Ukrainian drone specialists: Under President Zelensky, the country invaded by Russia has outgrown itself.Image: keystone
comment
There are increasing signs that the changed military situation could bring the Kremlin ruler to the negotiating table this year. Vladimir Putin only understands one language.
June 5, 2026, 6:11 p.mJune 5, 2026, 6:24 p.m
The war of aggression against Ukraine has already lasted longer than the “Great Patriotic War,” as the Russians called the Second World War from 1941 onwards. Next Friday it will also have exceeded the length of the First World War.
After almost four and a half years of terrible attrition, there are increasing signs that Moscow needs to reassess its war goals. There is no longer any talk of the complete overthrow of Ukraine, the original intention of the “special operation”.
Vladimir Putin recently held out the prospect of a possible end to the war at the economic forum in St. Petersburg without speaking of total victory. He mentioned possible mediation channels for this.
This silver lining is the result of a military development that more and more analysts – and even fanatical Russian war bloggers – see as a turning point.
Ukrainian counterattacks
Hardly anyone disputes that for the first time in years the military dynamic is no longer working exclusively in Russia’s favor. Ukraine, which had previously been heavily harassed, has managed to stop and sometimes even push back the waves of Russian attacks with its “drone wall” and revolutionary, AI-supported combat. The loser “without cards” who was reviled by the US President has worked his way up to become a military power that now serves as a role model for NATO.
With the so-called “medium-range campaign”, the enemy supply lines are consistently fought from the air. The newly developed long-range drones are used for targeted strikes against the oil industry, which are demonstrably affecting Putin’s war economy.
It is these hard facts on the battlefield – as well as the plummeting Russian economy – that are bringing the end of mass extinction closer. And not the appeasement attempts, negotiation charades and unfortunate “red lines” that were simply playing into the hands of the Kremlin ruler.
Those who still believe that Putin could have been satisfied by voluntarily handing over Ukrainian territories are completely misguided.
The pressure on Putin is growing
The prospect that Ukraine will soon be using glide bombs and medium-range missiles of its own production increases the pressure on Russia’s rulers to put an end to this senseless aggression.
What the long-time German ambassador in Moscow, Rüdiger von Fritsch, emphasized again in a podcast is increasingly becoming true: terms such as compromise and giving in are simply unknown categories for Putin. Instead, one must always remember that in the Soviet-influenced world of thought of the ex-KGB officer, power, dominance and size are the defining values.
Von Fritsch concludes: Those who still believe that Putin could have been satisfied by voluntarily handing over Ukrainian territories are completely misguided. In contrast, Ukraine is currently presenting the only way to stop an imperialist persuasion.
The Russians continue to kill
However, it is impossible to predict how close Kiev is to achieving a halfway fair peace. The Russian army will once again attempt a major breakthrough in Donbass with another, undoubtedly bloody, summer offensive. The Kremlin will continue its criminal bombings of Ukrainian cities in order to break the morale of the Ukrainian population.
The Ukrainians respond to this logic of war with persistence, willingness to sacrifice, adaptability and a remarkable capacity for innovation. This is perhaps the most important lesson of these far too long years of war: anyone who wants to defend their freedom can ultimately only rely on their own will to resist.
(schweiztoday.ch)