WATCH | ‘Is this where I was going to die? — Reflections on Russia’s war in Ukraine

Most of the world's focus in 2022 was on the war between Russia and Ukraine.

In February last year Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a ‘special military operation’, claiming the move was to protect the Donbas region of Eastern Ukraine. Putin said there was a need to demilitarise the country. Ukraine labelled this an act of war.

The war has resulted in hundreds of students from Africa being forced to return home. Those studying at Ukraine universities had to be rushed home, with the Nigerian government paying to fly its citizens home.

Speaking to Reuters, Ghanaian medical student Maame Akosua Addo who studied in Ukraine reflected on when the war started. 

“I remember thinking when I was in front of the gate, 'Wait, is this where I die?'. I didn't have any more energy and I was literally about to pass out. I wasn't feeling well at that point,” she said.

On December 4 2022, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said it had counted more than 6,700 deaths since the conflict began. February 2023 will mark a year since the war started.