Where do we stand?
The Russian-led invasion of Ukraine shook the world, on the dawn of the 24th of February 2022. It was described as the second-biggest attack on a European country ever since World War II. It was estimated to have caused around ten to ten thousand Ukrainian civilian casualties and more than hundreds of thousands, of military casualties. Almost instantaneously, the entire world – A Multitude of countries began to take sides. Political scientists, journalists, and conspiracy theorists all over the world began to prepare careful calculations on different countries’ behalf, fearing that this war would herald the start of World War III. Having said that, stepping into 2024, now it has been more than two years since the event began. Hence, this article intends to analyze the impact on Russia and Ukraine itself, and how the war impacted their geopolitical ties with the world.
First of all, the war between the two countries is still ongoing. The current active war-like state in Ukraine is still going on and is likely to continue into the current year, the country has faced a back-and-forth of continuous attacks from Russia ever since 2022. Last year, the Chief of the Ukrainian armed forces penned an assessment for an economist who suggested the war is moving towards a stalemate. The most recent update is Russia’s most powerful and terrifying aerial attack on Ukraine on 29th December 2023. By launching around 122 missiles and 36 drones against Ukrainian targets, which caused the deaths of around 30 civilians and injured more than 140 people.
Maximum damage was caused in the capital city of Kyiv, the central city of Dnipro, the western city of Lviv, and the southern eastern port of Kharkiv. There have been continuous attacks and counterattacks from Russia and Ukraine ever since Russia’s forced invasion. President Putin states that he is not going to stop until Russia achieves its goals. He states that peace in Ukraine will only be possible after the “demilitarisation, denazification and neutral status of Ukraine”. Hence, as for the military attacks faced by both countries, it is unlikely to end for a longer period. The events have been unfolding since 2022.
The war also led to immediate geopolitical tension, felt internationally. The world was instantly divided into three categories: First, those who sided with Ukraine. Second, those who sided with Russia, and third, those who completely resigned from taking sides or raised their hands.
Several states of the European Union instantly stood against Russia and by either taking actions against it or sanctioning it, the bloc stood strongly together against Russia. Essentially, the UK was keen on stressing the significance of their special relation with Kyiv, specifically their former Prime Minister, Boris Johnson to lead the movement with powerful and rhetorical military support. This movement was a direct promotion of post-Brexit “Global Britain” credentials.
As for Russian allies, Putin instantly called in support from the former allies: Syria’s Bashar Al Assad and Belarus’s Aliaksandr Lukashenka, along with these two entered a closer and a more strategic alliance with Iran.
A week following the invasion, the UN General Assembly’s resolution which condemned Russia’s aggression was passed by an overwhelming majority. Although, there were 35 absentations. In Asia, the region’s rising superpowers, India, Indonesia, and China remained neutral and refused to take sides for the same.
As for foreign aid, Europe and the US managed to provide Ukraine with around a hundred leopards, two main battle tanks, fighting vehicles, and more than thousands of rounds of artillery ammunition. While in the US, more than 60 billion dollars, worth of military aid was stalled by the Senate of Republicans. Another huge financial support worth 53 billion dollars was provided by the European Union which was likely banned by Hungary’s Pro-Russian government. Other countries like China and the US have continued to back Ukraine and aid commitments have been modest compared to contributions from earlier.
For instance, the 250 million USD aid that Joe Biden plans to provide.
To conclude, the global hype and discussion regarding the war has seen a cooldown ever since it first broke out in 2022. However, a lot of the geopolitical ties that arose regarding the same continue and are on the same note. As for Ukraine, it appears that the death toll will continue to rise, especially following Putin’s recent announcement and likeliness to win the 2024 presidential campaign for Russia. Hence, the most damage will be inflicted on Ukraine before the country will be at peace again. Even the world has moved on and the initial stress of the issue has cooled down, in addition to this, no country seems to be willing to speak about Russia as it has now been declared as an isolated country.
Written by – Aditi Singh
Edited by – Mrunmayee Patwardhan