Grief, Anger, And Pride As Ukraine Marks Third Anniversary Of Russia's Full-Scale Invasion

In an interview with Current Time, Mykhaylo Podolyak, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's top adviser, reacted to the U.S. resolution at the UN -- to be discussed later today -- that does not call Russia the aggressor in the war.

"Russia is, without a doubt, the aggressor. The initiator of aggression is only Russia. The aggression was not provoked by Ukraine," he said.

"It's easy to see that no one in Russia planned for the war to last three years. They were counting that it would be a lot quicker to get effective control of the entire territory of Ukraine," Podolyak added.

“We stand and we will stand with you side by side and shoulder to shoulder in the war, in the future peace negotiations, in the reconstruction and as a member state of the European Union,” European Council President Antonio Costa said in Kyiv.

“Only Ukraine can decide when conditions are met to start a peace negotiation. Peace cannot be a simple ceasefire, it needs to be a durable agreement, peace should not reward the aggressor.”

Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna has said that an agreement giving the United States access to her country's rare earth minerals is nearly ready.

"The negotiations have been very constructive, with nearly all key details finalized," she wrote on social media today.

Her post follows comments by U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz on CNN yesterday, saying a deal could be signed this week.

Zelenskyy said yesterday that a deal would require U.S. security guarantees. Stefanishyna did not refer to this.

Accurate estimates of the toll -- dead and wounded -- from Russia’s three-year onslaught on Ukraine are hard to come by.

Overall, on both sides, the number exceeds 1 million.

For Ukraine, at least 46,000 soldiers have been killed and around 380,000 wounded, according to figures cited by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier this month. That figure is considered by experts to be an undercount

For Russia, Western official estimates – from the Pentagon or Britain’s defense ministry – put the tally at more than 700,000.

Outside analysts – for example, the International Institute for Strategic Studies – have calculated that at least 172,000 Russian soldiers have been killed and 611,000 wounded, more than half of whom were severely wounded and will be unable to fight again.

News organizations, including RFE/RL’s Tatar-Bashkir Service, have sought to build a reliable tally looking at public sources: things like obituaries, social media posts, and even legal notices of insurance payouts or inheritance transfers.

The joint effort by the BBC’s Russian Service and the news outlet Mediazona has confirmed more than 90,000 killed Russian soldiers.

Mediazona teamed up another Russian-language news outlet, Meduza, to release an updated Russian military death toll as of February 24: more than 165,000.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping said they are "true friends" who "support each other" during a phone call held on the anniversary of the war in Ukraine.

According to a Kremlin readout of the call, Putin informed his Chinese counterpart about the recent U.S.-Russia discussions in Saudi Arabia and Xi reaffirmed his support for dialogue between Moscow and Washington. He added that Beijing is open to helping to resolve the war.

Following the talks in Riyadh last week, China also publicly said it backed dialogue between Russia and the United States.

Despite that public backing, analysts and former officials told RFE/RL that the prospect of a reset between the two powers is also making Beijing "nervous" about having less leverage over Moscow, which has become increasingly dependent on China economically since the war in Ukraine began.

RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service spoke to the mothers of Ukrainian soldiers who had died on the battlefield about their views on a potential cease-fire.

"God, no!," says Hanna Tarapata, who lost her son Yuriy. "What did those people, our sons, fathers, husbands, brothers, sisters, give their lives for? For what? For freezing the conflict so it could still be there when my grandchildren [will have to join the fight]? I don't want that, I've already lost a lot."

Rayisa Pivnenko is also visiting her son’s grave in Kyiv.

“No matter how painful it is, if we freeze the war now, in three years my grandchildren will go to war again. And it will not stop. No matter how much it hurts, no matter how many guys die, it simply cannot be stopped. Because they (the fallen soldiers) will rise up and say: What did we fight for, whom did we defend?”

Viktoria Oleksiyenko lost her son Denys.

“I think that the aggressor still does not respect many things. And, frankly, we have already been given guarantees, but they have not been fulfilled. I think we need to demand more weapons to protect ourselves. We should drive this enemy out of our country. Then they won't come back next time. Otherwise they will keep on busting in. The greatest guarantee is to expel this evil from our land and arm ourselves.”

Activists gathered at the Ukrainian Embassy in Kyrgyzstan's capital, Bishkek, to commemorate the victims of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

“We should not view [this war] narrowly as a Russian-Ukrainian conflict. If we look at it broadly, it is a struggle for freedom and territorial integrity," said Rita Karasartova, a prominent Kyrgyz human rights activist. "If we justify Russia’s war, then tomorrow, our neighboring countries might seize the opportunity to invade and occupy under the pretext of ‘protecting their people’ in our state.”

Weeks after Russia launched the full-scale invasion, several local activists who protested outside the Russian Embassy in Bishkek were detained by police and fined. The Kyrgyz authorities then banned protests in front of the Russian Embassy.

Moldova, wedged between Romania and Ukraine and caught in the push-and-pull between Moscow and the EU, has been battered by political uncertainty for years.

Russia’s Ukraine invasion only deepened its worries.

Speaking to a summit of European leaders in Kyiv, President Maiu Sandu voiced support for Ukraine and called for a "just peace" for the country.

"Ukrainians' courage has kept, and keeps, Moldova safe," she said. "We will always be grateful."

Peace for Ukraine "must be just and lasting," she said. Moldova supports these efforts "because it is not just about Ukraine, it is about all of us."

Sandu won reelection last October, during a vote that also featured a referendum on Moldova’s eventual membership of the European Union. The measure passed by a smaller margin that supporters had hoped.

Russia has a small contingent of military troops stationed in the breakaway region of Transdniestr, which has run its own affairs -- with Russian backing -- since the early 1990s.