Ukraine: time gained and years lost

Source Summary

Who would have thought four years ago, when the Russian attack on Ukraine took place, that on July 14, 2026, Ukrainian units would parade on the Champs-Élysées in Paris with a not exactly victorious, but satisfied air. Hopeful. Ukraine's drones continue to harm Russia and Putin continues to take refuge in rhetoric and missiles exploding in Kyiv. But this crisis –perhaps the beginning of the end of the war– also highlights the democratic shortcomings of the regime managed by Volodymyr Zelensky. The latest episode has been the dismissal of the Minister of Defense, Mykhailo Fedorov, and as a consequence the head of the military command, Oleksandr Sirski , who was the one demanding it. By expelling Fyodorov, the Ukrainian president gets rid of a rival, but loses one of his best strategists with a lot of support in the streets of Kyiv. A conflict that gives indications of how Ukraine would end up if Putin finally threw in the towel. Or if the Kremlin's dens forced him to throw it in.