War in Ukraine, Two Years Later

Wavering U.S. support leaves Ukraine undergunned in its conflict with Russia.

By , and
394

Happy Friday! The European Commission announced plans Thursday to cut red tape on agricultural subsidies, and China reached an agreement with the San Diego Zoo to send two pandas back to the States. Does TMD get results or what?

Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories

  • Israel’s war cabinet agreed on Thursday to send Israeli representatives to hostage negotiations expected to be held in Paris today, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opted against sending negotiators to a meeting in Cairo earlier this month. The decision came as U.S. officials have been pushing Israel to participate in the talks. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told White House Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk on Thursday that the delegation would have a wider mandate for the talks, but the Israeli Defense Forces “will continue to expand its ground operation in Gaza.” 
  • Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, the chair of the House select committee on the Chinese Communist Party, led a bipartisan congressional delegation with four colleagues on the committee to Taiwan on Thursday. The group met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in Taipei and President-elect Lai Ching-te, who is currently vice president. “The United States, Democrats and Republicans, stands with Taiwan, for your freedom and for ours,” Gallagher said at a press conference. “For as Taiwan goes, so goes the world.” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning reiterated yesterday China’s opposition to “official interaction between the U.S. and Taiwan authorities.”
  • The White House announced Thursday that new sanctions on Iran will be imposed “in the coming days” in response to existing Iranian support for Russia’s war in Ukraine. White House national security spokesman John Kirby referenced Iran’s reported move to send ballistic missiles to Russia, saying that, although the U.S. has “not seen any confirmation” the missiles have been transferred, “we have no reason to believe they will not follow through.” If the missiles are sent, Kirby said, the U.S. will impose additional sanctions. Also on Thursday, President Joe Biden met with Alexei Navalny’s widow and daughter in California, promising additional sanctions on Russia to be announced today. 
  • Tens of thousands of AT&T customers experienced cell phone outages beginning early Thursday morning and lasting into the afternoon. The company did not disclose what brought service down, but the Federal Communications Commission and other federal agencies are investigating. “AT&T has no reason to think this was a cybersecurity incident,” Kirby told reporters. 
  • The lunar lander Odysseus, built by Intuitive Machines of Houston, successfully landed on the moon Thursday night, the first time a U.S. craft has touched down on the moon’s surface in more than 50 years. “I know this was a nail-biter, but we are on the surface and we are transmitting,” said company CEO Steve Altemus, referencing a rough landing sequence that required an additional orbit. “Welcome to the moon.” Odysseus’ journey marks the first time a commercial craft has landed on the moon in U.S. history.

A Grim Anniversary

Two Ukrainian soldiers stand in a trench at the zero line south of the Russian-occupied city of Bakhmut. The top of the hill behind them marks the beginning of no man’s land. (Photo via Bennett Murray)

Most Ukrainians went to sleep the night of February 23, 2022, unaware that, by morning, their lives would be forever changed.

They awoke the following morning to the sound of Russian bombs hitting their cities—the beginning of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Two years on, Russia’s war has decimated much of the eastern part of the country, flattening once-vibrant cities, tearing families apart, and displacing millions of people. But the conflict hasn’t just permanently altered the lives of Ukrainians or changed the topography of their country: It’s affected the global geopolitical landscape as well, in ways that may endure past the war’s eventual end. 

There’s no doubt that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has exacted a staggering human toll. More than 6 million of Ukraine’s pre-war population of about 43 million people have fled the country, according to U.N. reports. Another 3 million are internally displaced. More than 10,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed and roughly 20,000 more injured—with the first full month of the war, March 2022, accounting for more than 7,000 deaths or injuries. Among those March casualties were at least 458 civilians murdered in Bucha, a town outside Kyiv. Meticulous investigations of this massacre suggest a particular unit of Russian soldiers likely committed war crimes.

This content is available exclusively to Dispatch members
Try a membership for full access to every newsletter and all of The Dispatch. Support quality, fact-based journalism.
Start Your Free Trial
Already a paid member? Sign In
394
By , and
Comments (394)
Join The Dispatch to participate in the comments.
 
  1. Trichwages

    LUK: I do. I was terrified for Ukraine but they ended up holding their own. It would be a tragedy to have that all be for nothing because the US drops the ball.

    Collapse
  2. Trichwages

    “The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which has tracked Russian troop movements since the first day of the full-scale invasion, suggested on Thursday that Russia could be “conducting a cohesive multi-axis offensive operation” for perhaps the first time in a year and a half.”

    Hmmm. I wonder why that is? (sarcasm)

    Collapse
  3. Hartzlk

    LUK: I remember that the invasion wasn't a surprise because of the warnings that the US had been providing.
    There was a "something's coming" moment a few days prior to the invasion when Russian media all started reporting at the same time about a gas pipeline explosion in Luhansk.
    There were a few little guy victory stories. Locals were removing road signs to confuse the invaders. At the time, I thought the best Ukraine would be able to do was small scale, thumb-in-the-eye resistance stuff.
    Nobody thought there could be a war because Ukraine was just in the wrong weight class to wage one against Russia.

    Last thought is brought to you by Seinfeld: https://youtu.be/fzLtF_PxbYw?feature=shared
    Putin thought Ukraine was a game. His cute little takeover plan was completely destroyed.

    Collapse
  4. Avatar photo
    ReneFerrerJr

    LUK: I remember what I did the day the Russians invaded. I asked my wife if I could volunteer in the Ukraine's war effort. She said yes. I went online and found out from the Ukrainian Embassy in D.C. they were looking for experienced military personnel first and foremost, then they were looking at age and criminal record. I do not have a criminal record, but I was 59 at the time. I understood.

    My family came to the US as Cuban Refugees. I wanted to volunteer because I saw this war as Ukraine's Fourth of July moment. I wanted to somehow pay it forward that the US took my family in and gave us refuge from communism--USSR communism.

    Collapse
    1. Avatar photo
      2sequoia

      I’m proud to call you a fellow American.

      Collapse
  5. Kbg

    LUK: I do and was completely surprised that Ukraine was able to hold. I thought Russia would steam roll Ukraine no problem in a month or two. Then, I actually understood the initial hesitation by the US and Europe as pushing a bunch of equipment there just to have it captured would look and be very Vietnam/Afghanistanish. However, once it became clear Ukraine could fight and hold its own I've been nothing but disappointed in the administration and MAGA legislators.

    All I can say is aren't we as a country fortunate that the French in the 1770-80s were not as spineless as we've become as Americans in the 2020s? The French did not support us out of the goodness of their hearts. They did it as a way to weaken an enemy which ended up spectacularly well for us and them. Putin's Russia and the CCP's China are not our friends. If you can't figure that out, you chose not to.

    Collapse
  6. Richardzuelch

    Ah, you fixed it. "Chinese Community Party" just sounded a tad too friendly!

    Collapse
  7. Avatar photo
    Ed Graham

    TMD Editors: Eastern Front, not Flank. NATO has Northern & Southern Flanks (sides) the threat was the USSR & is now Russia which means East is the Front. I know various Western "leaders" say eastern flank to not provoke Russia but I think the past two years & the two decades before that, show how ill advised appeasement is.

    LUK, 11 days after it started I was in Budapest augmenting my organization's crisis management team helping evac our many of our staff from Ukraine. Our Moldovan staff turned their national office into temp housing and (so I heard) the Moldovans told the Ukrainians, ~"Don't stop in Moldova, keep moving, we're next."
    I pushed to have our European crisis management teams craft response plans in the event Russia invades other countries. I'd hoped for more aid faster. We Americans are a people with a very short memory / attention span. We barely kept our eye on the ball for the duration of WWII. I was pleasantly amazed that we stayed in Afghanistan as long as we did. We should have opened the flood gates of used equipment we're not going to use (old Bradley's, M113s, etc) and immediately ramped up 155mm ammo production, etc. Too little, too slow.
    Sorry, end rant.

    Collapse
  8. Avatar photo
    Show Jay Janney the 🚪!

    Am reading at Reuters that the German government voted more aid to Ukraine but refused to send them any Taurus cruise missiles. Olaf Schulz fears doing so will escalate the conflict.

    That's a blow to the Ukrainian defenses, as it could limit Russian damage.

    Collapse
  9. Phillyex1

    Want you to know I sent this newsletter to my congressman this morning to ask him how they can possibly drag their feet on more aid to Ukraine. Good work.

    Collapse
  10. Incognito

    LUK: I remember the day and thinking just how poorly equipped the US was to help them. Not because we didn't have the capacity to but because we are so divided that I was skeptical we'd sustain the effort.

    Collapse
Load More