As Ukraine reaches the milestone of 100 days since it awoke to the sounds of missiles exploding, air raid sirens wailing and warplanes circling overhead, the impact of the war is only just starting to take shape in Europe and beyond.
Before that gloomy morning, Russia’s army was feared for its lightning speed, its oil and gas kept Europe’s lights on in winter and its President Vladimir Putin was a man for western leaders to reason with. Nato was at a low ebb after its humiliation in Afghanistan, Ukraine’s wheat fields fed entire countries, Sweden and Finland were neutral nations and Volodymyr Zelenskyy was best known outside Ukraine for his cameo in a Donald Trump scandal.
Some of that changed within hours. By the evening of February 24, Mr Zelenskyy had swapped his suit jacket for the olive-green, action-man T-shirt that soon became his trademark, becoming the face of a people he vowed would “never give up their freedom … to anyone”.
The weeks that followed saw Russia’s military aura evaporate as a bungled assault on Kyiv, heavy casualties, clumsy communications and effective Ukrainian resistance forced its generals to rethink their approach. Politicians who had courted Mr Putin were shamed for their naivete.
Read More ‘: https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/europe/2022/06/03/how-100-days-of-war-in-ukraine-changed-europe/
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