Ukraine ✌️ 🇺🇦
The Russian occupation of Crimea is usually deemed to be the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war. This was followed by the War in Donbas (2014–2022) and then the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, which started the current phase of the war.
Between December 2023 and May 2024, Russia was assessed to have increased its drone and missile attacks, firing harder-to-hit weapons, such as ballistic missiles.[300] By the same measure, Ukraine forces were seen to be low on ammunition, particularly the Patriot systems that have been “its best defense against such attacks”.[300]
In August 2024, the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched an incursion into Russia’s Kursk Oblast and, as reported by the Ukrainian side, in a few days captured an area of up to 350 square kilometers.[301] By 19 August, Ukraine had captured hundreds of Russian soldiers during the incursion.[302]
In late October 2024, the US said it had seen evidence that North Korea had sent 3,000 soldiers to Russia for possible deployment to Ukraine. On 28 October, NATO chief Mark Rutte confirmed earlier Ukrainian intelligence that North Korean troops had been deployed to Kursk Oblast, and the Pentagon reported an increased number of 10,000 North Korean soldiers sent to train in Russia and fight in the war.[303][304][305] On 13 November, both the US and South Korea confirmed that North Korean troops had begun engaging in combat against Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region.[306][307][308] On 26 April 2025, Russia officially confirmed the participation of North Korean troops, noting their ″significant assistance″ to the Russian military in Kursk, which on the same day Russia claimed to have retaken.[309]
It has been more than four years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It is a war that has been grinding on without major changes in battle lines, but the conflict may have reached a turning point. There are signs that Russians are growing weary of the military operation and Ukraine has improved its drone technology, hitting deeper inside Russian territory.
