{"id":13556,"date":"2022-06-04T06:27:55","date_gmt":"2022-06-04T13:27:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=13556"},"modified":"2022-06-04T06:27:55","modified_gmt":"2022-06-04T13:27:55","slug":"100-days-of-war-death-destruction-and-loss-the-new-york-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=13556","title":{"rendered":"“100 Days of War: Death, Destruction and Loss”, The New York Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Valerie Hopkins,\u00a0<\/span>Neil MacFarquhar,\u00a0<\/span>Steven Erlanger<\/span> and Michael Levenson, June 4, 2022<\/span><\/p>\n

One hundred days ago, before sunrise, Russia launched artillery strikes on Ukraine before sending troops racing toward major cities, beginning a war<\/a> against a much smaller country and outnumbered military that seemed destined to quickly topple the government in Kyiv.<\/p>\n

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Ukrainian soldiers being examined for injuries and ailments at an aid station in the city of Bakhmut, on Friday.<\/span>Credit…<\/span>Ivor Prickett for The New York Times<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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But the brutal invasion has ripped apart those predictions, reawakening old alliances, testing others and spreading death and destruction across the country. Both armies are now locked in fierce and bloody battles across a 600-mile-long front for control of Ukraine\u2019s east and to gain the upper hand in the conflict.<\/p>\n

The winner, if there is one, is not likely to emerge even in the next 100 days, analysts say. Some foresee an increasingly intractable struggle in eastern Ukraine and a growing confrontation between President Vladimir V. Putin<\/a> of Russia and the West.<\/p>\n

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New Western arms promised to Ukraine \u2014 such as long-range missiles announced by President Biden this week \u2014 could help it reclaim some towns, which would be significant for civilians in those areas, said Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, a political risk consulting organization. But they are unlikely to dramatically alter the course of the war, he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Ukrainian soldiers from the 95th Air Assault Brigade carrying water near their base in Ukraine\u2019s eastern Donetsk region, on Friday.<\/span>Credit…<\/span>Finbarr O’Reilly for The New York Times<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Squeezed by tightening Western sanctions, Russia, he said, was likely to retaliate with cyberattacks, espionage and disinformation campaigns. And a Russian naval blockade of Ukrainian grain is likely to worsen a food crisis in poor countries.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re looking at now is what the war in Ukraine is likely to look like in 100 days, not radically different,\u201d Mr. Bremmer said. \u201cBut I think the confrontation with the West has the potential to be significantly worse.\u201d<\/p>\n

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said defiantly Friday that \u201cvictory will be ours,\u201d and noted overnight that 50 foreign embassies had resumed \u201ctheir full-fledged activities\u201d in Kyiv, a sign of the fragile sense of normalcy returning to the capital.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, more than three months into a war that has radically altered Europe\u2019s security calculus, killed thousands on both sides, displaced more than 12 million people <\/a>and spurred a humanitarian crisis, Russian forces now control one-fifth of the country \u2014 an area greater than the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg combined.<\/p>\n

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Asked during a briefing with reporters what Russia had achieved in Ukraine after 100 days, Dmitri S. Peskov, the presidential spokesman, said that many populated areas had been \u201cliberated\u201d from the Ukrainian military, whom he described as \u201cNazi-minded,\u201d doubling down on a false narrative the Kremlin has used to justify the invasion.<\/p>\n

The International Committee of the Red Cross said Friday that the invasion had caused destruction<\/a> that \u201cdefies comprehension,\u201d adding, \u201cIt would be hard to exaggerate the toll that the international armed conflict in Ukraine has had on civilians over the last 100 days.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n