Russo-Ukrainian War: One Year

On February 24, 2023, it will have officially been one year since the Russo-Ukrainian War started. Since the first day, there have been over 33,680 deaths, more than 450 of them being children with a further 894 being wounded or injured. The number of refugees has risen to about 7.9 million people across Ukraine. Among the dead are countless Russian soldiers, and yet President Vladimir Putin still shows no signs of backing off of any Ukrainian territory.

Recently, as NATO has been attempting to send aid and/or weaponry to Ukraine, countries like Belarus are on the verge of joining the war to aid Russia. In response, Ukraine has recently gained machinery and weaponry supplies from the nation’s allies such as Australia, Canada, and the United States.

Though his nation has been shown in current events to be struggling more than anticipated in the war, President Putin has shown no sign of losing the war. At the 80th Anniversary of Volgograd, Putin compared the tanks Germany is supplying Ukraine to the tanks the Germans used in World War II, along with comparing today’s Ukraine to Nazi Germany in World War 2. He then stated to his fellow Russians and allies that “We are once again forced to repulse the aggression of the West” in a threat to America not to intervene and to his people not to ignore America and their media. 

In comparison to President Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenzky came to America recently for a joint meeting to speak to the American people about the war and its effects, just as Great Britain’s former Prime Minister Winston Churchill did for World War II nearly 80 years ago. President Zelensky opposed Putin in saying “…just like the brave American soldiers which held their lines and fought back Hitler’s forces during the Christmas of 1944, brave Ukrainian soldiers are doing the same to Putin’s forces this Christmas”. Zelensky also believes that this year will be the true turning point in the war.