It was supposed to be a lightning war. One hundred days on, the Russo-Ukrainian war shows little sign of ending.
It is a contemporary conflict but one fought with weaponry more traditionally associated with the 20th century – heavy artillery and tanks – and methods more reminiscent of medieval barbarities, such as sieges and targeting of civilian populations. It is evolving into a war of attrition, one in which neither side seems able to deliver a decisive blow, but one that neither side can afford to lose. Stalemate.
In February, and despite President Putin’s unhinged, menacing rhetoric and his baleful track record in Crimea, Syria and Georgia, the war did not seem inevitable.
