Friday, February 24, 2023 | 3:00 a.m.
The war in Ukraine celebrates one year with a toll of tens of thousands of deaths, millions of refugees and internally displaced persons, destroyed cities and a tense world geopolitical order, and with no end in sight with Russian forces pressing for a new offensive in the east and the Ukrainians confident of repelling it thanks to new military assistance from the West that for the first time includes tanks.
On February 24 of last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation”, the name by which the Kremlin designates a large-scale invasion, under the argument of “demilitarizing and de-Nazifying” the country to help the pro-Russian separatists from the east.
Despite the threat of an “immediate response” for all governments that intervene, the NATO-based powers described the war as “unjustified and unprovoked” and quickly gave their support to the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenski, who assured that the objective of the offensive is to “erase” Ukraine and its history.
In addition to financially and armamentally assisting Kiev, the West advanced in sanctions against Russia (the European Union is about to approve the tenth package), with counter-sanctions also launched from the Russian side that together polarized world geopolitics and deepened the global food and energy crisis. .
In a first stage, the invasion unsuccessfully tried to enter Kiev -the capital- and Kharkov, the second most important city, which led Russia at the end of March to withdraw its operations to Donbas, the region in which the provinces are located. of Donetsk and Lugansk with a pro-Russian majority and in conflict since 2014, the year in which the Kremlin also annexed the Crimean peninsula.
Ukrainian soldiers fire rockets at Russian forces in Bakhmut, in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. Photo: app
From August to November it was the Ukrainian counteroffensive that reconquered much of the ground it had lost, while with the arrival of boreal winter a phase of trench warfare began, also characterized by numerous Russian bombardments of energy infrastructure, key to survive subzero temperatures.
The Russian regrouping after adding soldiers with the call for partial mobilization decreed by Putin and the greater role of the Wagner paramilitary group intensified the fighting in recent weeks, mainly in the battle to take the town of Bakhmut, but the Ukrainian forces hope to be They are the ones who will advance by adding Western artillery and tanks.
No official figures
Just as there is no certainty about what will happen on the front line in the near future, there are also no precise data on the consequences of what has happened so far: the number of casualties is difficult to determine without an official balance, although Norway recently estimated some 180,000 soldiers. Russians dead or wounded and some 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers also dead or wounded.
As for civilians, the UN indicated that there are more than 8,000 dead and 13,300 injured, although it acknowledges that the real numbers are higher.
The war also caused the largest exodus within Europe since World War II, with about eight million people internally displaced and about 5.9 million seeking refuge in other countries, according to UN data.
On the other hand, the Russian occupation of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, raised fears of an atomic catastrophe due to human error or bombing, of which Moscow and Kiev accuse each other.
That nuclear threat resurfaced this week with Putin’s announcement to suspend Russia’s participation in the New Start nuclear disarmament treaty signed with the United States, although both Moscow and US President Joe Biden downplayed the measure as an indication that it was really being dealt with. was considering using an atomic weapon.
For their part, the International Criminal Court and the United Nations are investigating possible war crimes, complaints made mostly against Russia, which include attacks against civilian infrastructure, mass murders of the population, torture, executions, rape of women and use of prohibited weapons.
In this sense, this year of war left behind events such as the siege of the city of Mariupol, the denunciation of mass graves in the town of Bucha, the explosion on the Crimean bridge, a symbol of the Russian annexation of the peninsula, and the bombardment to the Olenivka prison, which housed Ukrainian prisoners, among others.
The peace negotiations have officially broken off since the end of March and now it is China, after attempts by Turkey and offers from the Vatican, which is trying to act as a mediator to re-establish dialogue.
“The Chinese interlocutors communicated to us their reflections on the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis, as well as their proposals for a political solution,” but “no separate ‘plan’ (peace) was discussed,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. .
Putin promised to keep the offensive
Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed to increase military production to maintain the offensive in Ukraine and anticipated the commissioning of his latest model of ICBM, the Sarmat, this year, a system that would have experienced some flaws, according to US sources. ”We pay particular attention, as always, to strengthening the nuclear triad. This year, the first launchers of the Sarmat missile system will be put into service,” said the Russian leader in a video published on the eve of the first anniversary of his invasion of Ukraine and on the occasion of Defenders of the Fatherland Day. On Tuesday, in a highly anticipated annual speech, Putin had announced the commissioning of other nuclear systems without specifying which ones and the suspension of Russia’s participation in the New Smart treaty, the latest bilateral nuclear disarmament agreement with the United States.
The Russian army has suffered heavy losses since the start of the offensive in Ukraine a year ago.
US to impose new sanctions on Russia
