Monday marks the fourth anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a conflict that has claimed nearly 2 million casualties and displaced close to 10 million people as refugees and internally displaced persons.
Neither country has disclosed official casualty figures since the war began. The Center for Strategic and International Studies estimates Russian casualties at approximately 1.2 million and Ukrainian casualties at around 600,000.
Fighting continues as Ukraine, Russia, and the United States fail to reach agreement in ceasefire negotiations. The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine reports that Russian forces have executed Ukrainian prisoners of war while Ukrainian forces have engaged in torture and abuse of Russian captives, rendering the Geneva Conventions on humane treatment of POWs effectively void.
Ukrainian civilians face particularly dire conditions. Since October last year, Russian forces have targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure, cutting electricity, heating, and water supplies nationwide.
Conditions for displaced persons continue to deteriorate. According to the Norwegian Refugee Council, 3.712 million people are internally displaced within Ukraine while 5.349 million have fled to Europe. Seventy-one percent have been displaced for more than two years.
"Actual civilian casualties likely exceed official statistics when accounting for Russian-occupied territories and civilian control zones," said Doo Jin-ho, director of the Eurasia Research Center at the Korea Institute for National Strategy. "Over 20 percent of Ukraine's population has fled abroad or to other domestic regions, and more than 10 million vulnerable individuals including the elderly depend on emergency humanitarian assistance."
Meanwhile, Russia has warned South Korea of retaliation if Seoul joins the Priority Ukraine Resource List, a Western weapons supply program for Ukraine.
"If South Korea participates, we will have no choice but to exercise our right to retaliate, including asymmetric measures," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told TASS news agency on Friday. "Any form of direct or indirect material support from South Korea will only delay resolution of the conflict."