📌The attacks have targeted ports and oil🛢️ terminals in the Baltic and Black Sea, exposing weaknesses in Russia’s air defences and temporarily halting up to 40% of export capacity, according to Reuters.
People visit a cemetery filled with flags and tributes around graves
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Graves of Ukrainian soldiers who died during the war, at the Lychakiv cemetery in Lviv. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
Ukraine is paying a heavy price too. Kyiv does not publish its casualty figures, but Ukrainian officials, including Zelenskyy, have said the country’s losses are roughly a third of Russia’s – a figure that would still amount to about 10,000 killed or wounded each month.
On a recent Guardian visit to a newly opened military cemetery outside Kyiv, rows of freshly dug graves stood as a stark reminder of the war’s toll.
Ukraine also continues to grapple with recruitment challenges, which at times have spilled into the open.
Draft dodging persists, and viral scenes of conscripts being forcibly taken to recruitment centres remain a fixture on Ukrainian social media. In Lviv last week, a mobilisation officer was stabbed to death while attempting to draft a man.
At the same time, Kyiv faces mounting financial pressure. Ukraine risks running out of funds to sustain its defence within months, with Hungary’s vetoing of a €90bn EU package underscoring the fragility of western support.
Despite the high costs for both sides, a European official said that, without a diplomatic breakthrough, the war was expected to continue into next year.
“Both sides still have enough resources to keep going,” they added.
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