What we’ve learnt in 100 days of war between Ukraine and Russia

It was the war we were told would never happen, or one which would take just a few days until the rapid surrender of Kyiv.

But on Friday, Russia’s dismal, bloody, stuttering and, ultimately, horrifying invasion of neighbouring Ukraine reaches its grim 100-day mark.

It is an arbitrary benchmark, especially for those on the ground. The centenary of days is one loved by the media, but in reality, it means very little. Days 101, 102 and so on of fighting and slaughter will inevitably follow.

Arbitrary or not though, the past 100 days have no doubt changed many of our perceptions about the world. It seems a long time since the first few days of comic video clips including Ukrainians offering to tow hapless Russian soldiers back to the border.

Russia’s invasion has shaken Europe’s post-Second World War order and exposed the complacency of peace with it.

It has changed the widely-held view that Vladimir Putin was some sort of admirable autocrat, instead of the warmongering nationalist he is. His country is still fearsome but his army, once thought of as a machine which could march across Europe in days, is now derided as one which seems as if it will spend its life fighting in the Donbas.

The flight from Russia has been remarkable as has been the daily propaganda updates casually raising the prospect of nuclear war.

The response of the west has been in parts admirable and poor. One hundred days has tested the unity of Europe and another 100 is likely to do so even more. Ukraine, its people and leadership, have emerged with much credit but paid an appalling price.

If the war is to continue for another 100 days, as seems entirely possible, the price paid by Ukraine will only get steeper.

The country appears likely to lose more territory. Of the new friends it has made, some are likely to falter. Its enemies likely to be more brutal. The weariness felt by some allies after 100 days of war is only likely to increase, even if the war is happening elsewhere.

And there will come a time, surely, for Ukraine to have to accept that to gain a much sought-after peace, it will have to give up something else. In the meantime, the price will continue to be paid largely by ordinary Ukrainians. Tens of thousands of lives have been shattered, destroyed and ended by the brutality and aggression of Putin.

For these, the 100-day mark will not even be noticed.

Yours,

David Harding

International editor