Russia’s offensive on Ukraine has now dragged on for months since their invasion on February 24, 2022. Yet for the past eleven weeks, the invading army has failed to install military dominance in Ukraine, and have lacked a strategic position in the invasion. Ukraine has also managed to fight back due to Western military aid and backing.

The country’s president, Vladimir Putin, has stated numerous times that Russia’s attack on Ukraine was to “denazify” and “demilitarize”, as well as to retake areas that were supposedly part of the Russian Federation. This includes the annexed Crimea.

However, recent footage and interviews with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, have shown that the Kremlin did not prepare the Russian army for an actual war against Ukraine’s armed militia and army.

Since the start of the invasion, Russia has failed to capture the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv, as well as control Kharkiv, the second-city in Ukraine. 

They have also retreated or have been pushed back from Chernobyl, Chernihiv, Konotop and Sumy. Instead, Russia has focused on capturing the port city of Mariupol, which then connects the annexed Crimea to mainland Russia.

This Friday past, the last of the Azovstal steel resistance soldiers surrendered, ending the three month siege. It was confirmed that 2,439 Ukrainian fighters have been taken as prisoners of war (Wall Street Journal 2022). It is unknown yet if any others survive (Wall Street Journal 2022).

The British Defence Ministry said “Russia has also increased its operations in the Donbas, as well as in the capturing of Severodonetsk.” (Timsit et al., 2022). A regional official stated that “Severodonetsk remains under Ukrainian control but is being pummeled by nearby Russian forces” (Timsit et al., 2022).

Adding to the new offensive in Eastern Ukraine, the Russian army has shelled the Kharkiv, Mykolayiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions according to local authorities (The Wall Street Journal 2022). According to the Luhansk governor, Mr. Serhiy Haidai, “The city is being destroyed. Yesterday, there were fights on the outskirts of the city. Our guys are holding on, but [Russian President Vladimir] Putin set a goal for his army to capture the Luhansk region, no matter what cost” (Lovett 2022).

Even in the midst of the situation, it still appears that Ukraine is still holding out  and will be able to push out the Russian army with more resistance expected coming from the European Union and America.