Vladimir Putin’s heinous war with Ukraine has now lasted nearly five weeks. And he’s going downhill.

His best troops are being defeated, and his young conscripts are being slaughtered in large numbers — 16,000, according to reports — by hard-fighting Ukrainian troops.

His forces have been brought to a halt. They are not progressing in any way. Russian-controlled towns, such as Irpin near Kyiv and Trostyanets to the east, have been retaken.

Putin’s depleted military force can only bomb civilian areas and terrorise women and children. They’re very good at it. But they’ve demonstrated that they’re hopeless at almost everything else.

Putin expected a quick victory, but it never came.

Instead, he discovered that even his elite forces — his airborne troops — were unable to maintain their initial objectives.

They took the Hostomel airfield, just outside Kyiv, but were quickly driven out by fierce Ukrainian counter-attacks.

Humiliations for Putin

Then Putin shifted to a manoeuvre war, sending armoured columns from Russia, Belarus, and the Crimea to seize Ukraine’s key cities.

Only one significant city, Kherson in the south, was taken.

Every day, unarmed civilians would confront Russian soldiers and tanks in Kherson, making it abundantly clear that the Russians were not welcome.

In other cities, such as Sumy and Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Konotop, the Russians are unable to achieve their goals.

After more than two weeks of trying, they still haven’t managed to surround Kyiv.

That leaves them with no choice but to raze civilian areas to rubble in order to break the Ukrainian spirit.

But, like the rest of the world, the Russians may be learning from Mariupol, the southern city that is preventing them from controlling the entire coastal route from Russia to Crimea.

Mariupol, according to Putin’s original plan, should have fallen within hours of Russian troops crossing the border. However, the city has now held out for 34 days. Completely surrounded, pounded to rubble, with no food, water, or power, over 100,000 people trapped, and what remains of their defence forces fighting in the streets. Any rescuing forces that are more than 60 miles away

We can all see what’s going to happen in Mariupol, but they refuse to surrender.

When the Ukrainians recaptured the strategically important town of Trostyanets just four days ago, Russia’s 4th Guards Tank Division — one of the legendary “hero units” at Stalingrad and the battles to reach Berlin during the previous war — was routed.

The military humiliations continue to pile up for Putin.

As a result, he may be revising his goals and considering settling for something less — much less — than his original plan to “remove” Ukraine from the map of Europe.

Some of his henchmen believe he should now focus on the Donbas region in the south east, which Russia illegally seized in 2014.

Maybe they should just take the entire Donbas region and be done with it.

At the very least, Putin would be able to claim some sort of victory from his dreadful war.
Another possible goal, as suggested by a Ukrainian brigadier, is for Putin to partition the country, similar to how Korea was partitioned after WWII.

This would give the Russian leader control of a large portion of the territory he is attempting to seize.

It would, however, be too much for Ukraine’s President Zelensky.

Zelensky is being very astute in indicating that he is open to discussions.

In a revealing interview with Russian journalists over the weekend, he stated that as part of a deal, he is willing to adopt a neutral — and “non-nuclear” — status.

Zelensky’s chess move

Putin wants these things because he is frustrated by Ukraine’s drift toward the EU and Nato.

Zelensky would be willing to “compromise” on the Donbass region as well.

All of this would be subject to a referendum, with Russian troops withdrawing to their pre-February 24 positions during the process.

As the two sides continue to talk in Turkey, it is a significant chess move by Zelesnky, who has proven to be an extraordinarily brave and effective wartime leader.

But will this satisfy Putin? A quick agreement would be in his best interests, as it may be in the interests of some Nato members, as Zelensky has suggested.
Sanctions have been imposed.

The sooner an agreement is reached, the sooner Russia will be able to lift some of the more punitive sanctions that are currently crippling its economy.

In theory, at least.

Zelensky sees a variety of different strains of support within the Western alliance, ranging from continuing a long war to further “exhaust” Russia, to securing a deal so Russia can return to the global marketplace, to backing Ukraine to achieve nothing but victory.

Western allies will publicly support Zelensky in whatever position he takes.

Because they understand there is no going back to dealing with Putin the way we used to. There will be no more coaxing or turning a blind eye.

US President Joe Biden’s statement that Putin must resign may have landed him in political hot water, but it will be a sentiment shared by almost all other leaders.

Putin is a threat to everyone, and the West must meet it with the bravery of the people of Mariupol.