War in Ukraine: A Year That Defied Expectations

In the year since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the war has taken unexpected turns, with both countries now entrenched in heavy fighting in Ukraine’s east and south, with no easy end in sight.

At the star of the war, Ukraine defied many Western intelligence assessments that predicted a quick Russian victory. Ukrainian forces held off an assault on its capital, Kyiv, and forced Russia to change its focus to the eastern part of the country.

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Now the two sides are mired in battle in parts of the east and south, with Ukraine’s Western allies pouring billions of dollars into military aid — including sophisticated weaponry — to support Kyiv, while Russia has been amassing its own resources and troops to the front lines.

A year into the war, there are signs that the fighting could drag on for much longer. Russia has not wavered from its goal to capture eastern Ukraine, while Kyiv has rejected any settlement that would allow its territories captured during the war to remain under Russian occupation.

This retrospective shows how the situation has unfolded over the past year.