Russia’s war against Ukraine surpasses World War I in duration

On June 11, 2026, Russia’s war against Ukraine reached the 1,569-day mark — exceeding the duration of World War I.

Ukraine’s Center for Strategic Communications noted that over the same period of World War I, 38 states participated in the conflict, approximately 20 million people were killed, and four empires collapsed, including the Russian Empire.

The Center for Strategic Communications emphasized that the Kremlin had expected to conclude the invasion “within days,” but the conflict has taken on an attritional character. Russia, according to the agency, “has not achieved a single one of the goals declared at the start of the invasion” — yet continues to strike Ukrainian cities with drones and missiles.

Diplomatic efforts to reach a settlement have reached a dead end. The Trump administration set a June deadline this year for concluding a peace agreement: Zelensky told journalists in February that “the Americans are pushing both sides to end the war by the start of summer.” That deadline passed without a settlement being reached. On June 8, Zelensky met in London with the leadership of the United Kingdom, Germany, and France — following what The New York Times described as “more than a year of fruitless U.S. mediation.”

Poll data indicate that the population is bracing for a protracted conflict. According to Lord Ashcroft Polls, just over a third of Ukrainians believe the war will end before the close of 2026. A Gallup survey found that 69% of Ukrainians favor a negotiated settlement — nearly the mirror opposite of the situation in 2022, when 73% supported continuing the fight until victory.

Military analysts are drawing parallels between the two conflicts. A June report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies documented how the front line has become what The Atlantic described as “a vast no-go zone roughly 30 kilometers wide.” Drones, according to the report, are responsible for up to 80 percent of combat casualties, and ground-based robotic systems are increasingly taking over frontline functions in place of soldiers — as NPR reports.

Russia has sustained approximately 1.38 million personnel casualties since February 2022, according to the Ukrainian General Staff. The spring 2026 offensive produced the smallest territorial gains of the entire war. Even prominent Russian hawks have acknowledged that Moscow is incapable of achieving an unconditional military victory in Ukraine, the New York Post reports.