208. Russia-Ukraine war enters its fifth year
Right now, more than a million Ukrainians are without electricity, heating, or water during this cold winter, with temperatures dropping to -20C.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has now entered its fifth year and has already surpassed the duration of the entire Eastern Front in World War II.
In February 2022, when he launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Putin called it a special military operation to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine, and said Russia had no plans to occupy the country.
But the special military operation has escalated into a full-blown war, leading to a refugee crisis and hundreds of thousands of deaths.
The invasion was widely condemned, with many nations imposing sanctions on Russia and providing humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine.
This is Europe’s largest war since World War II. It has also transformed the global economy, with Moscow experiencing unprecedented sanctions.
This war is estimated to have caused roughly two million military casualties in all.
In January 2026, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimated that Russia had suffered 1.2 million casualties, including at least 325,000 deaths, from the start of the full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022, through December 2025.
In the same month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that 55,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in the conflict. However, CSIS estimates suggest Ukraine's total casualties may be as high as 600,000, with up to 140,000 deaths.
The open-source project Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT) reported that in addition to military and civilian casualties, Ukraine has lost about a quarter of its pre-war population, which totaled 42 million. Around 5.9 million Ukrainians have left the country, with 5.4 million of them going to Europe.
The UN Human Rights Office reported serious human rights violations by Russia in occupied Ukraine. The ICC also launched an investigation into war crimes and issued arrest warrants for Putin and multiple Russian officials.
But the most shocking news is that thousands of Ukrainian children were abducted from occupied territories to be raised in Russia and re-educated as Russians.
Currently, Russia continues to demand that Ukraine withdraw its military forces from Kramatorsk, Sloviansk, and other areas of Donetsk. The latest proposal seems to call for creating a demilitarized zone, though Russia prefers to control patrols within it. At present, Russia controls roughly one-fifth of Ukrainian territory
When Trump and Zelenskyy openly argued in the Oval Office, it appeared the US would end support for Ukraine entirely. The US is still selling arms to Ukraine and supplying intelligence.
Diplomacy has grown alongside the escalation, as in August 2025, President Donald Trump engaged in high-stakes talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska to advance negotiations.
The latest U.S. involvement with both sides occurred during trilateral negotiations in Abu Dhabi and, in Geneva.
The global community must come forward with the right solution.
From my perspective, Ukraine requires more than symbolic gestures from the international community; it needs credible security guarantees alongside robust offensive and defensive capabilities.
Ukraine has experienced a gradual defeat from the outset; however, its people are truly warriors.
Although Ukraine’s population may be exhausted, there is still no desire to yield to Russian dominance.
My professor friend, based in Kyiv, calls it the capital of freedom, and she is indeed right. I commend her bravery every day.
To me, it feels almost personal. I hope the war ends quickly so I can visit friends and invite them to India for a long-awaited gathering.