Ukraine faces pressure for a quick resolution — but on the battlefield, Russia's victory isn't assured

From the front-line city of Pokrovsk in eastern Donetsk to Zaporizhzhia in the south, there is little doubt that Russia is making advances. But battlefield monitors suggest the picture isn't quite so bleak for Ukraine as Trump and Putin suggest.

 

 

 

Full story:

NBC News

https://www.nbcnews.com/world/ukraine/ukraine-faces-pressure-quick-resolution-battlefield-russias-victory-is-rcna245563

 

 

 

 

NATO Secretary General: Russia is losing 20,000 soldiers per month

 

According to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Russia is suffering enormous losses without making any significant progress. Russia is losing around 20,000 soldiers every month, Rutte told the German editorial network RND. "Can you imagine that: 20,000 human lives every month? These are fathers and sons dying without any substantial territorial gains." In total, approximately one million Russians have been killed or seriously wounded so far. This year, Russia has only captured about one percent of Ukrainian territory.

 

Europe knows that Trump has adapted russian positions - for what reason doesen't matter. The Trump admin loves to sell weapons that Ukraine needs. Europe is catching up though, and since a few months they deliver more than the US.

 

Russia is bleeding dry, both financially and economically.

China is the laughing third party. 

 

And the Trump admin doesen't seem to realize that.

Absolutely. Both sides have cards.

The outcome is not inevitable or predetarmined.

Yes Putin and  traitorous Trump are trying to play act that Ukraine is anywhere near a point where they would need to surrender.

But it is not so,

 

"Timely and sufficient Western military assistance and weapon sales to Ukraine, in concert with strong US and other Western economic measures against Russia, can enable Ukraine to stop Russian battlefield advances cold, especially if Ukrainian forces leverage their well-developed fortifications in the Donetsk region,"  the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reports.

 

Despite extensive attempts to capture all of the Donetsk region by the end of this year, the latest data indicate that this deadline for the Russian forces has been pushed to March 2026.

 

And recently, ISW analysts noted that if the Russian army continues advancing at its current pace, it will not be able to achieve full control of the Donetsk region before August 2027.

 

Ukraine capable of stopping Russia with proper Western support – ISW

 

 

Evidence is emerging of massive desertion rates and widespread abandonment of positions on the front line. What we are witnessing now—despite some high-visibility and trumpeted sabotage raids on infrastructure—is the collapse of the Ukrainian position.

 

Ukraine Is Running Out of Time—And Men - NEWSWEEK 

 

https://archive.is/gkryK#selection-1157.0-1157.38

 

 

Citing data provided by the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office, the New Voice of Ukraine reported last month that some 311,000 cases had been opened on suspicion of personnel taking absence without leave (AWOL) or deserting since the war began in 2022, with more than half occurring this year alone.
One particularly controversial example emerged in January when reports indicated that at least dozens—and potentially hundreds, according to some reports—of troops attached to the 155th Mechanized Brigade had gone missing, most of them before seeing battle and some while training abroad in France. The brigade, known as "Anne of Kyiv," had been touted as a flagship force intended to repel Russian troops advancing toward Pokrovsk only become the center of investigations opened by the State Bureau of Investigation.

 

I crunched this paragraph through Claude.

41 minutes ago, beautifulthailand99 said:

Evidence is emerging of massive desertion rates and widespread abandonment of positions on the front line. What we are witnessing now—despite some high-visibility and trumpeted sabotage raids on infrastructure—is the collapse of the Ukrainian position.

 

Ukraine Is Running Out of Time—And Men - NEWSWEEK 

 

https://archive.is/gkryK#selection-1157.0-1157.38

 

 

Citing data provided by the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office, the New Voice of Ukraine reported last month that some 311,000 cases had been opened on suspicion of personnel taking absence without leave (AWOL) or deserting since the war began in 2022, with more than half occurring this year alone.
One particularly controversial example emerged in January when reports indicated that at least dozens—and potentially hundreds, according to some reports—of troops attached to the 155th Mechanized Brigade had gone missing, most of them before seeing battle and some while training abroad in France. The brigade, known as "Anne of Kyiv," had been touted as a flagship force intended to repel Russian troops advancing toward Pokrovsk only become the center of investigations opened by the State Bureau of Investigation.

 

I crunched this paragraph through Claude.

 

More about the "Anne of Kyiv" mass desertion 

Ukraine's 'Anne of Kyiv' brigade, trained in France then dispersed to the front line, suffers setbacks
The 155th mechanized brigade has been split into smaller units meant to reinforce other brigades in difficulty on the front. An investigation by a Ukrainian journalist decries the 'utter organizational chaos' that is said to have caused 1,700 soldiers to abandon their units before the first shot was even fired - LE MONDE

 

https://archive.ph/KjfvH

 

For many in the military, the setbacks of the 155th brigade have offered proof that the Ukrainian army should not be creating new brigades from scratch, but rather focusing on reinforcing existing brigades, which have suffered from a shortage of soldiers. "This is indeed a crime, but not by the soldiers or officers," wrote Butusov in his investigation. "It is a crime of the leaders of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief's staff, the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff, who continue to waste lives and public funds on new projects instead of strengthening experienced, combat-ready brigades."

 

Corruption - and Flamingo  ? Yes Flamingo 

 

Fire Point, a Ukrainian weapons startup as famous as it is mired in controversy, has recently gone on a press tour to quell skepticism over its history, ownership and effectiveness.

The firm did not exist prior to Russia's full-scale invasion and has in the interval become the biggest recipient of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's budget for drones, including from Western allies like Denmark and Germany. Its Flamingo cruise missile has likewise been saddled with the hopes for Ukraine's long-range strike program.

The firm's astronomical rise has drawn suspicion of political connections. Particularly, around its alleged links to Timur Mindich, a businessman and a longtime associate of President Volodymyr Zelensky's. Mindich was recently charged for a massive corruption scheme that allegedly stole $100 million from Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

 

https://kyivindependent.com/faced-with-teetering-international-support-ukraines-star-drone-and-missile-maker-opens-its-doors/