4 Years into Russia’s Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine, a Look at the War by the Numbers 

A resident walks at the site of the Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the city of Chornomorsk, Odesa region, Ukraine February 23, 2026. (Reuters)
A resident walks at the site of the Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the city of Chornomorsk, Odesa region, Ukraine February 23, 2026. (Reuters)
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4 Years into Russia’s Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine, a Look at the War by the Numbers 

A resident walks at the site of the Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the city of Chornomorsk, Odesa region, Ukraine February 23, 2026. (Reuters)
A resident walks at the site of the Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the city of Chornomorsk, Odesa region, Ukraine February 23, 2026. (Reuters)

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine four years ago launched Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II, causing immense suffering for civilians and harrowing ordeals for soldiers while rewriting the post-Cold War security order.

The fighting enters its fifth year on Tuesday, and it shows no signs of stopping any time soon.

The US has brokered talks with delegations from Moscow and Kyiv as part of the Trump administration's yearlong push for peace. But reconciling key differences, such as the future of Russian-occupied Ukrainian land and postwar security for Ukraine, has thwarted progress.

Meanwhile, thousands of each countries’ troops have died on the battlefield, and Ukrainian civilians have been battered by Russian aerial strikes that have brought years of power outages and water cuts.

Here’s a look at the conflict, by the numbers, since the full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022.

1.8 million The upper end of the estimated number of soldiers killed, wounded or missing on both sides, according to a report last month by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank.

It estimated that Russia suffered 1.2 million casualties, including up to 325,000 troop deaths, between February 2022 and December 2025 — what it said was the largest number of troop deaths for any major power in any conflict since World War II.

Russia has not released figures on battlefield deaths since January 2023, when it said more than 80 soldiers were killed in a Ukrainian strike, bringing the total military deaths Moscow has confirmed to just over 6,000.

CSIS estimated that Ukraine has seen 500,000 to 600,000 military casualties, including up to 140,000 deaths.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier this month that 55,000 Ukrainian troops have died in the war. Many are missing, he said.

Neither Moscow nor Kyiv gives timely data on military losses. Independent verification is not possible.

14,999 The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission’s count for civilian deaths in Ukraine since Russia’s all-out invasion, though it says that is likely an underestimate. More than 40,600 civilians were injured over the same period, it said in a December report.

The war has killed at least 763 children, according to the UN.

Last year was the deadliest for civilians in Ukraine since 2022. The conflict killed 2,514 civilians and injured 12,142 in the country in 2025 — a 31% increase in civilian casualties over 2024, it said.

19.4% The percentage of Ukrainian land occupied by Russia, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

Over the past year, Russia has gained just 0.79% of Ukraine’s territory in the grinding war of attrition, the Washington-based think tank said in calculations provided earlier this month to The Associated Press, underscoring the little progress Moscow's forces have made despite huge costs in troops and armor.

Before Russia’s all-out invasion, it controlled nearly 7% of Ukraine, including Crimea and parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the east, as Moscow-backed separatists fought the Ukrainian army, according to Ukrainian officials and Western analysts.

13% The percentage drop in foreign military aid to Kyiv last year compared with the annual average between 2022 and 2024, according to Germany’s Kiel Institute, which tracks assistance to Kyiv.

US President Donald Trump stopped sending American weapons paid for by the US to Ukraine after he took office just over a year ago. European countries, striving to make up the difference, increased their military aid last year by 67% compared with the 2022-2024 period, the institute said in a report this month.

Foreign humanitarian and financial aid to Ukraine fell by 5% last year in comparison with the average in the previous three years, it said.

5.9 million The number of Ukrainian civilians who have left their country.

Some 5.3 million of those people have found refuge in Europe, according to a report this month from the UN office in Ukraine.

Additionally, around 3.7 million Ukrainians forced out of their homes have moved elsewhere within the country, the UN said in December.

Ukraine's prewar population was more than 40 million.

2,851 The number of Russian attacks that affected the provision of medical care in Ukraine, according to the World Health Organization. The figure covers the period from the full-scale invasion through Feb. 11.

The attacks include 2,347 strikes on health care facilities, as well as ones that damaged vehicles and the storage of medical supplies.



Germany Announces $1.5 Billion in Military Aid for Ukraine

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pay tribute at the makeshift memorial to fallen Ukrainian defenders, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, at the Independence Square in Kyiv, Ukraine, October 4, 2026 (EPA) 
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pay tribute at the makeshift memorial to fallen Ukrainian defenders, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, at the Independence Square in Kyiv, Ukraine, October 4, 2026 (EPA) 
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Germany Announces $1.5 Billion in Military Aid for Ukraine

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pay tribute at the makeshift memorial to fallen Ukrainian defenders, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, at the Independence Square in Kyiv, Ukraine, October 4, 2026 (EPA) 
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pay tribute at the makeshift memorial to fallen Ukrainian defenders, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, at the Independence Square in Kyiv, Ukraine, October 4, 2026 (EPA) 

Ukraine and Germany have signed a $1.5 billion arms deal to help counter a surge in Russian drone attacks, as a solidarity visit by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Sunday coincided with fresh strikes and air-raid sirens in Kyiv.

The aid for weapons includes combat drones and supporting Ukraine's battered energy sector, which Russia is targeting to cut off heating and power during the freezing winter months, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on his X account.

The new package was announced after Merz arrived in Kyiv on Sunday, where he reaffirmed European support for Ukraine.

Air raid sirens blared across the Ukrainian capital throughout the morning, as Kyiv's mayor announced one of the city's bridges had been hit by a Russian drone.

Speaking alongside Ukrainian President at the badly damaged building of Ukraine's Academy of Sciences, where at least two people died in a drone strike last week, Merz said, “We are ‌ready to discuss bringing this war to an end, but these barbaric attacks on the civilian population of Ukraine must stop. I can only repeat once again: Mr Putin, put an end to this senseless war.”

Russia Attacks Bridge in Kyiv

One of the Russian strikes on Sunday hit the Northern Bridge across the Dnipro River, damaging its roadway, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram. The explosion injured two people and damaged a hot water supply system in the area, he said.

Klitschko has said the capital – largely spared from the devastation wrought near the front line in more than four years of conflict – should now be on a war footing.

Round-the-clock attacks have hit residential areas, petrol stations, schools, rail and communications infrastructure, while the near-constant air raid sirens disrupt daily life and put people on edge.

Zelensky said US peace envoy Steve Witkoff has messaged him to urge a return to ⁠trilateral talks as soon as possible. He said Ukraine was willing to meet this month and hoped Russia would join, but he said Western allies needed to apply more pressure to Moscow to bring the war to an end.

Upon arrival, Merz said Germany remained Ukraine's strongest backer.

“We do this not only to protect Ukraine's territorial integrity; we do it ⁠deeply in our own interest, for it is a matter of Europe's security,” he said, noting that Russia was carrying out cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns that struck at Europe's democratic order.

“If Russia is not stopped, it will turn its war machine against us sooner or later,” Merz added.

Joint Drone Production

The latest deal provides for the joint production of anti-jet drones, Merz told a joint news conference with Zelensky.

“Significant technical breakthroughs have already been achieved in this area in recent weeks,” he added.

“Production is now being ramped up. This strengthens Ukrainian air defense quickly and significantly. We are supplying standoff weapons, combat drones and satellite technology so that Ukraine can also target Russian launch sites,” the German chancellor said.

Last week, Merz called for NATO and European unity against Russia, as well as in his own country, where the far-right, Moscow-friendly AfD opposition is on the rise.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Sunday it would intensify its strikes against military-industrial facilities and related infrastructure in Kyiv and other regions of Ukraine, in response to Zelensky’s comments in an interview with Reuters published Saturday that Ukraine would escalate its attacks on Russian oil refineries.

Also, Russia warned foreigners and diplomats to leave Kyiv, saying “massive” new airstrikes would hit the city.

Leaders from countries allied to Ukraine have continued to make visits despite a similar threat made in May.

“The EU Delegation is staying,” European Union ambassador Katarina Mathernova wrote on X on Sunday.

“Threatening us will not stop Europe's support for Ukraine,” she added. “It only reminds us why that support matters!”

Merz told reporters he was unfazed by the threat but did not know if it had been made to coincide with his visit.

In Kyiv, home to some three million people, residents are mulling what to do if that happens again, and there have been calls for the vulnerable and disabled to consider leaving.

Merz said Berlin's winter support program will help provide generators, transformer stations and for grid repairs.


UN Says 5.8 mn Refugee Children Out of School

Syrian refugee children attend a class at a school in Mount Lebanon, October 7, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamed Azaki
Syrian refugee children attend a class at a school in Mount Lebanon, October 7, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamed Azaki
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UN Says 5.8 mn Refugee Children Out of School

Syrian refugee children attend a class at a school in Mount Lebanon, October 7, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamed Azaki
Syrian refugee children attend a class at a school in Mount Lebanon, October 7, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamed Azaki

Some 5.8 million refugee children were out of school in 2025, the United Nations said Friday, warning that funding cuts threatened to make the situation worse.

UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, said 44 percent of the world's 13.1 million school-age refugee children were out of school last year.

"Education is protection. But it is also a pathway to opportunity and self-reliance," said Barham Salih, the UN high commissioner for refugees, AFP reported.

"At a time of severe pressure on humanitarian and development financing, cuts to education risk reversing decades of collective investment and closing opportunities for a generation of young people."

The former Iraqi president, who was a refugee, said that looking back on his own life, "education gave me opportunities that displacement might otherwise have denied me".

"Displacement should not determine the limits of a child's life."

UNHCR said that while 65 percent of refugee children of primary school age were enrolled in education in 2025, only 32 percent were enrolled in secondary.

Refugee tertiary education enrolment reached a record 11 percent in 2025.

Earlier this week, UNHCR said its available funding had fallen from $5.2 billion in 2024 to $3.9 billion in 2025, while the number of people it is mandated to protect is hovering around historically high levels.

UNHCR said it needed $8.5 billion this year to protect refugees, but by the end of July had received only 32 percent of that amount ($2.7 billion).

UNHCR said nearly 8.3 million refugees and other forcibly displaced people faced losing vital assistance from the agency as protection services crumble due to the "severe" funding cuts.

 

 

 

 


Iran: Strait of Hormuz Will Not Reopen Until Conditions Are Met

Iran: Strait of Hormuz Will Not Reopen Until Conditions Are Met
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Iran: Strait of Hormuz Will Not Reopen Until Conditions Are Met

Iran: Strait of Hormuz Will Not Reopen Until Conditions Are Met

The Strait of Hormuz will not reopen until seven Iranian conditions set out in a June interim agreement with the US are met, Nournews reported Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf as saying on Sunday, a few days after Tehran received Washington's reply to its diplomatic proposal.

“The Americans, who say something different in the media, have recently put forward proposals through a mediator. ⁠But they must understand that ⁠the period of dragging out the process and dictating one-sided demands is over," Qalibaf was quoted as saying.

"The position of the Islamic Republic of Iran is completely clear and firm, and the Strait of Hormuz ⁠will not be opened until our seven conditions, based on the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, are met."

Meanwhile, army spokesperson Mohammad Akraminia told Fars news on Sunday that Iran will upgrade the range of its missiles following the war with the US as American forces are now ⁠positioned as much ⁠as 1,000 km (621 miles) away from the Iranian ⁠coast.

"During this war, we concluded that we absolutely must increase the ⁠range of ⁠our missiles, and we have now moved in that direction," he said.