Russian war against Ukraine has already lasted for 188 days – a strike contrast to the initial gloomy expectations expressed by many foreign politicians, military experts and media that Kyiv will quickly fall to the Russian forces and the whole ordeal was bound to be over in several days. Ukrainian military, state and citizens have shown remarkable resilience that resulted in the increasing trust and provision of weapons by the Western partners – which have allowed Ukraine to fight back ever more efficiently.
However, this efficiency has a price that Ukrainian society has been paying every day since February 24th. War may have become normalized and started slipping out of the news cycle in some foreign media, but that does not change the fact that Russian strikes continue as well as violence on the occupied territories.
In 6 months of the full-scale invasion Russian military has attacked more than 22,000 objects of civilian infrastructure, trying to terrorize Ukrainian population into submission. 2400 educational facilities and more than 900 healthcare establishments have been damaged as a result of invasion. Documenting this destruction is an important – and highly dangerous – job that both international and Ukrainian journalists carry out under the most challenging conditions. 32 Ukrainian journalists have been killed since February 24th.
Nevertheless, the world must know the truth about the scale of violence inflicted by the invading Russian army on Ukraine and the genocidal nature of the neocolonial war waged by Moscow. In Mariupol, which has become a monument to human suffering, at least 80,000 civilians were killed and 95% of the city now lie in ruins, while Ukrainian citizens are subjected to degrading and dangerous filtration procedure by the occupying authorities. Russia has established at least 21 filtration facilities and Ukrainians who are suspected of being “nationalist” – and it is enough to reject the idea of Russian occupation to be identified as such – are often subjected to torture and enforced disappearances.
6 months of resistance is a long time. Ukraine In Flames #173 unpacks the key numbers and trends of the 188 days since the start of the Russian invasion to remind that the war is still here.
Speaker:
- Tetyana Ogarkova, head of International outreach at Ukraine Media Center
UKRAINE IN FLAMES project is created by Ukraine Crisis Media Center and NGO “Euroatlantic Course”. We are aiming at searching a loud support for Ukraine in the war started by Russia on the 24th of February 2022.
If you want to support Ukraine against Russian aggression, check the link with recommendations by Ukraine Crisis Media Center – https://uacrisis.org/en/help-ukraine.
NGO Euroatlantic Course collects donations to support Ukrainian Army and civilians – https://eac.org.ua/en/main-page/.
