Four years after Russia invaded Ukraine with its full might, how has the war changed its various protagonists? It’s a question worth asking, even with no immediate end to the conflict in sight.

To someone who has been visiting Ukraine for 35 years, before and during the war, its response has been astonishing. This was for decades the most frustrating of nations, a talented people thwarted and poisoned by levels of corruption so corrosive that the country was unable to progress. Russian aggression has made this nation, even while trying to destroy it.

That isn’t just about the last four years of high-intensity warfare, but also the full 12 years of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s assault on the country. That began with Crimea’s annexation and the fomenting and arming of a separatist insurgency in the east. Had Putin gone for a full invasion in 2014, there is little doubt he would have succeeded. The formal Ukrainian military was so gutted that it could field only 6,000 combat troops. The country’s defense had to be mounted by volunteers; their arms and uniforms were crowdfunded or paid for by oligarchs.

© The Japan Times