The Russian-Ukrainian conflict has reached the half-year node! US media: The world is standing on the edge of the knife and still feels that it is just a prelude
[Global Times Comprehensive Report] Wednesday (August 24) is Ukraine's 31st Independence Day, and it is also the half-year time point for Russia to launch a special military operation against Ukraine.
Six months have passed, and the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine in Donetsk and other places is still continuing. The alarm at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant has not been lifted. It seems that the intermittent grain ships from the port are not enough to carry people's expectations and trust for ceasefire and peace, let alone make up for the heavy price paid by the whole world for this conflict.
The past six months have given NATO an excuse for a new round of expansion, and given U.S. arms dealers huge orders, but it has failed to bring the security that Ukraine wants.
The past six months have given the United States, Europe and their small partners a stage to show "solidarity", and have also given many countries that refused to join the anti-Russian camp an opportunity to raise the voice of multi-polarization in the world.
Bloomberg News in the United States believes: "The past six months have changed the lives of countless people immeasurably - and the world order." The Washington Post said on the 22nd, "In the past six months of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the world has stood on the edge of a knife. on", "We still feel that this is just a prologue".
The shadow of the attack continues, and the propaganda war escalates
The military conflict between Russia and Ukraine is still ongoing, and both sides claim that the other side will launch a new "provocation" at the time point on the 24th.
According to Ukrainian TSN TV and other media reports, due to security reasons, the Kyiv city authorities have cancelled all mass events from the 22nd to the 25th, and government workers have also been asked to work from home this week.
According to a report on the Russian NSN website on the 22nd, from 19:00 on the 23rd to 7:00 on the 25th, the Kharkiv region will adopt curfew measures, and the Ukrainian Railway Company has cancelled the train to Kharkiv.
According to the Russian "Independence" report, this week is very important for Ukraine, and Ukrainian President Zelensky pointed out that Kyiv is preparing for the celebration of Independence Day.
A senior Ukrainian official recently announced that a new attack on Crimea could not be ruled out.
The "Crimea Platform" online summit planned to be held on the 23rd will be attended by representatives of dozens of countries and international organizations, including the NATO secretary general. Kyiv may be allowed to use NATO weapons to strengthen the military against Crimea. provocative.
Russia celebrates Flag Day on the 22nd.
President Vladimir Putin said in a speech, "The flag symbolizes our belief in traditional values that we will never give up... Never allow any foreign hegemony to call the shots. Our desire to live according to our own will, to choose our own path, has become our people's desire. part of the genetic code".
According to a report by the TASS news agency on the 22nd, on the day of the Russian Flag Day, a 200-square-meter Russian flag was unfolded over the Mariupol Azov Steel Plant where fierce fighting broke out.
According to the head of the United Russia Party Youth Guard, this move is to declare that life in the "Donbas Liberated Area" has basically been on the right track, and "the future will be better."
According to Russia's "Liberty Media" report on the 22nd, Russia is building a peaceful life in the "liberated areas" of the Kherson, Zaporozhye and Kharkiv regions.
Now local residents are preparing for the start of the school year, Russian passports are fully issued, digital television is on in Herson, and a ferry service in Mariupol is launched.
RIA Novosti said on the 22nd that preparations for the formation of the first court to try the prisoners of the Azov Battalion in Mariupol are nearly complete.
And Zelensky said that if Russia tried the Ukrainian prisoners of war in Mariupol, then Ukraine and Russia "will no longer hold any possibility of negotiations."
Six months into the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, both sides have stepped up their propaganda campaign.
According to the Ukrainian State News Agency reported on the 22nd, the Ukrainian Army General Staff listed the losses of the Russian army in the first six months on Facebook, including the loss of more than 45,400 troops.
The report also quoted a Russian military expert as saying that "Ukraine is in the stage of consolidating its success."
The spokesman of the Russian Ministry of Defense also listed the results of the destruction of 267 Ukrainian aircraft, 148 helicopters, and 1,790 drones since the start of the special military operation.
Can't see the ending, or just the prologue?
Agence France-Presse said on the 22nd that six months ago, the Russian army launched a military operation against Ukraine that they had hoped to be a "blitzkrieg", which has now turned into a hard "war of attrition", and there is no clear ending.
Many areas in eastern and southern Ukraine are already under the control of Russian forces.
At the same time, Russia is also under Western sanctions, but few predict that Putin will soon end his slow but steady in-depth action against Ukraine as he characterizes the conflict as part of Russia's resistance to NATO expansion, saying any failure are unacceptable.
France's 24-hour news TV said that in the past six months, both Russia and Ukraine have suffered serious casualties and material losses, but both sides seem reluctant to consider a ceasefire.
"In the past six months of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the world is on the edge of the knife." The Washington Post said on the 22nd that the fog of war, ideology and even the conflict of historical heritage still shrouded Ukraine, a country that is now full of trenches.
Ukrainians see themselves as being on the front lines of a global war between "democracy and autocracy", while Russia does not, viewing Ukraine as a "puppet state" and calling its regime "a pawn of the West".
Western sanctions have had a severe impact on the Russian economy: half of the country's foreign exchange reserves have been frozen, hundreds of Western companies have withdrawn from the Russian market, and key oil and gas exports are now being sold at a discount.
But Western optimism may soon be waning: In Europe, the bleak but certain prospect of an approaching winter and soaring energy costs raises questions about whether the West can support Ukraine's Military action?
And now there is particular concern that the scope of risk will continue to expand: from destructive attacks on civilian areas, to cross-border assassination and sabotage plots, to the ever-present threat of nuclear miscalculation.
"We still feel that this is just a prelude to a six-month long war."
"Even after six months of war, the West has nothing substantial to offer Ukraine in terms of permanent security." The US Atlantic Council said on the 21st that the first six months of the war challenged various attempts to be optimistic : Diplomacy has failed, US threats have failed, and NATO's increased military presence in Eastern Europe has failed to deter Russia.
The article said that Russia's military operations in Ukraine will be "protracted", and the outcome of the war depends on how long Western countries can hold on to weapons and financial support.
"Wondering how our politicians can be so blind?" The British "Guardian" said on the 21st that in Germany, intellectuals collected thousands of signatures on a petition asking the German government to stop sending arms to Ukraine because it may leading to the "third world war".
"We want a policy of peace, not war," they wrote.
German Chancellor Scholz promised Kyiv "soon" to provide more "most modern and efficient" weapons and equipment.
Hit the world economy and change the international order
Bloomberg said on the 22nd that the past six months have changed the lives of countless people immeasurably - and the world order, and the next six months may be equally unpredictable.
India's "National Herald" on the 22nd pointed out that this is a "proxy war" between Russia and the West, and "Ukraine is just a battlefield."
The article asked: "If the ambition of the West is to resolutely weaken Putin, can Zelensky prevent this war?"
According to Vox News of the United States, the essence of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict may be "the return of war between superpowers".
The Biden administration paints a picture of a world where allies are united against Russia, but the reality shows a "more complicated picture."
While Europe and NATO have rediscovered the reasons and goals to mobilize against Russia, many emerging market and developing countries, including many in Africa, Asia and Latin America, have not firmly sided with the West in sanctions against Russia.
Analysts watched the countries' response as a "resurgent non-aligned movement".
At present, there are various international predictions about the prospect of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, but it has become a consensus that this conflict has posed a "destructive threat" to the world economy.
The Associated Press said on the 21st that more than two years after the new crown virus pandemic ravaged global trade, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has made the world economy worse.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut its forecast for the global economy last month, the fourth time in a year that it has lowered its forecast for the global economy.
Rising food and energy prices are pushing 71 million people into poverty around the world, the United Nations Development Programme says.
Countries in the Balkans and sub-Saharan Africa have been hit the hardest.
Europe, which has relied on Russian oil and gas for years, is on the brink of recession.
CNN reported on the 21st that after the Russian-Ukrainian conflict lasted for half a year, Europeans hoped to see the war "end before Christmas" than Zelensky.
In the coming months, many Europeans will have to "choose between heating and eating".
Given that European countries already host large numbers of Ukrainian refugees, it is difficult for their governments to justify spending money and energy to support a far-flung country.