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No, Ukraine Is Not Fighting a ‘Proxy War’

Why the term is unhelpful in describing the war with Russia specifically, or other conflicts more generally.
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An artilleryman of the 155th Separate Mechanized Brigade of Ukrainian Armed Forces prepares to fire a self-propelled howitzer toward Russian positions at an undisclosed location in the Donetsk Region on January 6, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Genya Savilov/AFP/Getty Images)

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues into its third brutal year, and the U.S. government presses for a resolution to the conflict, it is worth taking a step back and considering the lens through which we view the war itself. 

“Proxy war” is a term invoked by government officials, analysts, pundits, and scholars to describe the conflict in Ukraine.

Stephen Webber is a defense analyst at RAND.

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