On February 24, 2022, Russia launched an attack on Ukraine, following weeks of military build-up along the border of its neighbour. The military flare-up between Russia and Ukraine dates back to 2014, when the former annexed Crimea. On February 22, 2023, the U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned Russia’s actions in front of a 193-member UN General Assembly, which resumed the Emergency Special Session on Ukraine on Wednesday.
Now, a year into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we look at some key aspects and statistics of the war that has had a devastating effect on the lives of many.
Russia’s hold on Ukrainian territories
The map below shows the Ukrainian territories taken by Russia along with areas which were later reclaimed by Ukraine, as of February 20, 2023. Heavy fighting continued in Hrianykivka, Kreminna, and Bakhmut, along with other areas. The updates for the day (February 20) are marked from 1 to 6 in blue and are detailed at the bottom of the graphic.
Timeline
Right from the Russia’s forces surrounding Kyiv in February 2022, where they met heavy resistance from the Ukrainians, up until what could indicate a new Russian offensive after February 24, 2023, the graphic below is a timeline of key events, of the past year.
Military Losses & Casualties
The ongoing conflict has been brutal and shows no signs of stopping any time soon. As of February 21, 2023, deaths of Russian and Ukrainian military personnel amounted to 1,80,000 and 1,00,000, respectively. As of October 23, 2022, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) had reported that there were 16,150 civilian casualties in Ukraine, since February 24, 2022. The graphic below shows the scale of military losses of both countries as of February 21, 2023.
The graphic below also showcases the civilian casualties in Ukraine, as of February 15, 2023. Since the conflict began, over 8000 civilians have lost their lives. The number of casualties are likely to be higher since there is delay in receiving information and updating the count, as per OHCHR.
Refugees
As a result of the war, nearly one-third of the population of Ukraine remains forcibly displaced from their homes, making it one of the largest displacement crises in the world today, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Some key indicators on the scale of displacement are:
- Around 5.4 million people are internally displaced across Ukraine, according to the ‘Ukraine — Internal Displacement Report — General Population Survey Round 12 (16 - 23 January 2023)‘ conducted by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), UN Migration. “This represents a decrease compared to 5.9 million as of 5 December 2022. The estimated number of IDPs in Ukraine has been steadily declining since August 2022 (Round 8)“, the report states, where IDPs are an acronym for ‘Internally Displaced Persons’. 83% of current IDPs have been displaced for three months or longer.
- Over 8 million (8,087,952) refugees from Ukraine were recorded across Europe and beyond, out of whom over 4.8 million (4,863,513) have registered for temporary protection or similar national protection schemes, according to UNHCR’s report titled “Lives on Hold: Intentions and Perspectives of Refugees from Ukraine #3” and UNHCR’s Operational Data Portal on the Ukraine Refugee Situation.
- Additionally, there have been 18,843,973 border crossings from Ukraine (since 24 February 2022), according to UNHCR. But UNHCR specifies that this figure ‘reflects cross-border movements (and not individuals). An additional 105,000 people moved to the Russian Federation from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions between 18 and 23 February’..
The graphic below shows the number of refugees under UNHCR’s mandate over the years. By July 2022, UNHCR had recorded over 5.4 million refugees already.
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Foreign Aid to Ukraine
Between January 24, 2022 and January 15, 2023, several countries provided military, humanitarian, and financial aid to Ukraine in different capacities. The U.S. provided €73.17 billion of aid to Ukraine, €44.34 billion of which, was military aid. The E.U. (Commission and Council) provided almost €30 billion, most of which was financial. Germany, Canada, U.K., and Poland provided considerable aid as well, as shown in the graphic below, which also shows the amount of aid provided by other countries as well.
Sanctions
The U.S. became the first country to sanction Russia with asset freezes, ban on banks and individuals, and then deeper financial sanctions. These came over the existing sanctions that the U.S. and EU had placed on Russia in 2014 following Crimea’s annexation. Other countries followed with their own sanctions.
These measures were wide-ranging, meant to isolate and cripple Russia’s economy. Four major Russian banks and around a dozen others could no longer be used by other countries for transactions. Asset freezes against Putin, Lavrov, members of the Russian parliament or Duma and the government were initiated. The sanctions made travel hard, too. Russian planes were banned access to western airports and EU airspace.
Suspending State-owned Russian media Russia Today and Sputnik, a U.S. ban on all oil and energy imports from Russia, the EU and Germany abandoning the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project and major U.S. companies distancing themselves from Russia are some measures.
Altogether, Russia became the world’s most sanctioned country, surpassing Iran, Syria, North Korea and others with more than 5,300 sanctions against it.
The graphic below maps where the sanctions come from and where they do not.
India abstains in six resolutions against the war
The 193-member United Nations General Assembly met six times to pass resolutions condemning Russia. India has consistently abstained in all the resolutions. India’s stand has been for peace, diplomacy and dialogue. It has not sanctioned Russia either. At the same time, it has stressed on the need to respect the U.N. Charter, international law and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states.
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Published - February 24, 2023 11:22 am IST