Ukraine war: fatigue marks anniversary of Russia invasion, ‘everything is getting worse’

On the two-year anniversary of Russia’s brutal invasion, there is a growing sense of uncertainty over how and when it will all end

For the Ukrainian troops holding Russian forces from cities like Kostyantynivka, the task is becoming harder as their resources and stamina ebb

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A family walks amid destroyed Russian tanks in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine on April 6, 2022. On the two-year anniversary of Russia’s brutal invasion, there is a growing sense of uncertainty over how and when it will all end. Photo: AP

Published: 6:01pm, 23 Feb 2024Updated: 10:29pm, 23 Feb 2024

Nearly every day since her school in east Ukraine was reduced to rubble by two Russian missiles last month, Lyudmila Polovko has walked its grounds to dream of a time when children could return.

Stepping over glass shards and torn text books, the teacher and administrator recounted how her thoughts had turned from planning to mark 60 years since the school opened to surviving the war.

“We’re very tired of hearing that our men are dying. We’re tired of seeing it all with our own eyes, of not sleeping at night because of the noise, because of the missiles,” she told Agence France-Presse at the school, overlooking a cemetery and chimneys of Soviet-era factories.

Ukrainian teacher and administrator Lyudmila Polovko poses near her school, destroyed by a Russian missile, in the town of Kostyantynivka, Donetsk region. Photo: AFP

“As bitter as it is to see these ruins, we still hope for the best,” the 62-year-old said, in a biting winter wind.

On the two-year anniversary of Russia’s brutal invasion, which has pitted the Kremlin’s expansionist ambitions against Ukrainian resolve, there is a growing sense of uncertainty among those caught in between over how and when it will all end.

The fallout from disagreements in Washington and Brussels over aid has rippled all the way to the front line in the Donetsk region, where outnumbered and outgunned Ukrainian troops are ceding ground to Moscow’s determined forces.

For the Ukrainian troops holding Russian forces from cities like Kostyantynivka, the task is becoming harder as their resources and stamina ebb.