A Year of War in Ukraine: Effects, Support, Resistance – We recommend these stories

Today is the first anniversary of the war in Ukraine. On February 24, 2022 at 4:50 a.m. local time in Kiev, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the citizens in a televised address and announced that he had decided on a special “military operation” in the Donbass. Less than an hour later, the first Russian soldiers crossed the Ukraine near Kharkiv.

More than eight million people have fled Ukraine, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR). According to various intelligence services, between 40,000 and 60,000 Russian soldiers and around 100,000 to 15,000 people have been killed in Ukraine. However, there is no evidence for this.

On the first anniversary of the war we want to give you an overview. About what is happening in Ukraine right now, what the military and humanitarian situation is like and how Ukrainians and Russians are doing.

The Effects of War

Our reporter Can Merey is currently in Ukraine for the second time since the beginning of the war. In the last few days he has been in the capital Kiev researching how the people there experienced the beginning of the invasion and are now living with the war. A symbol of the people’s steadfastness is the 14th school in Kiev. Although some teachers have left the country and classmates have lost their lives, the story continues here.

Among others, Merey met Marina Pitschkur, who lost her son immediately after the beginning of the war.

But not only in Kiev, February 24, 2022 has far-reaching effects worldwide. “It will be a date that many people will never forget. They will forever remember where they were, what they thought and felt when they woke up to the morning news in another world,” writes Kristina Dunz, deputy head of the Berlin Capital Office.

Military orientation, rapprochement between states, the fight against climate change and world hunger, the feeling of security of many people – all this is thrown overboard from one day to the next. Only a few days after the beginning of the war, Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke of a “turning point in time”. Dunz explains to you what the beginning and progression of the war means for the front lines and the world order.

Exactly this world order now stands more than ever on a shaky foundation. Last week, China brought up a peace initiative that President Xi Jinping intends to present this Friday. However, this is not considered particularly credible. And yet there are high hopes that China could have a decisive influence on Russia.

In her editorial, Dunz also looks at the question of how peace can be achieved. One thing is already clear: “The road to peace in Ukraine will be rocky.”

In the past few days, we’ve also taken a closer look at warfare. For example, editor Sven Christian Schulz analyzed with historian and guard commander Markus Reisner from the Austrian army to what extent there are parallels to the First World War. The expert can draw some comparisons – and explains why Russia chooses tactics like 100 years ago.

The protective help from the west

A key factor in Ukraine’s steadfastness is aid from the West. The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj tirelessly asks for support almost every day – especially with regard to arms deliveries. Military experts are certain: Without the military, economic and financial help from the West, Ukraine would have lost a long time ago.

But which country supported Ukraine the most? And how does Germany fare in comparison? Sven Christian Schulz evaluated the data from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW) and provides answers to these questions.

Day by day we keep you up to date on all important events in our Ukraine live blog. On January 25, 2022 we started this blog. At the time, we reported the following: “Tensions in the Ukraine conflict have continued to escalate over the past few days. With a massive Russian troop buildup near Ukraine, there are fears in the West that the Kremlin may be planning an invasion of neighboring country.”

Since then we have sent several hundred push notifications. You can follow the events of the day here.

life far from home

In addition to military events, we also keep looking at the people and their fates. Just over a million Ukrainians fled to Germany. The video editors Nils Weinert and Maximilian Arnhold met some of them six months ago, and now they have visited Liudmila, Egor and Oksana again.

In this video, which is well worth seeing, they tell how their life has changed in the last year and what plans they have now. Your stories are encouraging.

With our network, we are represented in many regions in Germany, where many people from the Ukraine have also arrived. In a joint project we have collected twelve stories from ten people.

This includes Vitalii Netrunenko. The ballet dancer from Kiev was woken up by explosions at 5:45 a.m. on the morning of February 24, 2022. Today he lives in Kiel. Refugees from the occupied Donbass region now live in his apartment in Kiev.

And we would also like to recommend these stories to you. We spoke to people who are there for Ukrainians in these difficult times.

There is resistance here

The Russian regime critic Alexei Navalny has probably been known to the general public since August 2020 at the latest. There he was the victim of a poison attack by Putin. Today he is in a penal camp, there are repeated reports that he is in poor health. With Navalny, Vladimir Murza and Yevgeny Roismann, the most well-known Kremlin critics are either in prison or condemned to silence. Editor Harald Stutte has taken a detailed look at the opposition.

Numerous demonstrations took place in Germany around the anniversary of the war. But in addition to supporters of Ukraine, right-wing extremists also want to take to the streets. The largest rally is likely to be organized by Alice Schwarzer and Sahra Wagenknecht in Berlin. At the beginning of February they published their highly controversial “Manifesto for Peace”, in which they warned of an escalation of the Ukraine war – and which is also supported by AfD politicians. The RND Berlin correspondents Felix Huesmann and Jan Sternberg give an overview of who is demonstrating where and when.

In any case, the left-wing politician Wagenknecht has been criticized for her demands for a ceasefire. Shortly before the start of the war, she said on Anne Will’s talk show that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was being “talked about.” Harald Stutte has extensively analyzed what lies behind her rhetoric and why she has a certain trust in Putin’s reliability.

Last but not least, we would like to draw your attention to some interviews that are worth reading.

On rnd.de you will find many other topics related to the war – and of course beyond that.

RND/ch