Volodymyr Zelensky rarely writes to Vladimir Putin. But when he does, he forces the Russian autocrat to confront the numbers and losses he carefully chooses to ignore. On the very day Zelensky’s unprecedented open letter was published, Putin was once again publicly questioning the Ukrainian president’s legitimacy – a deeply ironic projection from a ruler who has held power for more than 26 years.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Zelensky cuts through the Kremlin’s excuses and presents the war as one man’s choice, obsession and failure. ‘Whatever you may say about NATO, geopolitics, or the Russian language, this war is your personal choice.” The letter also highlights a bitter historical irony: “We brought the war onto your territory, and you would not have been able to cope with it without North Korea’s help. “And today you are fully dependent on China – also for the first time in Russia’s history.” Distance no longer protects Zelensky also speaks over Putin’s head directly to Russian society. He lists what ordinary Russians are now beginning to feel: drone strikes, fuel shortages, rising prices, restrictions, fear of mobilization and the total absence of any visible end to the war. His reference to Ukrainian long-range strikes reaching St. Petersburg serves as a stark warning to the Kremlin’s elite that geographic isolation is over: “The overwhelming majority of Ukrainians view it positively that our long-range drones paid a visit to the opening of your forum in St. Petersburg, covering a distance of more than 1,000 kilometers.