President Biden ruled out sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine “for now,” saying the U.S. military deemed other military support such as tanks and air defense more crucial at this stage.
Kyiv has ramped up pleas for fighter jets since the United States and European countries pledged to send heavy tanks, but as Ukraine’s allies rallied to mark one year of war, Biden told ABC News that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “doesn’t need F-16s now.”
Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.
Maps show how the war in Ukraine has evolved: Since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine one year ago, weapons have punctuated the landscape: Missiles streak through the skies, drones explode outside building windows, and the booms of artillery echo through the days and nights.
As Russia retreated from Kyiv and the north last spring, the fighting became consolidated in the east, forming what is the current front line. Data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project organization shows how the battlefield changed over the year, Samuel Granados and Ruby Mellen report. While not comprehensive, the information gives a sense of how conflict’s geographic focus and intensity have evolved.
One year of Russia’s war in Ukraine
Portraits of Ukraine: Every Ukrainian’s life has changed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion one year ago — in ways both big and small. They have learned to survive and support each other under extreme circumstances, in bomb shelters and hospitals, destroyed apartment complexes and ruined marketplaces. Scroll through portraits of Ukrainians reflecting on a year of loss, resilience and fear.
Battle of attrition: Over the past year, the war has morphed from a multi-front invasion that included Kyiv in the north to a conflict of attrition largely concentrated along an expanse of territory in the east and south. Follow the 600-mile front line between Ukrainian and Russian forces and take a look at where the fighting has been concentrated.
A year of living apart: Russia’s invasion, coupled with Ukraine’s martial law preventing fighting-age men from leaving the country, has forced agonizing decisions for millions of Ukrainian families about how to balance safety, duty and love, with once-intertwined lives having become unrecognizable. Here’s what a train station full of goodbyes looked like last year.
Deepening global divides: President Biden has trumpeted the reinvigorated Western alliance forged during the war as a “global coalition,” but a closer look suggests the world is far from united on issues raised by the Ukraine war. Evidence abounds that the effort to isolate Putin has failed and that sanctions haven’t stopped Russia, thanks to its oil and gas exports.
