European and NATO leaders commemorate the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine alongside President Zelenskyy in Kyiv. Photo: Volodymyr Zelenskyy Facebook.
As the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine passes, the future direction of the conflict is very much up in the air.
In what can only be described as an extraordinary shift in policy, the re-election of Donald Trump has seen the US, if not align itself directly with Russia, start to echo Russian talking points on who started the war, and to question the legitimacy of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s presidency in Ukraine by describing him as a “dictator”.
Further, the US is now demanding access to half of Ukraine’s huge reserves of natural resources – in particular rare earths – as payment for some $175 billion in US-supplied equipment and funding over the past three years and has sidelined both Europe and Ukraine in peace talks with Russia in Saudi Arabia.
Meanwhile in Europe, there appears to be widening realisation that it will have to step up in order to sustain Ukraine’s war effort in the likely future absence of US support, a point rammed home on Monday’s (24 February) third anniversary when European and NATO leaders fresh from a hastily organised summit in Paris converged on Kyiv to stand in solidarity with Zelenskyy.
European nations are now actively and openly wondering what Europe without the presence of the US would look like, and many have moved to dramatically increase their own defence spending in anticipation of a withdrawal of the US from Europe and possibly from NATO.
Trump’s actions have seen the US diverge not only from Europe’s support of Ukraine, but also that of Australia.
A resolution in the United Nations General Assembly on Monday saw 93 nations including Australia vote to condemn Russia’s ongoing invasion and demand an immediate withdrawal of Russian troops, while the US stood alongside noted pillars of democracy such as Russia itself, Belarus and North Korea, to vote against it.
In a statement on Monday’s anniversary, the Australian Government said it continued to stand with Ukraine.
“For three years, Ukraine has bravely resisted Russia’s illegal and immoral war of aggression,” it reads.
“Australia mourns the loss of life of Ukraine’s citizens and defenders, and the generational toll of Russia’s brutality.
“Australia has been clear since day one that Russia, and those enabling its illegal invasion, will face consequences,” it added.
“Once again, Australia calls on Russia to immediately end its war and adhere fully to its obligations under international law, including in relation to the protection of civilians and treatment of prisoners of war.”
But while the international game of geopolitical chess heats up, the war in Ukraine continues, with both sides making little ground in the stalemate that is the war-torn eastern and southern regions of the country.
Canberra-based Aspen Medical continues its support for Ukraine through its contracted work on behalf of the US Department of Defense and through its charitable foundation.
In 2023, the Alcoa Foundation provided a $500,000 grant to the Aspen Medical Foundation to train Ukrainian medical professionals and to help amputee patients.
The grant was to provide prosthetics for amputees and training for rehabilitation staff at the First Medical Union (FMU) which focused on three elements to address the surge in amputations and significant need for specialised training in-country – prosthetics, training, and developing partnerships.
Through the FMU’s Unbroken Project, the grant saw 55 patients receive high-quality prosthetic limbs or components at the Unbroken Rehabilitation Center in 2024.
Unbroken also offers patients individual recovery plans to assure effective results through mental health support, physical exercises, pain management techniques and self-control methods.
A Ukrainian soldier being fitted with his prosthetic at the FMU’s Unbroken Project in Lviv. Photo: Aspen Medical.
Alcoa Foundation’s funding enabled more than 250 healthcare professionals in Lviv to receive specialised training from Aspen Medical, and in May 2024 a pain relief and rehabilitation symposium was chaired by experts in pain management. The symposium highlighted the importance of comprehensive pain management for war-affected individuals, such as the integration of non-opioid treatment and psychological support.
Aspen Medical’s work through the Alcoa Foundation comes on top of training and symposia the company has conducted to train Ukrainian trauma surgeons in an effort to provide joint learning activities on wartime casualty care.
The symposia covered different topics and involved professional trauma specialists from the US and around the world coming together to choose a different topic each month. With all of these professionals in attendance, studies have been able to identify areas where the Ukrainian training could be ‘topped up’.
Aspen Medical’s Chief Operating Officer Andrew Lowe told Region last year that the scale and severity of casualties from the war hasn’t been seen for decades.
“They call it polytrauma,” he said. “The type of weaponry being used has a far greater velocity, with more shrapnel and greater heat, so you’ve got burn injuries on top of multiple fragmentation, which is a different type of injury. Its whole intent is to be more lethal.”
