It's now been 1,000 days since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, resulting in the deaths of unknown thousands of soldiers and civilians killed. Kyiv faces a new challenge in the coming months with the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised to cut U.S. funding to Ukraine and bring an end to the war.
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00:00A makeshift memorial in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, as residents here mark 1,000 days of
00:08war with Russia.
00:11Russia has occupied at least 160,000 square kilometres of Ukraine in their almost three-year
00:16invasion, or around 27 per cent of the country.
00:23Unusual Russian troop movement was first reported on Ukraine's border in November 2021, and
00:29after months of failed crisis talks, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced what he
00:34called a special military operation in Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the leader saying it
00:42was in defence of Russian citizens in Ukraine.
01:06In the hours that followed, hundreds of thousands of Russian troops invaded the former Soviet
01:11bloc nation from six directions, seeking to encircle and capture Kyiv.
01:18Military analysts expected Russia to quickly seize control, but rather than surrender,
01:23Russian President Volodymyr Zelensky remained defiant, ordering a general mobilisation.
01:44And the US hit Russia with a wave of sanctions that crippled its economy.
01:48But Putin refused to abandon the operation, bombarding Ukraine with missile strikes.
01:55Weary troops on both sides have now been fighting on numerous fronts for well over two years.
02:00It's become Europe's bloodiest conflict since World War II.
02:04Ukraine has documented the death of 12,000 civilians and 24,000 wounded, but accurate
02:11figures are expected to be much higher.
02:15Military losses are a close-guarded secret, but estimates based on Western intelligence
02:19place them at hundreds of thousands, in both Ukraine and Russia.
02:32Ukraine's economy has also suffered greatly.
02:35Around six million Ukrainians have fled the country, and the residents who remain are
02:40suffering with food, water and electricity shortages due to consistent Russian attacks.
03:01After relying on American funding for their defence against Russia, Ukraine now faces
03:05a new challenge, the inauguration of a new US president.
03:11Assuming office in January, Donald Trump is expected to lead a serious diplomatic push
03:16to force Moscow and Kyiv into ending the war, including promises to cut funding to Ukraine.
03:24Some political analysts believe this may involve pressuring Ukraine to give up its aspirations
03:28of becoming part of the NATO military alliance, and surrender territories currently occupied
03:34by Russia, and for Russia to relinquish their goals of demilitarising Ukraine.
03:41The outgoing Biden administration is set to announce additional support for Ukraine in
03:45the coming days, but as Trump's return to the White House inches closer, it's left
03:50both Ukraine and Russia scrambling to improve their battlefield positions ahead of any negotiations
03:56in the fast-approaching new year.
03:59Dolphine Chen and Rosie Greninger for Taiwan Plus.