A year ago, it looked as though Donald Trump was set to force Ukraine into an ignominious surrender.
Today, Ukrainian drones rain fire on Moscow and St Petersburg and the country’s troops are gaining ground on the battlefield, in a deeply humiliating spectacle for Vladimir Putin.
The Russian President’s ill-judged war is now publicly and repeatedly putting the Russian heartlands in jeopardy, with the G7 this week noting Kyiv’s “new momentum” and “progress on the battlefield” after years of slow yet gradual Russian gains.
Ukraine is daring to hope that Russia will lose. Kyrylo Budanov, chief of staff to Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, said the prospect of a peace deal by winter was realistic.
“The point where the Ukrainians are capable of striking Moscow and St Petersburg … hundreds and hundreds of miles from the Ukrainian territories, that’s a pretty significant sign that Russia has lost control of the momentum of the war,” said Jacob Parakilas, research leader in defence, security and justice at Rand Europe.
