How Russia, China, and other world countries viewed 2024’s standout moments

In Russia, the political event of the year was the re-election of Vladimir Putin, a Moscow think tank said at an end-of-year event. Essentially guaranteed to win, Putin’s “crushing victory” nevertheless showed that Russia’s political system was working as it should, a pro-Kremlin Russian political researcher said, although his tally of more than 87% of the vote has been widely challenged by international observers.

There are some cracks, however: In a recent poll, 70% of Russians said 2024 was a “rather difficult” year, although more than half of respondents believed next year will be better. Independent Russian outlet Important Stories published a tally of negative records set by Russia this year, with a record number of dead and missing soldiers, record-high inflation, and record numbers of convictions of political prisoners.

In Ukraine, the main achievement of 2024 was simply holding on in the war against Russia, one Kyiv-based expert said, enduring a laundry list of problems, including a long pause in US aid. While Ukraine went into 2024 saying it would seek to rearm and mount a larger offensive in 2025, Kyiv is now prioritizing holding off Russian encroachments on Ukrainian territory.

Ukraine’s economy, meanwhile, is expected to grow by 4.3% next year and has gradually stabilized as the country has improved its resilience against attacks on energy infrastructure, The Economist wrote. Looking to 2025, there is increasing expectation that negotiations to end the war will begin next year: “We must do everything to make 2025 the year of a just peace for Ukraine,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Ukrainian diplomats in a December speech.

Summarizing the year, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China had taken steps to stabilize relations with the US, had built “increasingly mature and stable” ties to Russia, and improved relations with India through a new border pact.

Despite the projected progress, China has seen a marked increase in civil unrest throughout 2024, Radio Free Asia reported, with the government cracking down on so-called “night rides,” a series of violent attacks, and more than 3,000 protests across the country, according to the China Dissent Monitor. 2025, meanwhile, will define China’s trajectory for years to come, the Asia Society wrote, as Beijing will have to confront an increasingly hostile geopolitical environment and a number of domestic challenges, including its stagnant economy.

In Sudan this year, tens of thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced in a humanitarian catastrophe that shows little sign of abatement. The country’s famine is expected to worsen over the coming months, with half of the population facing high food insecurity, a coalition of humanitarian organizations warned.

Peace initiatives by the US, Saudi Arabia, and the African Union have achieved little, although Washington is launching a last-minute push to address the war, Politico reported. In 2025, “Sudan’s civil war will probably grow even more brutal, complex and difficult to resolve,” as no single group seems able to win, while new militias continue to emerge, The Economist reported.