Death, destruction, weapons and war crimes: shocking figures from the year of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine

In the second half of 2021, Ukraine alerted the world that Vladimir Putin was planning a full-scale invasion. Despite the fact that Russian troops have started to mobilize near the border, Moscow has denied these allegations. Complaints that have been taken seriously by some countries, but not so much by others. Eventually, on February 24, 2022, the head of the Kremlin gives the order to invade Ukraine.

Putin aspired to launch a short and effective invasion. At that time, the difference between the military power of Russia and that of Ukraine was abysmal. In addition to being the second largest military power in the world, Moscow far exceeded the Ukrainian forces both in number of troops and in quantity and quality of armament. This made the former KGB agent foresee that his incursion into the neighboring country would only last a few weeks – maybe a few months -.

But his calculations failed him. The Russian president did not take into account the enormous fighting spirit that would emerge in the Ukrainian army – and civilians. Nor did he imagine the overwhelming military, financial and humanitarian aid kyiv would receive from the international community.

This Friday, February 24 marks one year since the start of the war. During these 12 months of war, Putin has failed to achieve his goals and faces more and more obstacles in his attempt to overthrow President Volodimir Zelensky and install a government in his place. Russian satellite.

The brutal Russian invasion left only thousands of dead, millions of refugees and displaced persons, and destruction.

According to the UN Human Rights Office, Since the beginning of the war, 7,110 civilians have been killed in Ukraine and 11,547 others have been injured. However, the true number of victims is said to be “considerably higher”.

Similarly, the exodus of Ukrainians has been the fastest and largest from Europe since World War II. According to data updated by the UNHCR up to January 31, 18,136,866 people left Ukrainian territory. That is more than 44.2% of the population -estimated at nearly 41 million in 2021-. The main countries receiving refugees are Poland (9,329,169); Hungary (2,151,419); Romania (1,903,853); Slovakia (1,127,957); Moldova (755,368) and Belarus (16,705).

About 3 million went to Russia. However, many of them, according to Ukraine, were sent against their will by the invading troops. Kyiv further argues that more than 14,000 Ukrainian children were forced to be adopted in Russia.

The number of internally displaced persons, meanwhile, stands at around 5.3 million.

On February 1, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Andrei Kostininformed that the regional authorities have registered more than 65,000 war crimes committed by Russian troops. However, this figure is estimated to be much higher.

Rape, torture, hospital bombings, child abductions and the risk of nuclear catastrophe are some of the many war crimes committed by Putin’s forces in Ukraine.

Last December, the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) reported that between February 24 and October 21, it had documented 86 cases of sexual violence, most committed by armed forces. Russian crimes, including rape, gang rape, enforced nudity and enforced nudity. in public in various parts of the country and in a Russian prison. Women, including the elderly, and girls constituted the majority of reported victims.

For its part, the World Health Organization (WHO) has reported more than 700 attacks on health facilities, personnel and transport vehicles, in which more than 200 people were killed and injured. Up to November 29 last year, the Ministry of Health reported that “144 medical infrastructure objects” had been destroyed and another 1,013 damaged.

Putin’s troops have also damaged and destroyed educational institutions. According to a situation report from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science indicated that more than 300 educational centers have been destroyed since the start of the war.

Between homes, schools and hospitals, more than 75,000 buildings were reduced to rubble, according to Kostin. Between February and July last year, Human Rights Watch documented the use of cluster munitions in at least 10 of Ukraine’s 24 regions, including Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv and Donetsk.

Since the start of the invasion, Putin has on more than one occasion hinted at the possibility of carrying out attacks with nuclear bombs, which has caused great concern around the world. Although they have not used such weapons so far, Russian troops have taken control of major nuclear power plants in Ukraine, such as Zaporizhia, the largest in Europe. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) tried to intervene to prevent a nuclear disaster in this region.

During these 12 months of war, it is estimated that foreign countries and international organizations – with the United States and NATO countries in the lead – They sent over $150.8 billion worth of aid to Kyiv, including military, humanitarian and financial aid.

In the military field, the largest contributor is the United States, with $29.3 billion. They are followed by the European Union (12 billion), Germany (3 billion), the United Kingdom (2.6 billion), Canada (1.3 billion) and Australia (250 million).

From the beginning and up to the present day, President Zelensky has stressed the importance of sending weapons to counter the offensives of Russian troops. Germany and the United States recently approved the shipment of Leopard 2 and Abrams tanks, in high demand by kyiv, which will be delivered in the coming weeks. However, during these months the West provided other combat vehicles such as Stryker (USA), Bradley (USA), Challenger 2 (UK), Marder (Germany) and AMX 10 -RC (France). Poland and the Czech Republic also delivered over 200 T-72M1s.

The main drones used by the Ukrainian forces are the Switchblade (USA) and the Bayraktar TB2 (Turkey).

Among the air defense systems, meanwhile, stand out the S-300 (Slovakia), Patriot (USA, Germany and the Netherlands) and the STARStreak MANPADS (UK).

Similarly, local forces also received thousands of NLAW (UK) and Javelin (US) anti-tank missiles. While the main rocket launchers provided by the West are the Himars (US), MLRS (UK) and Stinger (US and Germany).

The supply of weapons from the West proved to be vital for the defensive campaign of the Ukrainian troops. According to data from Department of Defense Ukrainian, The number of fallen Russian soldiers – between dead and wounded – has already passed the 100,000 mark.

The exact figure reported by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense is 141,260 fallen Russian soldiers. But the list of Russian army losses also includes the destruction of 6,520 APV tanks, 5,187 armored vehicles, 2,322 artillery systems, 2,013 drones, 871 cruise missiles, 467 rocket launchers, 298 combat aircraft , 287 helicopters, 241 air defense systems, 221 special equipment and 18 boats.

In addition to military, economic and humanitarian aid, Western powers also applied heavy sanctions to isolate Putin’s regime. Australia, Canada, the European Union (EU), France, Japan, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States first imposed sanctions following Russia’s recognition of the people’s republics separatists in Donetsk and Lugansk, then following its invasion of Ukraine. Since then, sanctions have been applied against 8,984 individuals, 1,811 entities, 92 vessels and 14 aircraft.

Infographic: Marcelo Regalado

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