Polina Bashkina: Six months in, Ukrainians count the toll of war

The empire is only alive while it expands, and Vladimir Putin has no intention of stopping

A soldier helps an elderly man escape shelling in Irpin on March 6. Ten Russian shells are fired for every one Ukrainian artillery shot. Photo: Diego Herrera/Europa Press via Getty Images

On a cross, as if on a notice board, it is written: 'Here rests the number 451. Eternal memory.'

"The special military operation is going according to plan" for six months, according to Vladimir Putin. Every day, for six months, without waiting for our official Independence Day, Ukrainians have been fighting for the right to exist as a nation.