Russia’s two-week war to wipe Ukraine off the map has now passed its two-year anniversary. Its cost to Russia has been enormous. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s folly has resulted in nearly 400,000 Russian casualties, representing more than one-third of its active-duty military. Russian casualties in Ukraine now exceed by a factor of four those of the Red Army in Afghanistan in a conflict that lasted almost a decade.
On Feb. 21, 2022, Putin addressed Russians from the Kremlin. “Ukraine is not just a neighboring country for us,” he declared. “It is an inalienable part of our own history, culture and spiritual space.” He followed with a historical invective meant to delegitimize Ukrainian nationalism and identity. Once again, he singled out religion. “Kyiv continues to prepare the destruction of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate,” he explained. Three days later, Russian forces poured across the border.
