What you need to know as Russia's full-scale war on Ukraine enters its 5th year
#Russia-Ukraine war#Full-scale invasion#War of attrition#Diplomatic efforts#Territorial control#Drone warfare#Humanitarian crisis
📌 Key Takeaways
Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has become Europe's largest land war since WWII
Despite initial expectations of quick victory, the conflict has evolved into a war of attrition
Russia controls just over 19% of Ukrainian territory, down from a peak of 26% in 2022
Diplomatic efforts have failed to resolve key sticking points of territory, reparations, and security guarantees
📖 Full Retelling
KYIV, Ukraine, and MOSCOW — As Russia's full-scale war on Ukraine enters its fifth year on February 24, 2026, the conflict that began with Moscow's expectation of a swift victory has instead become Europe's largest land war since World War II. What the Kremlin calls a 'special military operation' has evolved into a grinding war of attrition with both nations suffering enormous casualties and diplomatic efforts to find a settlement reaching an impasse. Ukraine has managed to hold off a much larger Russian army while adjusting to life under constant siege, while Russia continues to push forward despite significant losses. The battlefield dynamics have shifted dramatically from the early years when large swaths of Ukrainian territory changed hands during offensives and counteroffensives. At its peak in 2022, Russian forces controlled more than 26% of Ukrainian territory, according to the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War. Today, that figure stands at just over 19%, including the Crimean Peninsula and parts of eastern Ukraine seized in 2014. Despite maintaining advantages in manpower and matériel, Russia has gained less than 1.5% of additional Ukrainian territory since 2023, with advances coming at a glacial pace and tremendous cost. Diplomatic efforts, notably those led by the United States under President Donald Trump who claimed during his 2024 campaign that he could end the war in a day, have brought Russian and Ukrainian envoys to the negotiating table without achieving consensus. The main sticking points remain territorial claims, reparations, and security guarantees. As the conflict enters its fifth year, both sides appear entrenched in their positions, with no clear end in sight despite international pressure and ongoing humanitarian concerns.
Attack by one or more unmanned combat aerial vehicles
Drone warfare is a form of warfare that involves the deployment of military robots and unmanned systems. The robots may be remote controlled by a pilot or have varying levels of autonomy during their mission. Types of robots include unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) or weaponized commercial unm...
Large threat to the health and safety of many people
A humanitarian crisis (or sometimes humanitarian disaster) is defined as a singular event or a series of events that are threatening in terms of health, safety or well-being of a community or large group of people. It may be an internal or external conflict and usually occurs throughout a large land...
Attrition warfare is a form of military strategy in which one side attempts to gradually wear down its opponent to the point of collapse by inflicting continuous losses in personnel, materiel, and morale. The term attrition is derived from the Latin word atterere, meaning "to wear down" or "to rub a...
What you need to know as Russia's full-scale war on Ukraine enters its 5th year February 24, 2026 6:00 AM ET By Joanna Kakissis , Charles Maynes A woman with a bouquet of flowers walks past a high-rise residential building heavily damaged by a Russian drone strike in the Shevchenkivskyi district of Kyiv, Ukraine, on May 25, 2025. Vitalii Nosach/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Vitalii Nosach/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images KYIV, Ukraine, and MOSCOW — When the Kremlin launched its all-out invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the assumption in Moscow , and much of the West, was that Russian forces would take the country in a matter of days. Instead, what the Kremlin calls a "special military operation" has become the biggest land war in Europe since World War II and has lasted longer than the Soviet army's fight against Nazi Germany. Russia's war on Ukraine is a grinding war of attrition. Ukraine has managed to hold a much larger army to minimal gains while adjusting to a life under constant siege and grief. Both countries have suffered enormous casualties. Efforts to find a negotiated settlement to the conflict appear largely at an impasse. During his campaign in the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump famously claimed he could end the war in a day once he returned to the White House. A year of U.S. diplomatic efforts have brought Russian and Ukrainian envoys to the table but no closer to a consensus. Sticking points include claims over territory, reparations and security guarantees. With the war now entering its fifth year, here is a snapshot of its key developments and where it may be headed in the future. The battlefield picture Loading... Ukraine invasion — explained With an inconclusive counteroffensive, Ukraine looks toward an anxious winter Dynamic shifts on the battlefield — with large swaths of Ukrainian land changing hands in offensives and counteroffensives in the early years of the war — have since given way to a conf...
