Two years from the start of the war in Ukraine

Today it has been two years since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. Russia has begun its unprotested invasion of Ukraine on February 24th of 2022. Russian President Vladimir Putin has named it “special operation”. The West has strongly condemned the invasion and imposed a series of serious sanctions against Russia.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin ordered a <x0 military operation” in Ukraine at 5:55am on February 24th 2022. A few minutes later, the first grants followed. Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, declared a state of war in the country.

The United States, the European Union and NATO condemned the attack and vowed to hold Russia responsible.

A day before the second anniversary of the war, the European Union has presented the 13th package of sanctions against Russia.

“Today, we are straining even more restrictive measures against Russia's military and defence sector”, EU diplomacy chief Josep Borrell said, through a statement to the media.

“We continue to be united in our determination to strike down Russia's war machine and help Ukraine win its legitimate fight for self-defense”.

The European bloc's 13th sanctions package, which relates to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, targets Russia's defence industry. Sanctions also include freezing assets and restrictions on movement for 106 individuals and 88 organisations, causing the total number of people and groups sanctioned by the bloc to reach 2,000. The bloc said it has imposed sanctions on individuals and organisations due to “mining or threatening territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence from Ukraine”.

Dozens of Russian officials, including “members of the judiciary, local politicians and persons responsible for the illegal deportation and military rehabilitation of Ukrainian children”, were said in the report.

The EU has also imposed restrictions on companies from Serbia, India, Sri Lanka, China, Kazakhstan, Taiwan and Turkey, under suspicion that they have exported products to Russia, which have double use, and for “Russian Army support”.

Limitations have also been extended to the components used for developing and producing clots.

The names of companies will be published in the official EU newspaper within days.

In response to the EU's movement, Russia's Foreign Ministry announced on February 23rd that it would drastically expand the list of politicians and officials of the bloc, who are barred from entering Russia.

“The EU is continuing its futile efforts to pressure Russia through unilateral restrictive measures”, Russia's Foreign Ministry said through a statement.

US President Joe Biden also announced on Friday that Washington would impose more than 500 new sanctions against Russia.

Biden said new sanctions will be imposed regarding export restrictions on nearly 100 subjects that have helped Russia, as well as will take additional action to reduce Russia's energy revenues.

These measures are intended to hold Russia responsible for the war in Ukraine and for the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

“These sanctions will target individuals linked to the detention of Navajo, but also Russia's financial sector, defence, procurement networks and sanctions evaders in other countries”, Biden said.

“They [sanctions] will ensure that Putin will pay an even higher price for his aggression abroad and for the domestic pressure”, Biden said.

The American president announced that sanctions are also intended to hit Russia's energy revenues.

“I have instructed my team to strengthen support for the civil sector, for independent media and for those fighting for democracy worldwide”, the American president said.

These sanctions are the latest by the thousands of sanctions the United States and their allies imposed against Russia since it began its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

According to Beden, Putin made the wrong “at the start of the Ukraine invasion.

As a result of Russian aggression, tens of thousands of people have been killed and many cities destroyed.

Two years after Russia began its total invasion of Ukraine, war is in place. Neither side has enough soldiers, weapons or ammunition to move into the upper hand, while negotiations still appear far away.