Volodymyr Zelensky s Struggle to Keep Ukraine in the Fight | TIME

The usual sparkle of his optimism, his sense of humor, his tendency to liven up a meeting in the war room with a bit of banter or a bawdy joke, none of that has survived into the second year of all-out war. Now he walks in, gets the updates, gives the orders, and walks out, says one longtime member of his team. Another tells me that, most of all, Zelensky feels betrayed by his Western allies. They have left him without the means to win the war, only the means to survive it.

But his convictions haven t changed. Despite the recent setbacks on the battlefield, he does not intend to give up fighting or to sue for any kind of peace. On the contrary, his belief in Ukraine s ultimate victory over Russia has hardened into a form that worries some of his advisers. It is immovable, verging on the messianic. He deludes himself, one of his closest aides tells me in frustration. We re out of options. We re not winning. But try telling him that.

Zelensky s stubbornness, some of his aides say, has hurt their team s efforts to come up with a new strategy, a new message. As they have debated the future of the war, one issue has remained taboo: the possibility of negotiating a peace deal with the Russians. Judging by recent surveys, most Ukrainians would reject such a move, especially if it entailed the loss of any occupied territory.

Zelensky remains dead set against even a temporary truce. For us it would mean leaving this wound open for future generations, the President tells me. Maybe it will calm some people down inside our country, and outside, at least those who want to wrap things up at any price. But for me, that s a problem, because we are left with this explosive force. We only delay its detonation.  

For now, he is intent on winning the war on Ukrainian terms, and he is shifting tactics to achieve that. Aware that the flow of Western arms could dry up over time, the Ukrainians have ramped up production of drones and missiles, which they have used to attack Russian supply routes, command centers, and ammunition depots far behind enemy lines. The Russians have responded with more bombing raids against civilians, more missile strikes against the infrastructure that Ukraine will need to heat homes and keep the lights on through the winter.

via time.com

This article is making waves in the US. I can’t tell if it’s just propaganda, or real news.