Published by The i Paper (15th December, 2025)
It is almost one month since Russia’s military chief Valery Gerasimov declared his forces had captured the town of Kupiansk, sitting in Kharkiv region 25 miles from the border. The general’s claim was echoed at start of this month by his despotic boss, Vladimir Putin, who invited journalists to witness their triumph. On Friday, Volodymyr Zelensky made the perfect riposte: standing in his flak jacket in front of the bullet-ridden blue and yellow sign at the city entrance. “The reality speaks for itself,” he said defiantly.
Zelensky was – according to open source intelligence – roughly 1,000 yards from Russian positions. It was a brilliant move, reminding the world of his bravery at the start of the full-scale invasion when he refused to leave Kyiv despite Kremlin death squads hunting for him. Since then, he has made regular trips to see troops in bunkers and trenches on the front line. This is a striking contrast to the two cowardly blowhards trying to cook up a “peace” deal to carve up Ukraine and enrich cronies. Putin has never been seen in the combat zone to witness his own war crimes, while neither Donald Trump (nor his peace envoy Steve Witkoff) have dared visit Ukraine.
Like any politician, the Ukrainian leader has flaws – seen with a corruption scandal that drove out his chief of staff – but no one can doubt his courage. Yet even his nerves of steel must be tested by his current plight. For he finds himself snared between a White House that despises Europe and is working with the Kremlin to tear off chunks of his country – and his own people who remain resolute in their resistance to invading barbarians, despite deep weariness after so long battling a much larger enemy.
I have just returned from my latest visit to Ukraine. People are tired and stressed – from the rising death toll of friends and relatives, from long nights under intensifying attacks by drones and missiles, from the economic carnage caused by Putin’s war. Yet I was struck by how this resilient society has adjusted to power cuts caused by attacks on infrastructure, which can last 16 hours a day in the capital. And that not one person I met sanctioned the idea of handing over any land still in their hands in exchange for ceasefire, a resolute stance backed by latest polling and widespread belief that it will only be an interregnum in Moscow’s imperialist war.
One academic I first met in the weeks leading up to war told me in a chic Kyiv cafe how everyone is exhausted and desperate for peace but no one is ready to give up. “They have lived this war for so long that it has become part of their life, so people get used to the hardship,” she said. “We are ready to take whatever comes next because we know the alternative is Russian occupation with all their horrors. The only option is to carry on.”
Kupiansk, previously home to 26,000 people, reflects the story of this war: seized by Putin days after invasion, recaptured by Ukraine seven months later, now being destroyed as Moscow battles to take it back. I have good memories of it, like many places in this conflict, joking with a friendly woman in a kebab shop near to where Zelensky stood about finding vegetarian food. Last week, a pensioner from the town described their grim months under Russian control – seeing all food and drugs disappear from shops, hearing talk of killing and rape by Chechen troops – then her joy of liberation. “It was a miracle,” she said. “I cried. I could call my daughter again and hear her voice. It was all over.”
But it was far from over. “Little did I know it was just the start. The Russians did not do much damage when in the city but once they were kicked out they went crazy. They are like mad dogs. They want to destroy everything just because they cannot have it.” She fled the bombs and bullets two months later. Now she has nothing but memories as she watches news clips showing fighting for the city that was her beloved community for seven decades. “The Russians are approaching my home, a metre or two every day. I know they will destroy it all and occupy the land,” she said.
This pensioner reflects a dark but realistic mood. Yet Trump is wrong to naively (or wilfully) fall for Putin’s boasts about military successes and inevitability of Russian triumph. Moscow has suffered 395,000 casualties this year, according to the latest British intelligence bulletin, to steal about 0.77 percent of Ukraine. Now Kyiv, with smaller forces and severe manpower struggles, has resorted to a form of whack-a-mole reliant on using its best troops. This was seen last week with a counter-offensive in Kupiansk, pushing them back roughly twice the distance they had advanced over four months. And note how 45 months after this full-scale invasion, Russia is still fighting for a town so close to the border. After this length of time in the Second World War, its forces were poised to capture the Nazi capital of Berlin.
As one top official said, there are no good options for Zelensky in this current bind. He is weakened by scandal and facing foes in Moscow and Washington at the helm of a nation fighting for survival filled with people incensed by atrocities. He is working frantically with real allies in Europe to ameliorate Trump’s pro-Kremlin “peace” plan without throwing it where it belongs in the rubbish bin. That means agreeing to hold elections but only after agreeing a ceasefire with firm security guarantees, for instance, and requesting more details on the insulting idea of turning Ukrainian-held parts of Donetskinto a demilitarised “free economic zone”.
No wonder that elderly woman from Kupiansk wondered how the rest of the world could just watch their agony. “It’s like they’re deliberately helping Putin,” she said sadly. “I just hope for another miracle.”