‘A Real War Going On’: Mixed News From the Front Lines in Ukraine

The 2-year-old Ukraine war has hit a grim milestone amid the longest and most durable lull in fighting since the conflict began.

Almost as many Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in two years of fighting as American troops died in combat in Afghanistan over 14 years. Nolan Peterson/The Daily Signal

KYIV, Ukraine—The 2-year-old Ukraine war has hit a grim milestone amid the longest and most durable lull in fighting since the conflict began.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Jan. 29 said 2,269 Ukrainian soldiers have died since the conflict in eastern Ukraine began in spring 2014.

That toll almost matches the 2,381 American troops killed during roughly 14 years of combat operations in Afghanistan.

Ukraine's killed-in-action rate in such a short amount of time shows how serious the situation is in the country.

— Luke Coffey, director, Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy