It began before dawn, on February 24, 2022 when Russian forces crossed Ukraine’s borders from north, east, and south in the largest land invasion Europe had witnessed since 1945.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation" to "demilitarise and denazify" Ukraine, claiming Russia had no plans to occupy the country.
Kremlin had expected a swift collapse.
Instead, it triggered a prolonged war of attrition that drags onto its fourth year today -- reshaping alliances, economies, warfare and the architecture of global order.
February-April 2022: Shock and defiance
Russia launched a multi-front assault aimed at decapitating Ukraine’s leadership and capturing Kyiv within days.
Columns of tanks rolled toward the capital.
Airstrikes targeted airfields, infrastructure, and military depots.
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The opening phase resembled classic manoeuvre warfare.
Russian doctrine anticipated speed and psychological shock. But Ukraine’s resistance, bolstered by anti-tank missiles and real-time Western intelligence, shattered those assumptions, according to the Associated Press.
According to global media including the Associated Press, Ukraine retained sovereignty and prevented Russia from achieving its central objective of overthrowing its government.
The pivotal moment came in late March 2022 when Russia was forced to withdrew from northern Ukraine, abandoning its attempt to capture Kyiv.
Ukraine survived as an independent state. Russia’s aura of military invincibility suffered its first major fracture.
April 2022-early 2023: War of annihilation in the east
Having failed to seize Kyiv, Russia pivoted eastward. The war became a brutal contest for industrial Donbas.
Cities such as Mariupol, Severodonetsk, and Lysychansk were reduced to rubble.
Russia employed artillery saturation tactics reminiscent of 20th-century wars.
By winter 2022-2023, Russia launched a renewed offensive to capture Donetsk Oblast.
It achieved limited territorial gains but suffered heavy losses and failed to break Ukraine’s defensive lines decisively.
Meanwhile, Russia escalated attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, attempting to freeze the population into submission.
Electricity grids were repeatedly targeted, crippling daily life and industry.
Neither side could achieve decisive breakthrough. Civilian suffering intensified.
Mid-2023: Counteroffensive and illusion of momentum
Ukraine launched major counteroffensives in Kharkiv and Kherson regions. Ukrainian forces liberated significant territory and forced Russia to retreat west of the Dnipro River.
This marked Ukraine’s strategic high point.
Western media described the counteroffensive as proof that Russia could be beaten militarily.
Arms deliveries from the West surged. NATO support deepened. Russia, meanwhile, mobilised hundreds of thousands of troops.
Despite early success, Ukraine could not deliver a decisive knockout blow.
Momentum shifted but did not resolve the war. Attrition remained the defining reality.
Late 2023-2024: Stalemate and grinding attrition
By late 2023, the war hardened into trench warfare stretching over 1,000 kilometres.
Battles such as Vuhledar illustrated the brutal cost of even minor gains.
Ukrainian officials described it as among the war’s largest tank engagements, with heavy losses on both sides.
Russia adapted. It fortified defensive lines, expanded drone warfare, and intensified artillery use.
New offensives, including operations targeting strategic cities like Pokrovsk, gradually yielded incremental territorial gains for Russian forces.
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A cat walks on debris in a church damaged by Russian military strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in the frontline town of Kostiantynivka in Donetsk region, Ukraine October 13, 2025. PHOTO: REUTERS
Meanwhile, fighting in eastern cities such as Chasiv Yar became prolonged urban battles, with Russian forces capturing much of the city after sustained fighting.
The war settled into a brutal equilibrium.
Gains were measured in metres, losses in thousands of lives.
2024-2026: War of drones and exhaustion
Modern warfare evolved dramatically.
Drones, precision missiles, and electronic warfare reshaped battlefield tactics.
According to the Financial Times, Russia continued mobilising tens of thousands of troops monthly even amid heavy casualties, signalling its commitment to a prolonged war.
Casualties reached staggering levels. British estimates cited by the Associated Press suggested over 1.25 million Russian personnel affected by casualties or injuries.
Russia intensified attacks on infrastructure, causing widespread civilian disruption and higher casualty rates.
The war increasingly resembled industrial warfare of exhaustion rather than manoeuvre warfare.
Victory became less about territory and more about endurance, economics, and political will.
Global consequences of a continental war
This war resurrected Cold War dynamics.
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A monument dubbed "To the Defenders of the Fatherland" featuring a serviceman standing in front of the letters Z and V - tactical insignias of Russian troops fighting in Ukraine, sits on the "Avenue of Glory" at a massive burial site of Russian soldiers in the rural Volga region of Kostroma, some 300 kms from the Russian capital of Moscow, on October 20, 2025. Photo: AFP
NATO expanded, rearmed, and regained strategic relevance. European defence spending surged to levels unseen in decades.
The conflict became the defining security crisis of modern Europe.
Ukraine’s economy collapsed initially, shrinking dramatically under war conditions.
According to Reuters, Ukraine’s GDP fell sharply, reconstruction costs rose to $588 billion, and millions were displaced.
Ukraine’s agricultural collapse triggered global shortages, affecting food security in many countries.
The war destabilised global economic equilibrium.
Global consequences include energy price shocks, inflation spikes worldwide and food supply disruptions
The war displaced over 10 million Ukrainians, internally and externally, according to Reuters.
Entire cities were erased. Generations were uprooted.
Refugee flows and demographic decline reshaped both Ukraine and Russia.
This war ended the illusion that large-scale conventional war in Europe was obsolete. It marked the definitive end of the post-1991 peace era.
A war without resolution
Four years on, neither side has achieved decisive victory. Ukraine remains independent. Russia retains occupied territory.
Since taking office in January 2025, US President Donald Trump has actively pushed to fulfil his campaign promise to end the war in Ukraine, though the conflict remains ongoing as of late February 2026.
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Rescuers operating on a destroyed private house following Russian strike in Zhytomyr Region, amid Russian invasion in Ukraine. Photo: AFP/Ukrainian State Emergency Service Press
While he initially claimed he could settle the war in "24 hours", he later characterised that specific time-frame as "an exaggeration" or "sarcastic", reports AP.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the conflict as entering “the beginning of the end”, though no clear resolution exists, according to Financial Times.
The war continues not as a campaign, but as a condition. It proved that wars in the 21st century are not swift.
