In a surprise attack, Ukraine invaded Russian territory early August of 2024, a first since the war began in 2022.
The switch in tactics came as a surprise to everyone, including the United States (U.S.), Ukrainian military has generally attacked Russian troops inside of Ukraine using various methods, but had never been on the offensive.
While the purpose of the invasion, according to Ukrainian President Vlodymyr Zelensky, was to put pressure on Russia, some have speculated that it was intended to boost the morale of the Ukrainian soldiers and to embarrass Russian President Vladimir Putin. Ukraine has made it clear that they do not wish to annex areas of Russia and instead, they want to leverage its position to bring peace faster. Zelensky said that Russia must be “forced into peace if Putin wants to continue waging war so badly.”
Two weeks after the initial invasion, Ukraine gained an estimated 390 square miles of Russian territory and captured 93 villages. The regions of Kursk and Belgorod declared an emergency and 200,000 Russian citizens were evacuated from the area. Experts say that it is unlikely that Ukraine will continue its path into Russia, though it is possible.
The Russian President was furious at the attack, calling it a “large-scale provocation” and vowed during a meeting with top security and government officials that he would “kick the enemy out.”
Prior to the invasion, Russia had been slowly creeping towards strategic eastern towns and roads, forcing Ukraine to be on the defensive. While Russian progress has been slow, it has put more pressure on Ukrainian troops.
The Russian-Ukraine war has been going on for about two and a half years now and its casualties have already amounted to a significant number. There have been hundreds of thousands of military casualties and tens of thousands of Ukranian civilian ones. Russia’s troops have an estimated 300,000 casualties.
This conflict is the largest Europe has seen since World War Two, yet there is no end in sight for now as Russia’s troops scramble to ward off the invasion.
