The United Nations has strongly condemned the conflict in Ukraine which has marked 500 days and cast more than 9,000 civilians, including 500 children since Russia launched its so-called special military operation against Ukraine on February 24, 2022. According to the UN’s Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU), the actual toll is likely to be far higher than the number of officially confirmed deaths. Russia regularly bombards Ukraine with air attacks, including indiscriminate artillery and missile fire that has been especially deadly for civilians. Russia has also attacked civilian infrastructure and supply lines, depriving civilians of power and water.
The war in Ukraine has marked another grim milestone by reaching the 500th day of Moscow’s invasion against Kyiv which continues to exert a horrific toll on Ukraine’s civilians, government infrastructure as well as the global economy, and overall human life in most parts of the world. The Russians’ indiscriminate use of power including air and drone attacks, missile strikes and artillery shelling has turned the highrise building, and civilians’ infrastructure into rubble, while reports and images of Ukrainian cities shocked the world and prompted allegations of war crimes and genocide. The population centers and industrial complexes portray scenes of ruins, while the electricity and communication networks have completely collapsed in a majority of the cities in Eastern Ukraine. Currently, Millions of Ukrainians are displaced from their homes and most of them living in their country have no access to food, water, electricity, healthcare, and other necessities of life.
The year-long unpaused war has exhausted both countries and fear of a nuclear disaster becoming most imminent with every passing movement, as both belligerent nations had accused each other of planning to attack/ sabotage the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is one of the world’s largest atomic power plants located near Zaporizhzhia, Ukrainian but occupied by the Russian forces since early days of the war. Historically, no dialogue window had ever been opened by the warring nations to give a chance for peace and diplomacy, however, both sides look to improve their grip over the war and for that purpose, Russians have increased the frequency and lethality of their attacks while Ukraine and its allies are preparing to launch a fresh counteroffensive to recapture the Kiyv’s landmass from Russian control. An attempted mutiny by the Russian mercenary Chief exposed the cracks in the Russian line of defense and the rift between the top Russian military Commanders and Moscow’s most lethal arm the Wagner group, which prompted Western allies to avail the opportunity to their advantage. Amid such war scenarios and geopolitical dynamics in Eastern Europe, the Biden administration announced sending cluster munitions to Kyiv to support Ukraine’s war efforts against Moscow.
Interestingly, Putin’s so-called Special Military operation could not denazify Kiyv but caused the worst economic effect on Russian and Ukrainian economics over the past 500 days. Russia bombed Ukraine’s civil, military, and industrial infrastructure to destroy its enemy and blocked Kyiv grain exports by imposing a blockade of Ukrainian seaports in the Blacksea. According to the reports, Ukraine’s economy shrunk by 29.1% in 2022, while poverty has sharply increased from 5.5% to 24.2% during this time, which pushed 7.1 million Ukrainians below the poverty line. On the other hand, western allies slapped a heavy economic and monetary cost on Kremlin by leveling economic sanctions and other punitive measures against Russian businesses, government entities, and individuals. According to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Russian military expenditures had been increased many times, and its economy has narrowed by over 2% because of the freezing of billions of dollars in assets in Western banks, trade embargos, decrease in exports, and economic sanctions by the United States and allies. This negative trend in both competing economies is most likely to continue in the coming months as no pause is seemingly visible in the conflict in Ukraine.
In fact, the Ukraine war has taught several lessons to the world nations, particularly the hegemons who have most proud of their power and often coerce their neighbors on one or other pretext. To those who interfere in the domestic affairs of other nations in the garb of human rights and democracy and those who illegally occupied weak societies by force and coercion. That poking nose in other nations does not give favorable results all the time, while this habit sometimes costs your self-respect and autonomy as happened in the distasteful US withdrawal from Afghanistan and Russia’s recurrent setbacks in the war in Ukraine. Although the war has brought unprecedented suffering and misery to the people of Ukraine, their sacrifices would not go in vain. Putin’s fall has begun with the recent revolt by the Russian mercenary group and surely this internal discontentment, and frustration will lead to the cessation of Putin’s long-held rule in Russia. As nature has a proven rule, there is a downfall after a rise and no one has an exception from it. Therefore, belligerent nations must restrict their hegemonism, and respect others’ sovereignty if they need peace and prosperity for their people and the region.
