Two years ago, the world watched in horror as war broke out in Ukraine.
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As the weeks wore on, villages, towns and entire cities were obliterated.
Ukraine, led by president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, vowed to fight to the end. Russia, meanwhile, was belligerent in the face of international censure.
Back then, no one could have imagined the war would still be continuing, with no end in sight, two years on.
And yet, this is the state of play.
![People in railway station of western Ukrainian city of Lviv waiting for the train to Poland, February 26, 2022. Picture Shutterstock People in railway station of western Ukrainian city of Lviv waiting for the train to Poland, February 26, 2022. Picture Shutterstock](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/9gmjQxX8MpSQh6J68NHMnY/6bfa5628-8fca-4c1a-aef8-71b64fca3fcc.jpg/r0_393_7360_4842_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Russia claims full control of the conflict, with Putin repeatedly insisting on a victory. Zelenskyy, meanwhile, has in the past week announced Ukraine has downed seven Russian fighter jets.
The true human cost of the conflict, while considerable, remains unknown, as both sides have been concealing their losses, with different motives.
And the West - including the US and Australia - is growing weary, with many military experts viewing the war as a stalemate.
Aid from the US, which has been significant throughout, is now tied up in Congress, with President Joe Biden warning further losses will be inevitable if military assistance is not renewed.
It hasn't helped matters that another equally if not more urgent conflict has also erupted in the Middle-East, one with far more complex historical fault lines than the invasion of Ukraine.
It has been easy for many people to lose sight of what's happening in Ukraine, for images of fallen cities and fleeing citizens to be superseded by horrifying footage of hospitals destroyed and reports of dead children.
But we must not forget Ukraine, however remote it now seems, with another war dominating the headlines.
The fact remains that, as the conflict enters its third year, the consequences of a Russian victory would be so much worse than anything the world could have imagined in February 2022.
Failure on the part of Ukraine cannot be considered an option.
This is a message reiterated by the Ukrainian ambassador to Australia this week, as he pleaded for a long-term aid plan from Australia similar to that provided by other countries.
He stood alongside European ambassadors in Australia on Friday in a show of solidarity, and called for aid sent to the besieged nation to be regarded as an investment in security, rather than an act of charity.
"We see how it's really impacting Australia right now, we see the increasing pressure on the cost of living, higher prices of fuel," Vasyl Myroshnychenko said.
He is, for better or worse, framing the conflict as "a war against basic principles that should underpin our living together", one that all civilised nations should take personally.
The Australian government has, to date, provided about $960 million in support for Ukraine including 120 armoured Bushmaster vehicles.
Australian personnel have also provided assistance in training Ukrainian soldiers in the UK.
We can always do more, but how much can our assistance be expected to help, two years in?
Meanwhile, Russia is not doing itself any favours in recent international headlines.
The death of former opposition leader Alexei Navalny in a Siberian prison is yet another example the oppressive, anti-democratic tactics at play in that country.
The world looks on, and knows the victory of an autocrat such as Putin is untenable.