukraine — and called out other countries who have blamed production issues for not being able to provide the level of military equipment Ukraine needs.
"Sorry to say, friends, but there is still military equipment in stock in Europe," Frederiksen said at the Munich Security Conference. "We have weapons, we have ammunition, we have air defense systems that we don’t have to use ourselves at the moment — that must be handed over to Ukraine."
On Instagram, she pledged that Denmark would stand with Ukraine "for as long as it takes."
In the U.S., though, funding Ukraine has become unexpectedly divisive, with a bill to support Ukraine passing the Democratic-controlled Senate but still awaiting approval by the Republican-controlled House.
KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who suspiciously died in an Arctic penal colony in February, holds an unauthorized anti-Putin rally ahead of the longtime president's 2018 inaugurationGlobal tensions with Putin are further compounded by recent events in Russia, such as the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny this month at the age of 47. Navalny, a longtime critic and political opponent of Putin, was serving a 19-year sentence on extremism charges that many viewed as politically motivated.
According to a Russian prison service, Navalny died after taking a walk around an Arctic penal colony where he was being held, though many are skeptical about the circumstances surrounding his sudden death, including the U.S. government.
Shortly after Navalny's death, President Joe Biden called it "more proof of Putin's brutality," saying in a speech, "Make no mistake, Putin is responsible."
Later, Biden told reporters he felt Republicans were making "a big mistake" by holding up funding to Ukraine.
"Look, the way they're walking away from the threat of Russia, the way they're walking away from NATO, the way they're walking away from leaving our obligations, it's just shocking ... I've never seen anything like this," Biden said, per ABC News.
The death toll in the war has been difficult to track, but the varying estimates are staggering.
In August, U.S. officials said that the total number of Ukrainian and Russian troops killed or wounded since the war began was nearing 500,000, the New York Times reported. According to the nonprofit group Save the Children, an average of 42 civilians have been killed or injured daily in the two years of war.
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"We are doing everything possible and impossible to defeat the Russian evil and protect as many Ukrainian lives as possible," Zelenskyy reminded his forces on Monday. "We must continue to be resilient, we must continue to be determined."
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