It has been about one year since Russia started its attack on Ukraine on February 24th, 2022. The invasion tested Ukraine’s allegiance to freedom and democracy, and the US did not hesitate to show its support for Ukraine by sending countless weapons to Ukraine. Tetra Tech, a company of engineering services has partnered with the US government to teach the government of Ukraine to help demine, provide equipment and help teach professionals. Ukraine’s struggle against Russia has been funded by the European Union’s money and the United States’s military.

Russia’s attack on Ukraine was premeditated and with the intent of taking over its democracy and taking control of its government. It began after the Revolution of Dignity in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea, which set off a chain of events that sparked a regional war. In March 2021, Russia began setting up 190,000 soldiers around Ukraine’s borders, and government officials in Russia denied their plan on attacking Ukraine up until a few days before their first attack. On February 21st, 2022, Russia formally recognized two breakaway quasi-states in the Donbas and invaded the next day. Russia began its invasion of Ukraine when Putin announced a ‘special military operation’ and talked of ‘demilitarization’. The attack on Ukraine challenged its right to statehood and made a false claim that Ukraine was being run by neo-nazis.

How many casualties have occurred because of the Russian-Ukraine war? According to the New York Times, it is estimated that the number is quickly approaching 200,000s in Ukraine. The amount of casualties on the Russian front is hard to discern however since Moscow is notorious for undercounting their dead and wounded. Many Russian analysts concur that the loss of life is not very likely to deter Putin’s designs on Ukraine. According to US officials, Putin and Russia could sustain hundreds of thousands of casualties but much more than a few could cause Putin to lose some of his political support. Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, has also been reluctant to release official statements with specific numbers, but due to the knowledge that hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers are getting injured or killed each day on the battlefront, it is easier to discern a rough estimate of the losses.

The war in Ukraine has “led to deliberate radical interruptions of trade linkage between Russia, Ukraine, and many industrialized economies…”. The war was a timely reminder that Europe and Russia are not world powers. According to cfr.org “I think we can also say that while fear of Russia has risen because of Putin’s aggression, respect for Russia has declined.” The continued conflict though, is causing extreme civilian harm and has left millions of people with no access to food or fresh/clean water. Rescue.org reviews all the ripple effects a war has on a community and details how important funding would be to ensure that the effects of the war are diminished as much as possible. 

Overall, it is not clear whether or not the war between Russia and Ukraine will be over in 2023, but it is clear that millions of people will continue to suffer, both citizens and soldiers, as long as the war continues.