On television, on newspaper websites, on social networks, the number “1,000” is everywhere in Ukraine today. News channels broadcast reports and clips, mosaics of shocking images that attempt to summarize what the country has been experiencing since February 24, 2022. “A thousand days together. A thousand days of Ukraine”, writes President Zelensky on X. A thousand days of war, and for the Ukrainian media there is no other solution than to continue to hold on.
“Ukrainians always remember those early hours of February 24, 2022 when, after Putin, during the night, proclaimed the so-called 'special military operation', the first bombs and shells began to explode in the country's cities ”, describes the newspaper Focus on his site. “At that time, the head of the Kremlin announced the goals of this war he was inflicting on us – 'demilitarization' and 'denazification', even though Russian propagandists were unable to clearly explain what this consisted of. ”
Defeat of the Russian Blitzkrieg
The operation launched on February 24, 2022 was intended “a replica of the American Operation Desert Storm” against Iraq in 1991. Russian strategy “planned the destruction of Ukrainian command centers using powerful missile and aviation strikes, and the rapid encirclement of Ukrainian forces to threaten kyiv,” recalls the Ukrainian media. But “the Russian Blitzkrieg has failed” et :
“On the thousandth day, the Russian Federation controls less territory in Ukraine than in the first month of large-scale aggression.”
“The great war, adds the Ukrainian version of Radio Freedom, demonstrated the ability of Ukrainians to defend their land, to counterattack, to regain ground, quickly adapting to new realities, living and working under constant missile and bomb strikes.”
But all this has a price, recognizes the site, which reminds us that the war has “15,574 killed and 25,969 injured among the civilian population, although the real figures are undoubtedly much higher. And 15,059 Ukrainian citizens were deported or imprisoned by the Russian occupiers.” Here again, the site specifies, “the real numbers may be much higher.” To this are added “6.7 million refugees worldwide, including 4.2 million in Europe, and 3.5 million displaced people.”
A probable continuation of the fighting
On the occasion of this significant date, commentators are wondering about the future of the conflict, and of the country. Like military expert Oleksandr Moussiienko, who speaks on the information site Glavred. “A thousand days of the 'great' war against Russia: what next?” he asks himself. He is “It is difficult to predict the duration of the war, because many factors come into play.”
“In the months to come, he believes, we must expect continued fighting for the Donetsk region, and in the direction of Zaporizhzhia, where the Russian army is active. Ukrainian forces will hold off the enemy and repel its multiple attacks, and eventually the Russian offensive will stop.” He predicts:
“Next fall, neither the Russian nor the Ukrainian army will be able to carry out large-scale operations.”
In this situation, he concludes, it is necessary to consider a “pessimistic scenario”. “We will then find ourselves for a long time in conditions where there will be neither war nor peace, there will be no intense fighting, but we will not be in a position to negotiate peace […]. And there is always a risk of witnessing a resumption of the great war.”
