year on

ONE year ago, on February 24 in 2022, the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, launched an invasion of Ukraine from the north, east and south.

At the time Putin explained that the “special military operation was aimed at demilitarisation and denazification of Ukraine in a bid to protect ethnic Russians, prevent Kyiv’s NATO membership and to keep it in Russia’s sphere of influence.”

As of February 12, 2023, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) tragically verified a total of 7,199 civilian deaths during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Of them, 438 were children. Furthermore, 11,756 people were reported to have been injured. However, OHCHR specified that the real numbers could be higher.

ITALY’S former Prime Minister

Silvio Berlusconi has been cleared of allegations that he bribed witnesses in a previous trial into his infamous ‘Bunga Bunga’ parties. A Milan court cleared the 86­year­old billionaire on Wednesday, February 15, putting an end to the case which has overshadowed his reputation for the last decade.

Innocent civilians have been cruelly caught up in the conflict and over 5.9 million people have been internally displaced. There has also been catastrophic damage to civilian infrastructure, including hospitals and schools.

And now? It has been a year since Russian forces rolled into Ukraine and there does not appear to be any real signs of a way out of this terrible conflict.

Neither Ukraine nor Russia, Zelensky or Putin appear primed for an outright military victory, and progress at the negotiating table is highly improbable.