According to Reuters, since the start of the war, Ukraine’s population has decline by a quarter, with 6 million citizens seeking refuge abroad and thousands more civilians having been killed.
Military casualties have also been immense, with estimates suggesting hundreds of thousands wounded or killed on both sides. Despite Ukraine’s early successes in reclaiming territory, the war has since devolved into grinding trench warfare, with Russia holding roughly one-fifth of Ukrainian territory and making incremental gains over the past year.
Attention is now turning to the incoming Trump administration, which has pledged to end the war swiftly, though without specifying how.
Negotiations remain elusive as the two sides have differing demands. Ukraine wants a full Russian withdrawal from occupied territories and security guarantees comparable to NATO membership. Russia on the other hand demands that Kyiv must abandon its NATO ambitions and withdraw entirely from provinces Moscow claims to have annexed.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy shared a video reflecting on key moments in the war, including his call for calm as the invasion began: “Don’t panic, we’re strong, we’re ready for everything, we’ll defeat [them] all.”
1000 days together
1000 days of Ukraine
🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/o3FMIdEKZi— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) November 19, 2024
As winter approaches, both sides are intensifying their efforts to improve battlefield positions before potential negotiations. Russia has bolstered its forces with Iranian drones, North Korean artillery, and even 11,000 North Korean troops. Kyiv claims that some North Korean soldiers have clashed with Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk region, a small portion of which Ukraine seized in August as a potential bargaining chip.
Meanwhile, Russia launched its largest aerial assault since August, targeting Ukraine’s power infrastructure with 120 missiles and 90 drones, exacerbating the country’s energy crisis.
In the days ahead of Tuesday, U.S. President Joe Biden approved the use of American missiles to strike deeper inside Russia. While this could restrict Moscow’s ability to launch attacks and supply its forces, military experts caution it alone is unlikely to decisively alter the 33-month conflict.
