Feb. 24 marks the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which was preceded by its takeover of the Ukrainian territory of Crimea in 2014, as well as some parts of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine that borders Russia, where fighting is now ongoing.
Over the past four years, Russia has been attacking all of Ukraine, including the capital Kiev. In response, Ukraine has been carrying out effective drone warfare inside Russia’s borders. The dead and wounded on both sides make up by far the highest number of casualties in any conflict in Europe since World War II.
A recent Center for Strategic and International Studies report estimated that Russia has suffered 1.2 million battle casualties, including 325,000 soldiers killed and 500,000 to 600,000 Ukrainian casualties, including 100,000 to 140,000 of its forces killed. Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with Ben Linden, Amnesty International’s advoca
MELINDA TUHUS: So back when this started, I had some sympathy for the Russian position that they were being encroached upon, that a lot of Eastern European countries were joining NATO. There were others that wanted to join and they were butting right up against Russian territory. And there had, I guess I had read, presumably been some kind of agreement that that would not happen. Now, four years later, I see killing on both sides, but of course Russia is still hammering away at Ukrainian territory. And also a month into the war, both Putin and Zelensky, apparently there was talk of some kind of a deal. And then my understanding is that the U.S. told Ukraine, don’t do the deal, keep fighting. Were there points anywhere along the way where this unbelievable bloodletting could have been avoided or minimized?
BEN LINDEN: It’s an interesting question. I think what is clear though is that Russia has continued to just push forward in its aggressive approach, really targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure over the course of the entire war. The important thing also to bear in mind is that we don’t want it to end in a way that is unsustainable. We want it to end permanently. And the administration has said the same thing.
Marco Rubio has said, we don’t want to be back here in two, three years fighting the same war because we’d left things unaddressed. I think from a human rights perspective, that means accountability for the crimes that have been committed, for the alleged crimes and for the potential crimes against international law, including the crime of aggression committed by Russia. If that accountability does not happen, it leaves grievances that can fester over time and then reignite the conflict.
So of course, we could end up in a situation where we have a transactional approach to ending the war. You know give a little territory, do a prisoner exchange. Some of those things can be good and they can be part of a larger process. But we need to think through what happens the next day and how are we addressing the harm, particularly towards civilians, but also towards prisoners of war who have been mistreated by Russia making whole, the civilians who have lost even just property or not to mention members of their families or their communities and really going through a process there.
MELINDA TUHUS: Is there any player who could step up and maybe make a difference in negotiations? They would actually result in something rather than just talking?
BEN LINDEN: Yeah, it’s a really good question. I mean, I think it’s incumbent on anyone with power. And that includes also people that have power, people on the ground, regular people that have power to emphasize the importance of having an inclusive approach to this process that emphasizes the dignity of the people on the ground, the civilians and the people of Ukraine who are suffering as a result of this war. So whether that’s the pope or China coming and bearing pressure on Putin or the U.S. administration or Congress—I think there’s a role for everybody to play.
And I also just want to emphasize it’s not just about outsiders coming in and kind of bringing their pressure to bear. Ukrainians themselves are also standing up for their rights. We see this every day. It doesn’t make headlines, but we see members of civil society—hospitals running without electricity or without heat so often. Teachers that are standing up and sometimes under occupation teaching Ukrainian curricula in secret. Just everyday people kind of trying to do their part. And that’s really something. And frankly not even—and this is incredible—not even just against Russia, but against their own government at times when it’s been necessary. So even last year, we had Zelensky’s government basically try to crack down on the anti-corruption office, which corruption is a long-standing problem in Ukraine, but you’ve had civil society standing up against corruption and for more transparent government.
[Producer’s clarification: While the civilian death toll in Ukraine was higher in 2025 than in either of the previous two years, it was not higher than the first year of the war.]
See more articles and opinion pieces in the related links section of this page. For periodic updates on the Trump authoritarian playbook, subscribe here to our Between The Lines Radio Newsmagazine Substack newsletter.
