Russia: The last empire that exports 'death'

Local residents gather around a bonfire during an outdoor party to keep warm as many apartments remain without heating in Kyiv on January 18, 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. [AFP]

Recently, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha drew attention to a stark and unsettling fact. Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine has now lasted longer than the bloodiest part of World War 2 which involved two monstrous dictatorships of the time, Germany’s Adolf Hitler and the USSR’s Josef Stalin in the meat grinder of 1941–1945.

Now, same as in the bloodiest war of the 20th century, it’s more than 1,400 days since Russia’s Vladimir Putin launched his unprovoked attack on peaceful Ukraine.