It matters. 100th Day of War in Ukraine: From a failed blitz into a conflict by attrition

Vladimir Putin doesn't seem to want to stop, even though he hasn't yet achieved a major victory on ground.

It matters. 100th Day of War in Ukraine: From a failed blitz into a conflict by attrition

Vladimir Putin doesn't seem to want to stop, even though he hasn't yet achieved a major victory on ground. He has had to revise the strategy of withdrawing from eastern Ukraine.

Russian forces now control about 20% of Ukraine's territory (or nearly 125,000km2), Volodymyr Zelensky stated Thursday. This is 100 days after the invasion began.

Moscow's steamroller strategy to slowly eat away at Donbass seems to have paid off: despite Ukrainian resistance to the move, Russian forces now hold a portion of Severodonetsk. Serguii Gaidai, Lugansk governor, stated that "80%" of the city was occupied by Russian forces. Street fighting has been raging since Wednesday night.

Moscow will need to change from a war for movement to one for position in the next weeks. His material has not been regenerated and his strength is exhausted. Mathieu Boulegue is an expert at Chatham House, a British think tank.

Vladimir Putin would welcome a victory in the Donbass after he has taken the strategic port at Mariupol (southeast), which links Russia and Crimea.

Three fronts simultaneously are open, diluting Russian forces: in North towards capital Kiev, in East and in South.

160,000 men were mobilized in the maneuver, which was slightly more than one to one for the Ukrainians. Military doctrine suggests a ratio of three-to-one to conduct an attack.

The aggressor underestimated the Ukrainian troops and provided with anti-tank weapons and anti-aircraft weaponry from the West, they inflict severe damage on the Russians

According to Western sources, around 15,000 Russian soldiers died in the conflict. It is likely that there were fewer deaths on the Ukrainian side. This estimate comes from Western sources. Volodymyr Zelensky, an American journalist, stated in an interview published Wednesday by Newsmax that he lost "60 to 100 soldiers per day".

A census by Oryxspioenkop, based upon images from the theater, shows that the Russians lost 739 tanks and 428 armored cars, 813 infantry fighting vehicle, and around thirty fighter aircrafts. There were also 43 helicopters, 75 drones, nine ships, and their flagship in Black Sea, The Moskva.

We are referring to 185 tanks, 93 armored cars, 22 combat aircrafts, 11 helicopters, and 18 ships from the Ukrainian side.

The civilian side of the equation is represented by the Office of the United Nations Haut Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which counts total civilian casualties of 8,462: 3,930 people were killed and 4,532 were injured in the Russian military attack against Ukraine on May 23, 2022. The OHCHR warns that actual numbers may be higher.

Volodymyr Zelensky claims Russia "deported more than 200,000 Ukrainian children since the beginning of the conflict." He announces that 243 children died in the conflict, 446 were injured, and 139 remain missing. UNICEF estimates that 262 children have been killed and 415 others injured since the conflict began.

Russia claimed that it launched an attack on Ukraine to stop an alleged genocide among Russian-speaking peoples there, and to prevent NATO expansion.

It is clear that the failure is evident: The military alliance is growing stronger under the ever-present United States umbrella, pouring weapons into Ukraine, and challenging the European Union's point of balance as well as its strategic autonomy.

Two traditionally non-aligned nations, Sweden and Finland, applied to NATO. The United States and its European allies also sent thousands of troops to Russia's borders and to Poland and the Baltic States.

As rare as it is, Monday's approval by the EU of a sixth set of sanctions included for the first time a ban on Russian oil.

The EU leaders reached a deal with Russia on May 30, which is expected to reduce Russian oil imports by around 90% by the end the year.

Embargo on Russian oil and prohibited investments, asset freezes and banking, as well as maritime restrictions: Since February ended, Western countries have taken unprecedented sanctions against Russia and Belarus, which include all sectors and their ally Belarus. The impact of these sanctions remains to be assessed.

The effects of war are already being felt around the globe, affecting economic growth, supply chains, and the food- and energy industries. Particularly in North Africa, fears are rising about a food shortage.

Mark Cancian, an American researcher at CSIS, predicts that "this conflict will be a long battle of attrition." He adds that "none of the sides seem to want compromise or to reach an agreement." "Until then, we could see an informal Pause, a type of low-intensity frozen Conflict."