Russia-Ukraine: A Year of War

Today marks the first anniversary of the war, which started on February 24 at the behest of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Russian invasion of Ukraine was recorded as the biggest war in Europe since the Second World War. According to the surrounding regions on the Russian side, the Russian front suffered more than 270 thousand casualties, and the Ukrainian front suffered 135 thousand casualties, including at least 30 thousand civilians. The war, in which the cities were destroyed, had a great impact not only in two countries but also all over the world.

EUROPE IN SEARCH FOR ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Europe, which depended heavily on Russia for energy supply in the pre-war period, reduced its operations to a minimum with alternative solutions. The food crisis broke out due to the disruption in the shipment of Ukraine's observation, which is considered the world's observation warehouse, and the embargoes imposed on Russia, another major meeting place.

FOOD CRISIS STARTED

Ukraine is an important negotiation and sunflower producer. Ukraine is the producer of more than half of the sunflower supply. According to US Department of Agriculture regulations, Ukraine is responsible for 15 percent of the global corn supply and 10 percent of wheat trade. After the outbreak of the war, the cessation of spending stopped when Russia blocked Ukraine's entry into the Black Sea ports. Blocking exports mostly went to stores that depended on Ukraine's observatory and sunflower oil imports, such as Egypt and India. Sound alarm bells for African countries that continue to face difficulties in accessing food as food prices soar around the world. The painful process was resolved with Türkiye's mediation. Russia, under the guarantee of Türkiye, stretched the Black Sea blockade to organize the observation corridor.

15 MILLION PEOPLE LEFT THEIR COUNTRY

Since the Russian offensive, 7.2 million Ukrainians, mostly women and children, have left their country, with at least 8 million staying inside. According to the rules of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 3.2 million people fled from the neighboring house in the first place, then went to another house. The country receiving the highest number of Ukrainian asylum seekers was Germany with approximately 1 million people. It was recorded that about 2.3 million Ukrainians who fled the war returned to their country. The arrival of Ukrainians in European countries both mobilized a great support and forced people. Refugees settling in a new country gave way to the power of extreme far-right views.

NATO INTERVENED IN THE WAR

Russia's invasion of Ukraine also had a wide impact on world politics. Trying to isolate itself from world politics and economy with embargoes, Russia informed itself that the embargo application is progressing together with China. While there were serious differences of opinion between the USA and Brussels in the pre-occupation period, it was observed that the two actors acted with an understanding of hostility with the beginning of the war. A new Eastern and Western geopolitical/economic bloc has split, with Russia and China in the East and the USA and the EU in the West. After the Second World War, for NATO in 2019, French President Emmanuel Macron said "brain dead". The Ukraine War brought the world's most powerful military unit, the organization, back to the stage. The NATO state's supply of arms and ammunition to Ukraine turned the war into an unofficial NATO-Russia conflict.

WEAPON SUPPORT

Western rivals, especially the USA, literally rained weapons on Ukraine. It is stated that the cost of the arms shipment exceeds 100 billion dollars. Aid includes HIMARS artillery systems, anti-tank and anti-aircraft systems, air defense systems, armored vehicles, heavy machine guns and military offensive. Finally, it was decided to deliver the German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. The supply of US-made F-16 warplanes to Ukraine is under discussion.

(turkiyenewspaper)