The war in Ukraine entered its second year on Friday as fighting continues. The United Nations voted to demand Russia withdraw its forces, and G7 leaders are set to coordinate on more help for Ukraine.
The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a resolution on Thursday marking the war's anniversary and demanding Russia pull out and stop fighting.
Six countries joined Russia to vote no - Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea, Mali, Nicaragua and Syria. Russia's ally China was among he 32 abstentions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy hailed the vote.
"This resolution is a powerful signal of unflagging global support for Ukraine," he said in a post on Twitter.
Marking the date in Ukraine
Ukrainians have planned memorials, candle vigils and other remembrances for their tens of thousands of dead to mark the anniversary of the start of the war on 24 February 2022, when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine to seize Kyiv and topple the pro-European government
A fierce defense, and problems in the Russian army meant the invasion – which Russia calls a “special military operation” – became a full-scale war.
Zelensky will hold a news conference Friday, with commemorations across the country, including one in the town of Bucha, which has become a symbol of Russian atrocities, while priests will lead prayers for peace.
"Evil is still around, and the battle continues," Zelensky said late Thursday. "But we know for sure that it will end with our victory.”
Trench warfare
As the anniversary approached, the military reported increased Russian activity in the east and south, with at least 25 towns and villages in three northern regions along the Russian border under fire.
Ukraine had success with counter-offensives in late 2022 to win back much of the territory it had lost. Russia now controls around a fifth of Ukraine, and its military focus is on seizing the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, which together form the industrial area known as the Donbas near the Russian border.
In his state of the nation address Tuesday, Putin vowed to keep fighting, and he suspended Russia’s participation in the last remaining arms control treaty with the United States.
The war in Ukraine has settled into a kind of trench warfare, with rising losses on both sides. Casualties are impossible to verify, but some estimate Russia's at nearly 200,000 dead and wounded.
Global impact
Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed and millions of Ukrainians have fled their country, including 100,000 to France.
The war has damaged the world economy and put rifts in international relations.
With Putin raising the spectre of nuclear weapons and signalling a desire to double down, and Zelenskiy insisting on his country's sovereignty and Moscow's withdrawal, the prospects of peace appear bleak.
"We don't know when the war will end. But what we do know is that when the war ends, we need to ensure that history doesn't repeat itself," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told Reuters on Thursday.
"We need to ensure that we break the cycle of Russian aggression. We need to prevent Russia from chipping away at European security," he said.
(with newswires)
