The deputy secretary-general of NATO, Mircea Geoana, says Russia has suffered a string of defeats on and off the battlefield in the year since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but a "long war" is likely still ahead for Kyiv, making support from Western allies critical.
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Geoana, speaking to RFE/RL's Romanian Service in an interview to mark the first anniversary of the invasion, said Moscow has challenged the international rule-based order with its actions, making it not only significant for Ukraine but also for democratic nations around the world that the aggression is defeated.
"This probably will be remembered in the history books as one of the turning points in European and possibly world history," he said in a video interview from Brussels to commemorate the anniversary.
"By helping Ukraine, we help the very idea that any country, any place around this world, has the sovereign right to choose its destiny," he added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has justified his decision to attack Ukraine -- what he calls a "special military operation" -- by using false narratives such as Kyiv was led by a "neo-Nazi regime" and that Russia's future was threatened by aggression from the West.
Putin’s camp expected the conflict to last weeks, at most, but a year later it is showing no signs of concluding.
Geoana said Putin's move has had the opposite effect that he intended, with NATO and the West more united than ever while "marking a succession of strategic defeats for Russia."
"You can see already that Russia has lost its reputation, the reputation of its armed forces. They were bragging that they are a superpower militarily. Now they cannot even prevail in Ukraine," he said.
"And probably the most important count where Putin has lost and Russia has lost is they've lost Ukraine emotionally. If 10 years, 15 years back Ukraine and Ukrainians were looking at Russia as a natural -- you know, relatively friendly -- nation, now they see Russia as the No. 1 existential threat to their very survival.
"So I think Mr. Putin has made a very wrong calculation, both in terms of war, both in terms of national identity for Ukraine, and also in terms of unity of the West."
Many countries have used the first anniversary of the invasion to increase military aid to Ukraine, which has said it needs to gain the upper hand as fierce close-quarter fighting rages in the eastern part of the country.
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Geoana said the allies have been keen to listen to Kyiv's needs and are trying to move as quickly as possible to give Ukraine's military what it wants.
However, he cautioned, issues such as providing fighter jets aren't a quick option given the amount of time needed to train personnel, set up logistics, and ensure proper usage of weaponry.
"We have to focus on how to make sure that the capabilities we deliver today to Ukraine are fully functional," Geoana said, saying fighter jets are "an ongoing conversation."
"I know one thing: that we have to do more for Ukraine and also have to do more with the existing material that we have on the ground.... There's always need for more. But the process is working. The process has produced results, and the fact that today, after one year, Ukraine is standing and Russia has so many difficulties is because of the bravery of the Ukrainians, but also the support that they've been receiving from allied nations and partner nations."