Bad for both: On the Russia-Ukraine conflict

More than four years into Russia’s invasion , Ukraine has found ways to raise the cost of the war for the Kremlin — striking its energy infrastructure with drones and imposing a drone blockade on Crimea. When the war began in February 2022, Ukraine’s immediate response was to resist Russia’s battlefield advances, while mobilising international support. As the war dragged on, Ukraine received advanced defensive and offensive weapons from its western partners, while Russia was subjected to sweeping sanctions. But this approach did not slow Russia, which reinforced its front lines and captured more Ukrainian territory. Both sides have suffered tens of thousands of casualties. Ukraine’s economy has become heavily dependent on western aid. Kyiv has also transformed the way the war is fought by launching hundreds of drones each day at Russian troops and critical infrastructure. For President Vladimir Putin, who initially sought to shield the Russian public from the consequences of the war, these attacks are a stark reminder that the war has come home. Strikes on Russian oil facilities, described by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “long-range sanctions”, have knocked out parts of Russia’s refining capacity. Ukraine has also targeted the electricity infrastructure and fuel logistics of Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula Russia annexed in 2014, forcing a state of emergency.