Second anniversary of Russian invasion of Ukraine
Today is the second anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
On February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine in an escalation of a conflict that goes back to 2014 with the Russian annexation of Crimea. The total death toll is estimated around half a million, with at least 10,000 civilians killed.
Ukraine’s counter-offensive has faced a roadblock as the Russian military is outrunning the country’s military industry and international assistance has fallen due to internal political disputes. Just recently the US approved a $95 billion dollar aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and other allies.
The second anniversary of the conflict is expected to mitigate US dependency and enhance European leadership. It is expected that European members will strive to reach the 2% NATO GDP spending objective. The Steadfast Defender joint military exercise and NATO Defence Ministerial meeting this past week have shown overall EU support for Ukraine by increasing security cooperation. In the short term, the conflict is expected to continue in the absence of diplomatic talks to broker a ceasefire. The anniversary is also expected to center around the scheduled election for the end of March, which has been questioned due to its viability despite internal pressures given recent leadership changes.
