Russia’s war on Ukraine grinds into second year as Putin gambles on the long game
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia’s war on Ukraine has entered its second year, with a universal realization that the world is witnessing a long, protracted conflict, the deadliest in Europe since World War II, in which Moscow and Kyiv are hoping against long odds for a decisive breakthrough in 2023.
“This has become a grinding war of attrition,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said at a recent meeting of member countries’ defense ministers.
And wars of attrition tend to end badly, with overwhelmingly deadly tolls.
A year on, tens of thousands of Ukrainians and Russian soldiers are dead. The United Nations has counted nearly 10,000 Ukrainian civilian fatalities, acknowledging that the toll is higher but cannot be tallied amid the chaos.
Millions of Ukrainians are displaced from their homes; thousands of children have been reportedly kidnapped and spirited to Russian territory; scores of villages and cities lie in full or partial ruin; and global impacts include soaring prices for oil and food products that normally come from the region.
Prospects for a diplomatic resolution remain low while more fighting is on the horizon. Both sides are gearing for a spring offensive, with Russians desperate for a major victory on the battlefield after numerous setbacks and Ukrainians determined to take back more captured territory, predominantly in the south and east.
Most military analysts predict that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attempt again to conquer Kyiv, the capital, after failing spectacularly
