The war in Eastern Ukraine continues to escalate throughout the third year since Russia’s President Vladimir Putin ordered its full-scale invasion in February 2022 after years of diplomatic tensions. The hostilities in the eastern regions started in 2014, and many civilians have been forced to relocate to Western Ukraine or European countries.
In 2023 and 2024, Russian forces frequently targeted critical civilian infrastructures, leaving Ukrainian citizens without electricity, water and heating on the brink of collapse. Civilian gatherings have also been targeted by Russian forces, often employing ballistic missiles, such as the RIA restaurant in Kramatorsk in June, Druzhba Hotel in Pokrovsk in August, and a cafe in Hroza in the Kharkiv region, where 59 people were killed during a reburial vigil in October 2023.
The United Nations estimated that nearly four million people are internally displaced, and a further six and a half million have left the country; at least ten thousand civilians have been killed since February 2022; it is believed that civilian casualties are significantly higher since officials have been unable to visit areas where hostilities are still occurring.
In 2024, Russian forces made slow but steady advances through Ukraine’s Donetsk region, helped by the employment of new weapons systems such as gliding bombs and fibre optic drones. In the meantime, Ukrainian troops went on the offensive in Russia’s Kursk region, which represented the most significant breach of Russian borders since World War II. However, it was widely criticised by Ukrainian commanders defending Ukraine’s territories – its army has faced a shortage of human resources and deployed aggressive tactics through the military recruitment policy, which resulted in many people hiding in their houses to avoid being drafted and sent to the infantry with only a few weeks of training.
The relentless bombardments continue to leave behind a trail of destruction, crippling Ukraine’s infrastructure, economy, and way of life, leaving every Ukrainian affected by the ongoing conflict.
