Russia-Ukraine War: Here's How World Changed As The Conflict Enters Second Year

As the Ukraine-Russia war enters Year 2, here's what has changed around the world: From food crisis to one of the biggest refugee crises -- here's all you need to know.

New Delhi: When Russia launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine by land, air, and sea last year, it was the first large-scale war of aggression in Europe since World War II and had serious implications for countries around the world.

One year on, thousands of Ukrainian civilians are dead, countless buildings have been reduced to rubble, and tens of thousands of troops on both sides have been killed or seriously wounded. Beyond Ukraine’s borders, the invasion shattered European security, reshaped international relations, and frayed a tightly woven global economy.

The conflict has not only put the stability of Europe in danger, but it also impacted global food and energy security, including in the Middle East and Africa, causing shockwaves in a world still reeling from the Covid pandemic.

Here are the ways the war has changed the world

Refugee Crisis

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Since the Russian invasion, 6.8 million Ukrainians have fled the nation, with at least an additional 7.7 million internally displaced. After initially fleeing to neighbouring countries, at least three million continued their journey.

Aside from Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic are currently hosting the most Ukrainian refugees, with around 727,000 and 348,000, respectively.

The UNHCR further noted that close to two million Ukrainians have returned to their country since they first fled the war although some of this could be a back-and-forth movement. 

Food Crisis

Ukraine produces almost half of the world’s sunflower oil. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Ukraine accounts for 15 per cent of global trade in corn and 10 per cent of global wheat trade. Such exports have been halted by the conflict, with Russia continuing to block grain at Ukraine's Black Sea ports.

This blockade has been felt most acutely in nations that rely on imports of Ukrainian grains and cooking oil, such as Egypt and India respectively.

Others fear that the conflict, along with extreme weather caused by climate change and pandemic-induced economic shock, is triggering a global food crisis. In May last year, the UN Security Council warned that global hunger levels have reached “a new high,” adding that tens of millions could face long-term famine due to the war.

Energy Crisis

Russia is the largest exporter of natural gas worldwide, the second-largest supplier of crude oil, and the third-largest coal exporter. 

Before the war began, three-quarters of its gas and nearly half of its crude oil had been going to Europe. Russian oil, gas and coal accounted for a quarter of the EU’s energy consumption in 2020. But after Russia invaded Ukraine, the EU sought to end its reliance on Russian energy. “We simply cannot rely on a supplier who explicitly threatens us,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said last year in March.

The invasion and sanctions slapped on Russia in response, delivered an energy price shock on a scale not seen since the 1970s.

It triggered an energy crisis in Europe of scarce supplies and record-high prices. But thanks to a combination of preparation and luck, Europe has avoided blackouts and power cutoffs. Instead, developing countries, including Pakistan, have contended with electricity outages on the back of unaffordably high global natural gas prices.

Shifting Alliances

The outbreak of war in Europe resulted in a political constellation of three different groups of nations- those who sided with Russia, those who pledged support to Ukraine, and a group of non-aligned nations resisting involvement and/or hedging their bets.

European Union (EU) states quickly responded with major sanctions and action against Russia. Besides minor disagreements, such as over the oil price cap and Germany's reluctance to deliver tanks and other armaments, the bloc has mostly stayed together, contrary to Russian expectations and hopes.

In an unannounced visit to Ukraine, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised 125 anti-aircraft guns and other air-defense technology as he made an unannounced visit Saturday — his first — to Ukraine’s snow-blanketed war-time capital for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

In November last year, Rishi Sunak pledged £50m in defence aid to Ukraine after he met President Volodymyr Zelensky on his first visit to Kyiv since becoming prime minister. Recently, he also urged world leaders to send the most advanced weapons to Ukraine now in order to secure its long-term future.

Putin, on the other hand, sided with old allies such as Syria’s Bashar al-Assad and Belarus’s Aliaksandr Lukashenka and entered a closer strategic relationship with Iran.

In Asia, only a handful of governments stood strongly with Ukraine – Singapore, South Korea, and Japan. The region’s largest rising powers – China, India, and Indonesia – have all refused to take a side.