The February 2026 edition of the IRMO Brief, authored by Kateryna Shymkevych deals with the ongoing war in Ukraine after Russia launched full-scale invasion four years ago, and its impacts on regional, European and global security. In February 2022 the plan of the invading Russian forces was to take over Ukraine in a blitz, but to the surprise of the whole international community, they had faced a fierce Ukrainian resistance. Even more, by the end of 2022, Ukraine forces had push back the Russian troops from huge swathes of occupied territories around Kyiv, Harkiv and Herson. However, from 2023 to present the conflict has turned into a war of attrition, with hundreds of thousands of dead and wounded on both sides, with a level of destruction unwitnessed in Europe since World War Two. Because of the war on European soil, European NATO allies, including major EU powers like Germany and France, and the UK, had been united in supporting Ukraine, while NATO itself welcomed two more member states, Finland and Sweden. At the same time, the US who has been supporting Ukraine since the beginning of the first phase of war in 2014, has not been able to reach a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia. The author also analyses how Russia’s war against Ukraine is diminishing its traditional sphere of influence in the South Caucasus and Central Asia, and eroding support for the continuation of the war among its allies including Venezuela and Iran.
Four Years of Russia’s Full-Scale War Against Ukraine: Regional Ramifications and Global Impacts
