11/06/2026
UKRAINE IS NOT LOSING - RUSSIA IS NOT WINNING
Anne Applebaum’s recent article in The Atlantic (7/6/26), discusses the how war in Ukraine is changing
She writes “many people have understood that the Russian narrative is wrong: The Ukrainians are not losing. The Russians are not winning, and more important, they don’t know how to win”. There are three parts to “a momentum shift that changes everything”
(1) THE GROUND WAR
The “front line” is now a no-go zone for russian soldiers. Ukrainian drone forces are removing more russian soldiers from the battlefield than can be recruited to replace them, some 30,000 a month. Good riddance to bad rubbish I say!
(2) THE LONG RANGE WAR
russia uses missiles and drones to kill Ukrainian civilians and destroy civilian infrastructure. However, russian air defence is ineffective. Ukraine’s long-range drones target russian oil and gas infrastructure, reducing russian refining capacity by at least 20 percent
Almost all major oil refineries in central Russia have halted or scaled back production, and some have been hit more than once. Great to see how effective Ukraine’s sanctions are!
(3) THE PSYCHOLOGICAL WAR
russia said Ukraine would fall in three days and when that didn’t happen, russian victory was inevitable. People have seen with their own eyes, the black smoke rising not just in in St Petersburg, but across the country
Indeed, Kyrill Budanov, head of the Ukrainian president’s office, said there’s a lot of evidence that russians realise state propaganda is full of lies: “They cannot understand why they have to keep fighting and why they are getting hit now, because they were told they were going to win and Ukraine is nothing”
HERE’S WHAT I THINK
The article talks about signs that some in Moscow are preparing for the war to end, selling it to russians as a victory
Well, I’ll believe the war will end when I see it
Until then, Ukraine should keep hitting russia hard. I say make russia burn, so their people realise it’s Putin’s vanity and ego causing this destruction
Roman
PS: follow Marijn Markus on LinkedIn to see film of successful Ukrainian missile strikes in russia