After more than 1,400 days of fighting, the war in Ukraine has shattered the perception of Russian military supremacy. Despite being Europe’s largest military spender and receiving support from China, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela, Russia has failed to secure a decisive victory.
Since the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Russia has spent an estimated $540 billion on the war, while Western support for Ukraine totals around $380 billion. Yet Russian advances have remained limited, extending only tens of kilometers from its eastern and southern borders, and Moscow has been unable to fully seize the Donbas region, which it annexed in 2014.
Historical comparisons with World War II, in which the Soviet Red Army pushed Nazi forces hundreds of kilometers west, often overlook Ukraine’s role as a core source of manpower and industry. Analysts say that modern Ukrainian forces, drawing on their own military traditions, have effectively resisted Russia despite being outmatched in numbers and equipment.
The conflict has increasingly shifted toward occupation and terror tactics by Russia. Recent attacks, including the Oreshnik hypersonic missile near western Ukraine, have targeted civilian infrastructure, leaving over 6,000 homes in Kyiv without heating, electricity, or water. Experts say Russia’s failures are rooted not in a lack of resources but in strategic miscalculations and underestimating Ukrainian resolve, with advanced Russian weapons often neutralized by Ukraine’s unmanned aerial systems.
Western aid has been decisive, but Ukraine’s defense success relies heavily on national mobilization, innovation, and strategic partnerships. Analysts warn that abandoning Ukraine now could allow Moscow to consolidate its influence over occupied regions and threaten broader European stability.
The war underscores the importance of understanding Ukraine’s agency, correcting historical misconceptions, and recognizing the limits of Russian military power in the 21st century.
