We now think in terms of months and years, but are still looking for answers to the questions: “how many days of war remain ahead?”, and “what needs to happen to stop this tragic countdown?”

Four years ago, few could imagine that the big Russian-Ukrainian war would last for years. Back then, in the first days of Russia’s invasion, the countdown initially went on for hours, that brought a barrage of news — more and more alarming. Overnight, we started counting days, with each day adding both anxiety and confidence in our ability to hold out for another day, then another night and another day… Back then, there were naive hopes that Putin would be stopped by the UN, Washington, or Gerhard Schroeder, or that he himself would step back after the first signs of the blitzkrieg’s failure. It didn’t happen.

Russian propagandists, from the first day and until the remnants of the Russian columns fled from the Kyiv region, talked about “Kyiv in three days.” International observers — government officials, politicians, generals, reputable military experts and journalists — almost unanimously expressed reasonable doubts in Ukraine’s ability to hold out for even a few days.

Given the striking difference in the military and economic potentials of the two sides, Ukraine, in their opinion, was doomed to a military defeat, occupation and, possibly, some period of guerrilla warfare. The same was witnessed by the range and volume of military assistance from Western partners, which intensified shortly before the invasion but obviously did not foresee large-scale prolonged hostilities of regular armies.

Putin has long become a slave to this war

However, as it turned out, even a tenfold advantage in major weapons does not guarantee a quick and easy victory. The Ukrainians survived the first most critical days, won their first victories in the following weeks and months, believing in themselves and surprised the world with their ability not only to hold back but to deliver smashing blows to a much stronger enemy. Over the years, we have become stronger in some ways and have lost a lot, but the balance of military potential has not changed radically in our favour.

We now think in terms of months and years, but are still looking for answers to the questions: “how many days of war are still ahead?” and “what needs to happen to stop this tragic countdown?”. It seems that even those who can influence the course of the war and the peace process have no answers to both questions. It is not that they do not voice their forecasts and recipes, but we are well aware of their value and price. It is not worthless — their price is incredibly high.

Some still believe that Putin can stop the war at any time, but he, as we know, repeatedly declares his readiness to fight endlessly, although he himself has long become not the master but the slave of this war.

Donald Trump’s promises and deadlines now look ridiculous, and his “peace formulas” are too dangerous for the prospects of peace in Ukraine.

Ukraine’s European and other partners, to whom we are incredibly grateful for their support, unfortunately, remain in the paradigm “as long as necessary” (for what?), but at the same time “too little, too late”.

When the Ukraine’s President in his address on the eve of the new year 2026 — the fifth year of the “big” war — said, among other things, that we need “to hold out one day longer than they…”, for some reason the most important task of February 2022 immediately came to mind — “to hold out one more day.” Of course, this is not all that the President has been saying, but does it give us at least a little clarity on the questions “how much longer” and “by what means”?

https://razumkov.org.ua/statti/putin-davno-ne-gospodar-tsiiei-viiny-skilky-shche-nam-voiuvaty