It Has Been Six Months, How's Ukraine?

art by Maria Foya

For six months, the war in Ukraine has been grinding on. It has taken countless lives on both sides and caused significant repercussions in global grain and oil circulation. Despite the news moving the focus from the front lines to the diplomatic table, important events are happening daily. On August 29th, 2022, the Ukrainian army began one of the most significant offenses of the war, striking into the heart of the Russian line, and pushing deep into the Donbas region. But how did this happen? How did the Ukrainian forces beat back the forces of the Russian army? Before the invasion, many saw Russia as the superpower that it once was. They saw the “new” technology and arms they were producing and chose to forget their past blunders in Afghanistan and Chechnia. However, after they invaded Ukraine, the truth about Russia was unveiled. The world now saw their lack of equipment, supply chains, and lack of leadership. In the initial days of the war, the Ukrainians were able to push back the Russian onslaught and push them back to the edges of Ukraine. It was after this initial assault that the war front when quiet. Though actions were happening every day, and still are, the media focused on the diplomatic side of the war. Storys of President Zeleskys speeches and Russia's cuts to natural gas had many turning their attention away from the soldiers and to the sideline. But, on August 29th, with this new offensive, the focus was placed back on the frontlines of the war.

The offensive pushed Russian troops out of the center of Ukraine and into the edges of the country. Though this region was suspected to be highly defended, in reality, there was light resistance to fight agent the Ukrainians. This stemmed from past issues that the Russians still have not concord. Their weak supply lines have tripled their troops, and mass corruption has left the supply lines that exist virtually empty. Leadership problems have also been plaguing the Russian lines. Russia's leadership is split between two generals, one in the south and one in Ukraine. This split hinders the Russian army's efficiency and continuously causes resource misuse. All of these factors create the perfect condition for a successful Ukrainian counteroffensive. This new front of the war also introduces a new idea of how Ukraine can win this war. Instead of pushing all Russian troops out of Ukraine, the path of the war might shift into centralized offenses to deal heavy blows to the Russian lines. This offensive has also led to changes within Russia itself. As of this week, Putin has implemented a new draft policy to grow the numbers of his army, this has made many Russians flee their countries to escape this draft, and he has begun to buy troops to fight this war instead of regular troops. These new revelations have further cemented Russia's position in this war, a losing one. With each day, Russia's chances of winning the war worsen, and its possibility of total victory has been lost. This is the future of the war, but Russia will stop at nothing to change this eventual outcome. By blocking oil pipelines and spreading misinformation, they seem to be putting pressure on NATO to stop its support of Ukraine. This can’t happen. We can not allow this unprompted invasion to go unanswered. We must see through the lies produced by Russia and stay true to the facts of the war and the reality of the situation. But we must also remember that this is a war fought by people, not numbers on the report. Though we may mock the Russians for their incompliance, there are still people fighting and dying on both sides, and we must separate the soldiers from their leaders and see them as people.