Devastation and frozen frontlines: Ukraine marks four years of Russia’s war

Ukrainians marked four years of Russia's full-scale invasion on February 24, 2026, as citizens like 71-year-old retired welder Hennady Kolesnik expressed their determination to resist capitulation to Moscow despite the devastating war that has consumed eastern Ukraine and frozen frontlines since February 2022. In the early days of the conflict, Kolesnik and many Ukrainians feared Kyiv would fall and that Russia would occupy the third of their nation equivalent in size to France on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River, with Russian troops including elite units occupying the northern regions around the capital and supporters claiming it would be seized 'within three days.' Months later, Ukrainians celebrated when Russian forces withdrew from around Kyiv and were ousted from northern Ukraine, though Kolesnik himself suffered through pneumonia during power outages and heating disruptions caused by Russian drones and missiles that plunged temperatures to as low as -23°C (-9.4°F). The conflict has evolved into a stalemate reminiscent of World War I, with the front line 'frozen' as Russian troops advance at a glacial pace despite staggering losses. According to Ukrainian officials and Western analysts, Russian forces occupied less than 5,000 square kilometers (1,930 sq miles) last year—approximately 0.8 percent of Ukraine's total area—while maintaining control of about 19 percent of Ukrainian territory. As Nikolay Mitrokhin of Germany's Bremen University explained, Russia lacks sufficient forces or new technologies for a decisive advance but continues to 'squander thousands of [its soldiers'] lives' in the process. This month, Russian forces faced significant communication setbacks when Elon Musk's SpaceX company disabled smuggled Starlink satellite internet terminals used by Russian soldiers, while Moscow's efforts to block the Telegram messaging app further disrupted coordination. Ukrainian forces capitalized on these vulnerabilities, regaining about 200 sq km (77 sq miles) in the eastern Zaporizhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions, though pressure intensifies in other areas as Russian drones with optic fiber immune to jamming approach heavily-fortified towns in the southeastern Donetsk region. Despite the hardships—including depression, anxiety, and chronic stress—Ukrainians maintain remarkable resilience, with a Kyiv International Sociology Institute survey revealing that 88 percent believe Russian strikes aim to force capitulation, while two-thirds insist Ukraine's armed forces should fight 'as long as it takes.' Only one in five polled Ukrainians expects the war to end this year, but two in three remain confident Ukraine will be a 'thriving' EU member within a decade. However, psychological challenges persist, with brain fog and cynicism on the rise, potentially undermining the moral virtues—altruism, patriotism, responsibility to future generations—that have fueled Ukrainian resistance. International efforts to end the conflict have also faltered, with US President Donald Trump failing to deliver on his pre-election pledge to end the war 'in 24 hours,' while Russian figures continue to frame the invasion as a response to protect Russian-speaking Ukrainians, with Moscow-based analyst Sergey Markov claiming the war began in 2014 with pro-Russian protests in Crimea.