Russia-Ukraine war enters the second year

By Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer

#Ukraine, February 28, 2023 – Exactly a year ago Vladimir Putin appeared on Russian television and announced that he was launching a ‘special military operation’ into Ukraine.   As the Russian Invasion enters its second year we look back on the ripple effects felt around the world.

Ukraine 

In the early weeks after the invasion residents began to flee en masse.  The crush included students from across the globe, expatriate workers and citizens.  Reports of racism against people of colour at the borders began to emerge. Neighbouring countries faithfully kept their borders open and people were allowed to leave as quickly as their legs could take them. Many walked hundreds of miles as cars ran out of gas and traffic made vehicular escape impossible. Behind them, the fighting began in earnest.

As of February 14th 8.1 million refugees have left the country, which is a crippling 20 per cent of the population lost. The UN says 21 thousand of civilians have been killed or injured so far.

Russia 

After the war began Russia was hit with sanctions left and right by the EU, the United States and their allies. Retailers, restaurant chains, tech companies, luxury goods stores and more pulled out of the country en masse. Russian athletes were blacklisted from sporting events including tennis and countries are calling for their athletes to be banned from the 2024 Olympics.

Censorship in the country has become increasingly harsh and the divide between those who support the war and those who don’t is a hard line with coworkers and schoolmates reportedly turning in others deemed as traitors or dissidents to the Kremlin (the government of the Russain Federation), resulting in long jail sentences for journalists and even teenagers. Russia is estimated to have lost as many as 60 thousand soldiers with 200 thousand wounded or dead.

Europe and the UK

A 3D-printed oil pump jack is seen in front of displayed OPEC logo in this illustration picture, April 14, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

At the beginning of the war after placing sanctions on the country and its oligarchs, Washington pushed for sanctions on its oil and energy, a tricky position for the EU which then bought the majority of its oil and gas from Russia.  After much infighting, the countries agreed to ban the purchase of certain Russian energy and promised to wean themselves off the stuff by the end of 2023.  Russia was quick to retaliate; it instituted a new law instructing all of the ‘unfriendly countries’ to pay for their oil in rubles, a move the EU described as blackmail. After that, citing pipeline issues it turned off the gas supply to several countries including Germany forcing them into crisis mode and prompting blackouts to preserve power as they scrambled to find new energy supplies.

In the UK gas prices reached record highs forcing the government to provide multimillion-dollar relief.

Africa 

The effects of the invasion on Africa are as varied as the countries on the continent.

Most African nations have refused to outright denounce the war as the conflicts in their own countries are relegated to the back page.

In North Africa where wheat produced in Russia and Ukraine is essential, the prices of bread basket items rose exponentially.  Areas like Ethiopia and Somalia saw 66 per cent and 36 per cent jumps respectively according to the UN, furthering a food crisis affecting millions with malnourished children dying daily.  In other parts of Africa, lucrative oil deals were signed as the EU struggled to keep the lights on.  Algeria, Senegal, Angola, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria all reached deals with the EU or specific countries to supply gas.

Most recently South Africa participated in a military drill with Russia and China that fell on the anniversary of the invasion.

The Caribbean 

With the fighting far away, the effects felt in the Caribbean were mostly economical.  With the supply chain in disarray, food prices shot up to extreme highs and oil prices followed; electricity bills caused panic.  Inflation driven by the conflict wrecked the purchasing power of Caribbean residents who already pay higher prices for goods and governments were forced to implement relief measures including stimulus cheques and price caps.

The UN warned that interest rate hikes implemented in the US, UK and other large economies to curb inflation would reverberate hardest in the Caribbean and other Small Island Developing States (which did nothing to slow them down).

Russia also took shots at some countries directly listing the Turks and Caicos and 10 other UK overseas territories as well as The Bahamas as ‘unfriendly territories’.

The US 

The US-Russia relationship has deteriorated significantly since the beginning of the conflict with the two countries declaring each other as enemies in everything but name. A tense prisoner exchange in late 2022 is as close as the two have gotten to publicly negotiating in the past year.

The country is Ukraine’s biggest patron sending billions and billions of dollars’ worth of weaponry and humanitarian aid to the country.

The war may drag on but the hope globally is that it will end soon as risks of further economic shock; and the displacement, assault and murder of innocents, loom on the horizon.