WHEN RUSSIA’S PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, he started a war that has killed tens of thousands of people, ravaged cities and pummelled the country’s economy.
A year on, here is the cost of the conflict:
According to the latest estimates from Norway, 180,000 Russian soldiers and 100,000 Ukrainian troops have been wounded or killed in the conflict.
Other Western sources estimate the war has caused 150,000 casualties on each side.
In comparison, some 15,000 Soviet soldiers were killed in a whole decade of fighting in Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989.
Ukrainian soldiers often use the term “cannon fodder” to describe the Russians sent to their death along the front line.
They are often poorly trained conscripts who stand little chance against Ukrainian forces determined to defend their country.
Others are convicts recruited in Russian jails to swell the ranks of Russian paramilitary group Wagner, who Kyiv and its allies say are deployed on near-impossible missions with the equivalent of a gun pointed to their head.
The onslaught has also taken its toll on the Ukrainian side, as shown by the endless blue and yellow national flags fluttering above cemeteries across the embattled country.
By the time Moscow’s forces seized control of Mariupol in late May after three months of heavy bombardment, the southern port city had been reduced to a sea of rubble strewn with dead bodies.
Kyiv said at least 20,000 Ukrainian civilians had been killed.
In total, some 30,000 to 40,000 civilians have lost their lives nationwide in the conflict, Western sources say.
The United Nations estimates that 21,000 civilians have been killed or wounded in the fighting, but said the real figure was likely much higher.
Ukrainian authorities say at least 400 children have been killed.
The UN said most of the civilians killed lost their lives during Russian bombardment.
Long term, landmines will also be a huge threat to civilians.
Kyiv says 30% of Ukrainian territory has been contaminated, while Human Rights Watch accuses Ukrainian troops of having planted banned anti-personnel landmines in the eastern region of Izyum.
Experts warn demining could take decades.
As of 21 February, over eight million Ukrainian refugees have been recorded across Europe, according to figures from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Of those, 4.8 million have registered for temporary protection or similar national protection schemes across the continent.
UNHCR data shows that Poland has taken in over 1.5 million Ukrainian refugees, the most of any other country in the EU. Germany is second with 881,000 Ukrainian refugees accommodated there, followed by Czech Republic with over 486,000.
Italy has recorded over 169,000 Ukrainian refugees, while Spain has recorded over 161,000. This is followed closely by the UK, with over 158,000 refugees being recorded there, and France, who has recorded over 118,000.
Refugees have also settled outside of Europe. Speaking in December, US President Joe Biden said the US had welcomed over 221,000 refugees from Ukrainian since last March, while over 140,000 Ukrainian nationals entered Canada in 2022.
More than 70,000 Ukrainian refugees have arrived in Ireland since the war began, the majority of whom are being housed in temporary or emergency accommodation, including in hotels, sports halls, former religious buildings and tented accommodation.
Despite the thousands of deaths and millions displaced, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pledged to push for victory in 2023 as he and other Ukrainians marked the sombre first anniversary of the Russian invasion that changed their lives.
Zelenskyy today tweeted that Ukrainians had proven themselves to be “invincible” in what he called “a year of pain, sorrow, faith and unity”.
“We know that 2023 will be the year of our victory!” the tweet said.
In a defiant video address, Zelenskyy recalled the terror unleashed a year ago by the Russian assault, triggering Europe’s biggest and deadliest war since the Second World War.
On February 24, millions of us made a choice. Not a white flag, but the blue and yellow one. Not fleeing, but facing. Resisting & fighting.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 24, 2023
It was a year of pain, sorrow, faith, and unity. And this year, we remained invincible. We know that 2023 will be the year of our victory! pic.twitter.com/oInWvssjOI
He said 24 February 2022, the date of the Russian invasion, was “the longest day of our lives”.
“We survived the first day of the full-scale war. We didn’t know what tomorrow would bring, but we clearly understood that for each tomorrow, you need to fight. And we fought,” he said.
Ukrainians have planned memorials, candle vigils and other remembrances for their tens of thousands of dead.
Tributes to Ukraine’s resilience have also flowed from overseas. The Eiffel Tower in Paris was among monuments illuminated in Ukraine’s colours — yellow and blue.
Zelenskyy said the 24 February 2022 Russian assault had been a moment when “millions of us made a choice”.
Ukrainians chose not the white flag of surrender “but the blue and yellow one. Not fleeing, but facing. Resisting and fighting,” his tweet said.
Includes reporting by Jane Moore, Press Association and © AFP 2023
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