The Road to Reconstruction in Ukraine Four Years After the Full-scale Invasion
Today marks the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Although the war and attacks are ongoing, Ukrainians are working towards rebuilding the country. The new project UA-KLAR will contribute to this effort by strengthening knowledge about Ukraine in Norwegian society.
The war in Ukraine began in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea and a proxy war in eastern Ukraine. On 24 February 2022, Russia escalated its armed attack in what proved to be a failed attempt to seize the entire country.
Over a decade of resistance
For more than a decade, Ukrainians have fought to preserve the integrity and independence of their state. Many continue to risk their lives for a democratic and free Ukraine and to defend values often taken for granted in modern Western societies. According to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, 2025 was the deadliest year for civilians since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022. 2,514 civilians were killed and 12,142 were injured in conflict-related violence, 30 percent higher than in 2024 and 70 percent higher than in 2023.
- The last winter has also been particularly difficult because Russia’s deliberate destruction of energy infrastructure exposed Ukrainians to harsh winter conditions, leaving millions of people in Ukraine without heating, electricity or water supply during freezing temperatures, says Associate Professor Gaiane Nuridzhanian, expert on human rights and international law at the Faculty of Law at UiT The Arctic University of Norway.
Despite the suffering, Ukraine continues to resist pressure to give up its territory.
- According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Kyiv has neither a moral nor a legal right under Ukraine’s Constitution and international law to cede Ukrainian territory to Russia. He has repeatedly said that Ukraine is not willing to abandon Ukrainians living in the territories wanted by Russia and that giving up Ukrainian land would appease Moscow only temporarily. Moreover, international law prohibits recognizing as Russian any Ukrainian territory acquired through the unlawful use of force.
New project to strengthen knowledge about Ukraine
While fighting continues in the east and drones and missiles rain down across the country, Ukrainian society continues to function and evolve. Effective support for Ukraine’s development and rebuilding requires a deeper understanding of that society. To increase knowledge about Ukraine is the purpose of the UiT-based project “Clarifying the legal framework for investment, EU integration and accountability in Ukraine (UA-KLAR),” funded by the Norwegian Nansen Support Programme for Ukraine. Associate Professor Nuridzhanian leads the project which runs from January 2026 until December 2027. Other project partners include Professor Yuliya Chernykh from INN and Professor Liliia Oprysk from UiB.
- As its name indicates, the UA-KLAR project aims to increase understanding among Norwegian actors of legal rules relating to investment in Ukraine, Ukraine’s relations with the EU, and justice for atrocity crimes and human rights violations committed during the war.
Nuridzhanian underscores that these three areas are crucial for Ukraine’s reconstruction and for establishing a democratic society based on the rule of law.
Why this matters for Norway
Strengthening knowledge about these areas in Norway’s private and public sectors is important, Nuridzhanian says.
- The need for knowledge about economic opportunities in Ukraine, Ukraine’s relations with the EU, and accountability processes is particularly strong in Norway, one of Ukraine’s closest partners. The war in Ukraine reverberates far beyond its borders, affecting the security situation in other European countries, especially those that share a border with Russia like Norway. As other European countries, Norway will only benefit from seeing a Ukraine that is able to resist aggression from its neighbour and recover swiftly once the war is over.
Sources: