At least 10,500 civilians dead, according to the UN. An economy in a strangled stasis, a brutal land battlefront at a standstill, shortages of ammunition and troops, and a traumatized population. The second anniversary of Vladimir Putin’s invasion marked a moment of reflection and, as such, also featured commemorations. Yet only four international leaders appeared alongside Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Ukrainian president, in the photograph, with Germany, France, and the United States notably absent as long-time allies to Ukraine.
In contrast, the first to arrive, early in the morning, was the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who, after arriving in the Ukrainian capital by train, applauded Ukraine’s resilience. “More than ever, we stand firmly by Ukraine. Financially, economically, militarily, morally. Until the country is finally free,” the European leader tweeted at the time.
In a similar tone, the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, praised the “heroic resilience” of the Ukrainian people. “Here is where Putin’s plans to topple a democratically elected government in a matter of days and replace it with a puppet regime failed,” said the Italian leader, during a modest ceremony held at the closed Gostomel airport, one of the first targets on February 24, 2022. “Two years of trauma and loss of life. It is hard to understand the destruction caused by this Russian war,” the politician commented. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo added, “We are here to support them.”
In the same setting, Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, underscored that Ukraine’s struggle is “our struggle.” “Putin has miscalculated on many fronts. The Ukrainians fought with ingenuity and tenacity that showed the world what they could achieve,” Trudeau stated, as the only non-European leader in the group. Symbolically, this visit diverged from the previous year, when the U.S. president traveled to Kiev in the week before the commemoration.
The 730th day of the war also featured memorials by citizens gathered in Independence Square in Kyiv, near what has become a vast shrine with hundreds of Ukrainian flags honoring the fallen. Families of deceased soldiers convened there in a poignant gathering, marked by tears, shouts, and expressions of anger toward a conflict that has exhausted the population. This sentiment was corroborated by several sources interviewed for this article’s corresponding coverage, which spanned two weeks on the ground. [Source: local reporting and eyewitness accounts.]