By Olha Chepil | 2024-12-02

KYIV -- November 19 marked 1,000 days of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a period that has become a true ordeal for all Ukrainians, forcing them to rethink their values, overcome fear and unite for their future.

In 1,000 days of war and countless battles, the Kremlin has lost an enormous part of its army while never taking Kyiv.

"In Russia, [the Russians] figured that they would be greeted with a loaf of bread," Ihor Chalenko, director of the Center for Analysis and Strategies, told Kontur.

"Ukrainians have sacrificed, both economically and in blood, in order to preserve Ukraine, for themselves, for their children, for future generations. This resistance is huge, and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin really didn't expect it."

Russia provides almost no official data on its casualties.

On September 17, British intelligence estimated Russian losses since the start of the invasion at more than 610,000 killed and wounded.

The Russian army's losses are linked to miscalculations from day one, said Chalenko.

"Russia did not adequately plan out the entire political operation, economically or militarily," he said.

"Its calculations were based on incorrect data. Obviously, the Kremlin was given inflated [projections], in which someone could simply lie for money, describing wishful thinking rather than facts as they really stood."

'Dire consequences'

As of October 31, the Office of the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights documented at least 39,081 civilian casualties in Ukraine since February 2022 -- 12,162 killed and 26,919 injured.

At least 60,435 Ukrainian soldiers have died since 2022, according to the UAlosses website. The true number could be as high as 100,000 Ukrainian service members killed, The Economist reported November 26.

In addition, 6.3 million Ukrainians have been displaced worldwide, 80% of whom want to return to Ukraine, according to UN data.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin is deliberately destroying Ukraine's critical infrastructure: schools, hospitals, apartment buildings and power plants.

And the war has inflicted enormous environmental damage on Ukraine that will have long-term consequences, analysts say.

"Allowing a dictator like Putin to impose his agenda is not going to end well for the world," said Stanislav Zhelikhovsky, a Kyiv-based political scientist specializing in international relations.

"I think this will have dire consequences, given that Ukraine is where the fate of not only the free world but of all human civilization is being decided," he told Kontur.

Ukraine has become a testing ground for the strength of global diplomacy, international law and all international relations, he said.

Present challenges -- including hybrid warfare, cyber attacks and the threat of using nuclear weapons -- are formidable, he added.

"Humanity has now reached the Rubicon," Zhelikhovsky said. "But the only question is whether it will cross the Rubicon, and if it does, which shore will it step on?"

"The shore of prosperity and well-being for all humankind, with respect for international law and borders? Or will it step onto an unstable swampy shore, where all of humankind will get bogged down and unable to move forward, drowning in conflicts more and more?"

Peace and justice

On the occasion of the 1,000th day of war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reiterated calls for peace.

In English-language remarks directed at the US Congress November 19, he called for "peace built through strength so that Russian forces can never again shatter peace anywhere ... in the world. And we do need [a] tribunal for Putin."

During these 1,000 days, Ukrainians have shown exceptional unity: volunteers, doctors, entrepreneurs and ordinary citizens have resisted.

Together they raise money for help at the front and for military gear. And after shellings and air raid alarms, they go to work.

"We hold on. We stand. And this is precisely what is preventing the enemy from conquering us," said Chalenko.

Svitlana Nahorna-Hordiichuk, a resident of Lviv, worked as a financial auditor for an international company before the full-scale war. She knew nothing about military hardware.

But on the first day of the war, she and her coworkers began to volunteer to find items for Ukrainian forces -- initially, less specialized equipment and generators, and now, first-person-view drones and electronic warfare systems.

"This is the first drone war. The change in volunteering reflects how war is waged and what the troops are needed," Nahorna-Hordiichuk told Kontur. "Today it is technology."

After the full-scale war broke out, she co-founded a charity, Lemberg Volunteers.

"In 2022, we helped with medicine, tourniquets and equipment. Now we are no longer helping with [strictly medical] equipment," she said. "Now electronic warfare systems, drones and quadcopters are needed."

Love in war

At the beginning of the war, Maksym Hordiichuk, a Ukrainian soldier, approached Nahorna-Hordiichuk and asked for a pickup truck for his unit. Two months later, they met in Lviv during Hordiichuk's brief leave.

Three months later, they married and became a family.

"War usually takes away, but in my case, it gave love," she said.

Hordiichuk is a member of the National Guard of Ukraine, though he was a mountain guide 1,000 days ago.

When Nahorna-Hordiichuk became pregnant, she traveled to Kramatorsk, where he was fighting, to open an envelope informing the couple of their baby's gender.

"These 1,000 days have shown that love is worth everything. Even going to the front line to your sweetheart in order to learn your child's gender together," she said. "Do everything you can when you are full of love, whether for a man or for your country."

Nine-month-old Ustim now volunteers with his mother while his father fights for Ukraine.

Every Ukrainian's greatest dream is for victory in the war and for a homecoming for all troops and civilians to a peaceful life, Nahorna-Hordiichuk said.

"This war is not about territory. This is a war of civilizations. And our plan for victory is us," she said.