Update on the War in Ukraine

Samuel Parigela

As we approach the three-year mark of the war in Ukraine, it’s important to stay informed on the conflict. Despite not making the front page of the news recently, the conflict continues to profoundly impact the lives of millions of civilians in Eastern Europe.

Around the middle of 2023, Ukraine launched a counteroffensive in response to Russia’s initial invasion in February 2022. Although a number of Ukrainian villages were recaptured, the counteroffensive was generally regarded as unsuccessful, resulting in a stalemate. The frontline remained mostly unchanged by the end of 2023. However, 2024 brought change to the war, with Russia launching renewed offensive action in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine, leading to Russian territorial gains and advancement. Additionally, Ukraine launched their own offensive a few months later, which achieved some success as well. 

In the latter part of 2024, Russian forces intensified their advancement through the eastern portion of Ukraine, capturing cities, despite suffering heavy losses of their own. While Russia may have made gains that put them in a favorable spot in 2024, the situation was still a deadlock by New Year’s, with no significant progress made by either side. 2025 has seen similar developments—momentum seems to be behind Russia, whose troops have continued marching through Ukraine, conducting drone and air-strikes. But Ukrainian troops have also been capturing Russian villages and striking military installments. 

While there is no clear winner of the war so far, there has been an interesting development in the past few months. It was discovered that North Korea has been sending troops to fight on Russia’s behalf in Ukraine, something that U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke about in October. However, in early January, it was reported that over 300 North Koreans had been killed in the war, with another 2,700 injured. The effects of another country participating on the ground in this conflict—something that could potentially spark other countries to send troops on Ukraine’s behalf—are yet to be seen. 

The war has previously been characterized as a war of attrition, and that notion has held true over the past few months, with artillery barrages, drone strikes and trench warfare being extensively used on the battlefield. If the war were to continue like this without any successful negotiation, the outcome would likely depend on sheer manpower and resources. Whichever country starts running out of said resources first would be at an extreme disadvantage-–which is why Ukraine and Russia are seeking aid from their respective allies, in the form of money, equipment and troops. In this scenario, both nations would suffer great losses, and would be faced with the prospect of substantial destruction and casualties for both nations. But hopefully, it doesn’t continue down that path.