From President Zelensky to his military commanders and the residents of bombed-out villages, no one knows how many more years of war Ukraine will have to live through before Russia can be driven from its territory and stopped from bombarding its cities.
“Right now, a victory on the battlefield is extremely unlikely. This war could last for years and years. Russia has the resources for this and their people will put up with it,” said Colonel Roman Kostenko, a military commander and MP who is a member of the Ukrainian parliament’s national security, defence and intelligence committee.
The mood is one of grim acceptance rather than defeatism: there is no talk of surrendering to Russia. Yet the atmosphere is very different from this time last year, when a series of stunning successes for Ukraine’s army in the east and south of the country raised hopes of a swift triumph. However,
President Putin, seemingly secure at home and brimming with a newfound confidence, is digging in for the long haul.
“We should hope for the best but prepare for the worst. That’s the reality of it,” said
Sviatoslav Yurash, who at 27 is Ukraine’s youngest MP, as well as a private in the army. “When you see the front lines, when you see the casualties that we have, the battles we are forced to fight every step of the way, it’s clear that we are here for a long time,” he said after returning to Kyiv from the battlefield to vote in parliament.
https://archive.md/SK4SD#selection-2659.0-2693.324
“Ukrainian tax could be the answer”: Germany proposed increasing income tax for Germans in order to raise funds to help Kiev.
