Russia’s Brutal War on Ukraine Enters Fifth Year—With No Sign of Relenting
Four years ago yesterday, war returned to Europe. Before dawn on Feb. 24, 2022, Russian artillery and air strikes started pummeling Ukrainian cities, and tens of thousands of Russian troops poured across the borders in a four-pronged offensive, setting history dramatically into motion.
Russian President Vladimir Putin expected this “special military operation” to be swift and decisive, a lightning strike that would seize Kyiv, collapse the Ukrainian command structure, topple its leadership, and force a political settlement before the world could react. He envisioned it happening much in the way that he had seized Crimea from Ukraine nine years earlier. It could all be over in as little as three days.
But Ukraine refused to follow the script.
Four years later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is still in Kyiv, Ukrainian forces continue to fiercely contest every kilometer of the battlefield, and the will of the people has hardened like iron. What began as a lightning assault has slowed into a brutal war of endurance—one measured not in days but years.
Many in the West argue that the strain on Russia cannot last, that the country will falter, its system fracture, and that Putin himself will be swept aside.
But Putin shows no sign of relenting. He keeps the war raging with a narrative convincing his people that the conflict is existential, a retooled war economy and significant help from Russia’s partner nations. And biblical prophecy shows he is only getting started.
‘Russia’s Survival Is at Stake’
Early in the war, Putin told his people: “For us, this is not a geopolitical task, but a task of the survival of Russian statehood, creating conditions for the future development of the country and our children.”
This is a message he has saturated the Russian people with. As a result of his endless propaganda, most view the war as a civilizational struggle—a defensive campaign against a hostile West that is hellbent on weakening or even dismantling Russia.
This narrative ignores three inconvenient truths: Before Russia launched its full-scale invasion, Europe was strategically complacent and militarily underfunded; Europe was systematically blocking Ukraine from membership in both nato and the European Union; and the present war began not through diplomatic collapse or Western expansion but when Russian forces crossed Ukraine’s borders.
None of those facts stop Putin from inundating his people with speeches and state propaganda saying he had no choice but to invade—and that Russia must keep warring.
Though his claims have little grounding in the war’s actual origins, they serve a strategic purpose: People convinced they are fighting for survival are willing to sacrifice sons, financial stability and most anything else. And they are willing to keep sacrificing month after month and year after year.
Andrei Kolesnikov, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, phrased it plainly: “Many in the country have now fully accepted that this war will not go away and believe that they need to learn to live under the reality.”
The War Machine That Won’t Break Down
Many Western voices have said in recent months that the Russian Federation is on the cusp of losing the war because of impending economic collapse. This view fails to recognize how thoroughly Putin has transformed Russia into a war economy. The whole system now directs resources and priorities, not to serving the needs of its people, but to serving the demands of the war.
Of course, war causes destruction and death, and Russia has suffered an astonishing 1.2 million casualties so far. Over the long term, death and destruction weaken an economy. But war also prompts torrents of government spending, wide-scale industrial retooling and innovation, surges in production and full employment. A war economy can fuel considerable growth in gross domestic product for years longer than often seems possible.
Before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine four years ago, a significant share of its workforce sat idle and many factories operated below capacity. In the 1,462 days since, the country has mobilized much of that dormant economic potential. Unemployment has fallen to record lows, and industrial plants are running at full tilt to supply soldiers with weapons, ammunition, vehicles and drones. As a result, Russia’s economic growth has outpaced that of major economies such as Germany and the United Kingdom.
Available evidence suggests Russia’s leadership could keep the war machine running at its current pace—and stave off economic collapse—for far longer than many observers would expect or hope.
“If you compare Russia’s war economy to historical ones like Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union and even Vietnam-era U.S.A.,” economist Joeri Schasfoort said in a recent Money and Macro episode, “it actually looks like Russia’s war economy is just getting started.”
Comrades in the Trenches
Putin also has friends—partner nations who are throwing him lifeline after lifeline to keep the war raging.
North Korea has emerged as one of Russia’s most consequential allies in the war, having sent as many as 15,000 troops to fight alongside Putin’s forces. North Korea has also shipped more than 12 million artillery shells to Russia and an unknown number of ballistic missiles, self‑propelled guns and multiple rockets. North Korean ammunition, according to Ukrainian military intelligence, has at times accounted for up to 50 percent of Russian artillery rounds used in the war.
China’s support has been less overtly military but materially just as significant for Russia’s war economy. The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission’s 2026 report shows that China has provided Russia with some $10.3 billion worth of technology and advanced industrial equipment. This enables defense production, including specialized manufacturing machines and tools used to build missiles and war materiel. China also remains Russia’s primary source of dual‑use components and critical electronics used in weapons production. Intelligence agencies say Chinese‑supplied tooling, special chemicals and components are now present in at least 20 Russian defense factories. This has been key in sustaining Russia’s sanctioned industrial base.
Meanwhile, Iran has supplied Russia with thousands of Shahed drones and hundreds of short-range missiles, Belarus hosts Russian forces and weaponry—including nuclear missiles, and nations such as India maintain trade and energy ties that ease sanctions pressure. This is all instrumental in keeping Moscow’s war effort alive.
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Victory Soon?
However the war unfolds in the coming months, and as unsettling as it is to contemplate, we should expect Russia to most likely win the war. This assertion is based on what Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry has said about the role Putin will play in end-time events. Several Bible passages describe an Asian military alliance that will soon emerge. This massive power bloc is mentioned in the books of Daniel, Joel and Revelation, as well as especially detailed passages in Ezekiel 38 and 39. Ezekiel 38:2 says this Eastern alliance will be led by a “prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal” (Young’s Literal Translation). Mr. Flurry has maintained since late 2013 that these three names refer to Russia and two of its key cities and that the “prince” here is Vladimir Putin.
In his booklet The Prophesied ‘Prince of Russia,’ Mr. Flurry writes:
[Putin’s] track record, his nationality and his ideology show that he is fulfilling a linchpin Bible prophecy. The time frame of his rule also shows that nobody else could be fulfilling the Ezekiel 38 and 39 prophecy. … We need to watch Vladimir Putin closely. He is the “prince of Rosh” whom God inspired Ezekiel to write about 2,500 years ago!
In light of this, we should expect Putin not only to survive the war but to emerge from it positioned to lead a formidable Asian alliance of nations. This means some terribly grim years lie ahead for Ukraine, Russia and the whole world. But Mr. Flurry emphasizes that this grimness will not last long and will give way to a hope-filled future. He writes:
Vladimir Putin is a sign, literally a sign … of one of the most inspiring messages in the Bible. What we are seeing in Russia ultimately leads to the transition from man ruling man to God ruling man! … A great transition is about to occur.
To learn the details of these biblical prophecies and what Mr. Flurry calls “the most inspiring message in the Bible,” order your free copy of The Prophesied ‘Prince of Russia.’