A woman walks through the Russian capital near a large number 2023. (Photo by Ulf Mauder/picture alliance via Getty Images)
BOSTON — Russia invaded Ukraine.
I’ve been trying to figure out how to start this piece off, what would serve as something of a capper for our coverage of 2022. And what I keep coming back to is that stark reality: Russia invaded Ukraine.
It’s not that simple, of course. The US estimates 200,000-plus casualties from the conflict. Many more Ukrainians have been forced from the country, whether running for their lives or by Russia’s strategy of forced displacement. The economy suffered an earthquake, and the aftershocks keep coming. Russia’s military machine, long vaunted as among the best in the world, was embarrassed and bloodied by a much smaller force, and yet keeps going. Elsewhere, Sweden and Finland moved to join NATO. The security situation in Europe has changed, potentially forever.
It’s impossible to talk about anything in our world in 2022 without that simple fact: Russia invaded Ukraine. Everything else falls out from that.
Our year-end project reflects that. Stories about Ukraine are all over our reporters’ Top 5 lists, their reviews of 2022, and their projections about what is to come in 2023. It also was reflected in the great work that this team did since the war began — the publication, as a group, was awarded this year for its coverage of the first 10 days of the war, but the stories kept coming throughout the year.
In case you missed any of the year in review pieces, here’s your handy roundup:
Five Stories of Note
- Navy’s progress towards unmanned operations: 5 Stories from 2022
- From an Afghan pilot’s ordeal to an ejection seat conundrum: 5 stories from 2022
- Space strategies, ops and tech go into hyperdrive: 5 stories from 2022
- Atop the Indo-Pacific Watchtower: 5 stories from 2022
- European defense stories reimagined as World Cup soccer players: 5 stories from 2022
- The Pentagon is in its AI era: 5 stories from 2022
- From the Army’s Black Hawk’s heir, to a the drone that wouldn’t land: 5 stories from 2022
2022 in Review
- The year the Marine Corps’ Force Design 2030 came into its own: 2022 in Review
- The Pentagon with one eye on Ukraine and the other on China: 2022 in Review
- In Space, baby steps and a ponderous ‘pivot’: 2022 in Review
- Russia goes to war but Ukrainian resistance wins hearts and minds: 2022 in Review
- Cloud contracts, the JADC2 mystery and Russian cyber attacks: 2022 in Review
- With war in Europe, us Army replenished weapons, pushed modernization: 2022 in Review
- Threats and responses defined the Pacific: 2022 in Review
2023 Preview
- Will Congress and Navy find room to agree on ships? 2023 Preview
- Air Force looks to take flight on 7 imperatives: 2023 Preview
- At home and internationally, ‘governance’ is the space watchword: 2023 Preview
- Indo-Pacific turmoil ahead as Aussies and allies shift their strategies, and China wobbles: 2023 Preview
- European defense spending no longer a laughing matter: 2023 Preview
- Potential cloud protests and maybe, finally, more JADC2 jointness? 2023 Preview
- A pivotal year for Army weapon modernization programs awaits: 2023 Preview
This has been another busy year for Breaking Defense. In 2022, we published nearly 2,000 stories or op-eds. We added three new reporters: Jaspreet Gill on the networks and emerging technologies beat in January, Tim Martin to manage our European coverage in October, and Ashley Roque to lead our land warfare coverage in November. They helped expand and bolster an amazing staff, one I am incredibly proud of.
On behalf of the team, thank you for being part of the Breaking Defense community — for reading our work, for sharing it with friends and colleagues, and for providing feedback on how we can do better. We’re all looking forward to continuing to deliver the key news and insights you expect heading into 2023.
We’ll see you back here in January.
