The war started on 24^th February with the invasion of Russian troops to “demilitarize and denazify” Ukraine. When the war had started, it was anticipated to be a short-lived one, ending with Kyiv’s capitulation. But that is not the scene. Ukraine has been turned into a “wasteland”, where nothing remains.

Ukraine has shown ferocious resistance, and there are widespread reports of Russian troops withdrawing from central Ukraine, shifting all their might to the east. Then what is the current situation in the most important cities of Ukraine? Where does the Russian campaign stand now? Are all the sanctions having their desired effect?

To answer these questions, we have to delve deeper and look at how things stand after over 40 days since Russia has invaded Ukraine.

Status of Ukraine:

Kyiv

The UK Ministry of Defence stated on Monday that fighting between the Russian and Ukrainian forces to the north of the capital would “diminish significantly” this week. US intel has also stated that Russia had withdrawn about two-thirds of its force from and around Kyiv. Even Russian foreign minister Kremlin announced something similar to this.

Bucha

President Zelensky visited the town of Bucha, where 410 bodies were discovered after Russian forces withdrew from the area. Though, Russia has denied any role in the alleged massacre, calling it yet another, “production by the Kyiv regime for the Western media”.US President Joe Biden called Vladimir Putin a “war criminal” and asked for a ramification for the killings in the town of Bucha.

Kharkiv

The Russian assault on Kharkiv, in northeast Ukraine, continues. the city which is home to 1.4 million people has been relentlessly bombed by Russian forces over the past few weeks. Human Rights Watch has reported cases of rape, execution, beatings, and looting carried out by Russian troops in the city.

The Refugee Crisis

Most of the people are fleeing to Poland, many are also going to Romania and Moldova. In fact, Poland has received more refugees than all the other countries combined.

Refugees Facing Racism

Many Indians and Africans, especially students, suffered racist treatment at the Polish-Ukrainian border. Even the UN acknowledged that non-European refugees have faced discrimination while trying to flee the war-torn country.

Reports of Sexual Violence and Trafficking

European media outlets have reported that women and girls fleeing Ukraine are being raped in areas where they sought refuge. Ukrainian women are also sexually assaulted by Russian soldiers while escaping the country.

The Sanctions and Their Effects on Russia

The US, along with EU countries are preparing to borderline Russia with further sanctions on Russia after the emergence of horrific evidence of war crimes committed by Russian forces in Bucha city of Ukraine. The German government on February 22 pulled the plug on Nord Stream 2, a natural gas pipeline that would have stretched from Russia to Germany spanning 764 miles. The US recently banned oil imports from Russia.

This has a vast impact on consumer prices which have increased drastically. Not only have Russian banks been removed from SWIFT, but services like Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Apple, and Google Pay have restricted their services in Russia. Experts say that due to the reduction of dollars in Russia’s foreign reserves, the economy can survive the impact of sanctions for a long period of time.

Thus, the war has resulted in many extra crimes against humanity and also has led down the path of destruction. Roman Polanski’s movie “The Pianist” depicts the same plight of people in Ukraine and also as Clausewitz puts it, “war is the continuation of business through means”. This is highly predictable in the case of the Russia-Ukraine war.