Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelensky declared the year since Russia invaded his nation a “year of invincibility” in an event marking the first anniversary of the conflict. Photo by Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/EPA-EFE

“We are stronger than that,” Zelensky said. “It was a year of resilience. A year of care. A year of bravery. A year of pain. A year of hope. A year of endurance. A year of unity. Its main result is that we endured. We were not defeated. And we will do everything to gain victory this year!”

In hopes to bring an end to the war, United Nation member states voted overwhelmingly to adopt a draft resolution calling for a cease-fire in Ukraine during an emergency meeting of the General Assembly.

Neither side, however, has shown any sign of backing down, with Russian President Vladimir Putin maintaining his claims that Russia was forced into the invasion of Ukraine in order to protect what he described as “historically Russian lands” in his annual state of the nation address on Monday.

“I want to repeat: It was they who unleashed the war,” Putin said of Ukraine. “And we used and continue to use force to stop it.”

Garrett Martin, the co-director of the Transatlantic Policy Center in the School of International Service at American University, told UPI Putin was likely to persist as he is a 19th-century leader who thinks that Ukraine belongs to Russia.

“He doesn’t believe that Ukraine is a real country,” Martin said. “From his perspective, great countries have lots of rights, and other countries don’t.”

Russia initially expected to roll into Kyiv quickly and install its own government in Ukraine. However, one year later it appears the Kremlin was not prepared for the Ukrainian resistance and support from Western nations.

“There was real pessimism amongst many that Ukraine would not be able to survive at first, Martin. “Some of the strength and the reaction speed by other countries was surprising, specifically the sanctions package.”

International support for Ukraine was swift as Just days after Russia began its invasion, the United States announced a new round of sanctions on a host of Russian oligarchs who are supportive of the war. President Joe Biden also announced an effort to target Russian oligarchs through a new Justice Department task force called Task Force KleptoCapture.

The United States also swiftly banned imports of Russian oil with the European Union in October introducing a price cap on Russia’s crude oil in efforts to hamper Moscow’s ability to fund the war.

The impacts of the bans have been felt worldwide, as many nations relied on Russian oil. The war also threatened global food security as Russia blocked exports of Ukrainian grain from ports on the Black Sea until a deal in July — brokered by Turkey — allowed them to resume.

Russia’s invasion also brought with it the threat of nuclear disaster, as after failing to take Kyiv, Moscow changed its strategy and targeted the cities of Kherson and Mariupol in the South.

That led to fighting near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest plant in Europe. Russia has repeatedly shelled the plant, raising alarms that a nuclear emergency could be triggered.

In September a team of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency arrived at the plant to look for structural damage.

​​Rafael Grossi, the head of the IAEA, said the plant had sustained some damage and the integrity of the facility had been violated multiple times.

“I will continue to be worried about the plant until we have a situation which is more stable,” Grossi said according to Al Jazeera.

Twice Ukrainian authorities had to disconnect the plant from the main power grid so that they could extinguish fires that had broken out due to shelling. Inspectors from the United Nations have called for a nuclear safety and protection zone around the plant.

Putin on Monday also said Russia would suspend its participation in the New START nuclear reduction treaty — the last remaining arms control agreement it had with the United States.

Russia has also repeatedly attacked civilian infrastructure, which Zelensky has described as “energy terrorism.”

“To endure Russian energy terror and such a challenge is our national task, one of the main ones now,” Zelensky said in November. “The very fact that Russia resorted to terror against the energy industry shows the weakness of the enemy.

However, in the fall Ukraine was able to make a dramatic counteroffensive, pushing the Russians back and liberating the city of Kherson.

Heading into the spring, many analysts expect that Russia will conduct another offensive. Britain’s Ministry of Defense said that Russian soldiers were likely to come under increasing political pressure to conduct an offensive.

“It’s quite clear that Russia is doubling down here and wants to shift more of an offensive strategy as they are increasing defense spending,” Martin said. “There are strong signals that they may need to mobilize further.”

With another mobilization likely, Ukraine will be looking to the United States and other NATO countries for more support.

“There’s now the realization that this conflict is likely to go on for a long time and that leads to hard discussions about cost,” Martin said.

As Republicans have regained the U.S. House of Representatives, some have expressed a desire to cut aid to Ukraine. However, Martin said that if Ukraine continues to perform well on the battlefield, it would be hard to cut the aid. He also added that the United States is easily financially capable of supporting Ukraine.

“For the money going to Ukraine, we can certainly afford it,” Martin said. “It pales in comparison to a lot of other military spending that we do. The U.S. is only fourth per capita in spending to Ukraine.”

Last month, Biden announced that the United States would send 31 of its advanced Abrams tanks to Ukraine.

The Abrams tank is a high-mobility, low-profile assault vehicle that is used to dispatch heavily armored enemy forces. According to the U.S. Army, it is designed to increase survivability for its operators while being a lethal primary weapon on the ground.

The president said it will take months before Ukrainian troops will be able to effectively operate the Abrams tanks, but the United States will provide the support needed for them.

Germany has also said that it will send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, demonstrating that western support for Ukraine is still strong one year after the war began.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, whose nation had previously committed tanks to Ukraine, said the German tanks will help Ukraine’s effort to push back Russia from its territory.

“Together, we are accelerating our efforts to ensure Ukraine wins this war and secures a lasting peace,” he said on Twitter.