A
fourth winter of war is approaching under the worst possible conditions for Ukrainians. On the front lines, exhausted soldiers are bending but not breaking, as in Pokrovsk, while facing an aggressor waging war with no regard for the cost to their own men.
By methodically and ever more brutally striking Ukraine's civilian infrastructure, especially its energy grid, Moscow has made war crimes the centerpiece of its strategy to try to break the remarkable resolve Ukrainians have shown since February 24, 2022. So far, it has failed.
Yet this Ukrainian miracle is increasingly colliding with a stark reality. The imbalance between the two armies and their resources is becoming ever more glaring, despite Ukraine's ingenuity. The prospect of a cease-fire that could finally halt what is becoming one of the longest conventional wars fought on European soil grows more distant with each passing month.
Vladimir Putin's determination to subjugate Ukraine, regardless of the civilian cost, has rendered any peace negotiations a mere illusion so long as nothing is done to alter a fundamentally unfavorable balance of power for Kyiv. This imbalance has only grown with Donald Trump's return to the White House, as the United States president literally rolled out the red carpet for the Kremlin leader in Alaska in August, without gaining any concessions in return.
