Russian Invasion of Ukraine, Two Months On

Serhii Nuzhnenko/AP

Russian forces invaded Ukraine February 24, 2022. Two months later approximately 13 million people have been displaced from their homes. There have been 46,000 casualties, 12,000 non-fatal injuries, and over half a trillion US dollars in damage, according to Reuters.

Russia’s initial goal of invading the capital, Kyiv, was thought to be an easy target for one of the largest armies in the world. However, with some resource and troop underestimation from the Russian side and with some strategic air defense and road cutoffs by the Ukrainian army, Ukraine managed to start to push them out of the region by March 25. Russia now says it will be focussing on separatist territory in eastern Ukraine, the Donbas region.

Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine has been a high level Russian target for the entirety of the war. It continues to experience bombing and air missiles.

The city of three million and its surrounding areas suffered Russian attacks for more than a month.

Ukraine forces fully gained control of the region by April 2. However, the retreating Russians left a trail of destruction and casualties.

Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv was occupied by Russian forces until March 31. They had control over the region for almost a month, and are accused of committing war crimes during the occupation. These accusations arose from many testimonies coming out of the city. The accusations included a local Ukrainian morgue having to dig a mass grave with a tractor, because burying the shelling victims individually was getting logistically impossible, as told to CNN reporters.

Journalists from CNN were shown five men dead in a basement with their hands and kneecaps bound, by Ukrainian officials. The officials say that these men had been shot multiple times and claim it was an execution. Russian made trenches and foxholes were repor tedly found nearby. Russian authorities have disputed these claims as false and orchestrated.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of committing war crimes in the country. Other world leaders, especially western powers, have been quick to denounce Russia’s actions in the country, even going as far to call it genocide.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters at a press conference in Laval, Quebec on April 13, that he thinks it’s “absolutely right” to start to use the word genocide to describe Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

Trudeau’s comment came with a question about a statement US President Joe Biden made at a news conference in Iowa on April 12, when asked about gas prices.

“Your family budget, your ability to fill up your tank, none of it should hinge on whether a dictator declares war and commits genocide a half a world away,” said Biden, later clarifying that his use of the word was not a legal declaration.

Genocide is a legally-charged word, and refers to the action of purposely exterminating a group because of their shared identity factors. The word genocide was first coined by lawyer Raphael Lemkin in 1944, where he used it to describe the then unexplainable crimes of the Holocaust. With the lobbying of Lemkin and others’ the United Nations approved the introduction of the crime into international law through the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide.

Other leaders including President Zelensky and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnston have also used the word genocide to describe the actions of Russia in Ukraine.

In response to news surrounding alleged atrocities in Ukraine, Canada has sent ten special Royal Canadian Mounted Police (“RCMP”) investigating officers to assist the International Criminal Court prosecutor on the investigation of Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine.

The RCMP will also be apparently launching their own investigation against Russia under the Canadian Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act. They say they will be looking to prevent perpetrators of war crimes from entering Canada, as well as prosecuting perpetrators of war crimes residing in Canada.

The port city of Mariupol has been the location of a fierce battle, as it is a strategic location for both sides because of it’s proximity to the Sea of Azov. Gaining Mariupol would mean Russia would have access to the Donbas region from the illegally annexed peninsula of Crimea. Ukrainian troops have said they still have control over the Azovstal iron and steel works industrial complex, where about 1000 civilians are taking shelter inside the previous steelworks plant, Myhailo Vershynin, chief of the Mariupol patrol police, told CNN.

The city has been surrounded by Russian forces since March 1, but Ukrainian troops left in the city are still defending it, Vershynin claims. Ukrainian troops have rejected the surrender deadline demands, Vershynin told CNN through text and audio messaging.

Lyiv, a western city in Ukraine, had only felt sporadic attacks and was seen as a safer place within the country for refugees fleeing Russian-controlled areas, as well as a point of access for foreign soldiers and NATO weaponry. The closest major city to Poland, a NATO country, suffered it’s largest air-missile strike on Easter weekend. At least four air missile strikes occured with the death toll rising by seven as a result.

This has come with increased Russian militar y pressure across the countr y. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the battle for Donbas has begun, in a video address on April 18.

Several southeastern Ukrainian cities and regions are under Russian military control as Ukraine regains control over northern territory. Melitopol, Donetsk, and Luhansk are among them.