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500 Days
How the War in Ukraine Changed the Lives of Millions
On a cold February morning, 500 days ago, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It was Thursday, the day after Defender of the Fatherland Day, a very popular holiday among Putin’s nostalgic Soviet supporters. The date was deeply symbolic given its significance for Putin’s military. Being in Moscow at that time, I had serious fears that the invasion would begin on February 23. I was 24 hours wrong. Putin chose a blitzkrieg strategy, a lightning strike using elite forces. No one in Russia (or in the world) was preparing for a long war.
Kremlin leaders cherished hope for a quick “special military operation” but 16 and a half months later the fighting is still raging with no immediate end in sight. Kyiv didn’t surrender in three days (it didn’t happen in thirty days and even in three hundred). Volodymir Zelensky didn’t flee the capital. None of the Ukrainians greeted Putin’s troops with flowers; the strength of their resistance shocked the world.
Ukrainian society consolidated in the face of aggression and the global world demonstrated an unprecedented level of support for Ukraine.
Many Western nations, initially reluctant to provide Kyiv with heavy weapons, have since reversed course and are stepping up deliveries of equipment ranging from heavy tanks to…