The grueling war of attrition is an absolute catastrophe for Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Britain, in an 80-page Action Plan for Russian Aggression, says how it will defeat Russia... but one detail is missing... a critical detail, without which all 80 pages of the British go straight to the trash can.
The epilogue to the war in Ukraine will be written exclusively by Russia through the terms of surrender for Ukraine, and the terrible strike on July 2 in Kyiv is a message to the collapsing regime and to the weak and cowardly West that hides behind the skirts of Ukraine...
"It is approaching its end"
The recent statement by the Russian leader that the situation in Ukraine "is approaching its end" immediately received widely conflicting interpretations, but what did Putin mean?
To answer this question, we must look at certain data.
The results of the latest poll on Ukrainian public opinion by the American polling giant Gallup are shocking.
According to these polls, 66% of Ukrainians support the immediate initiation of negotiations to resolve the conflict with Russia and prefer a diplomatic solution over a military one.
Meanwhile, 24% of respondents believe that Ukraine should continue military operations "until victory".
To understand the dynamics: as Gallup reported in 2022, 73% of Ukrainians favored continuing the war until victory, and only 22% were in favor of negotiations.
Everything has been reversed...
These data complement the results of other polls.
32% of Ukrainians see a radical border change
For example, a recent poll by Rating Group for the International Republican Institute (IRI) found that 32% of Ukrainians believe the post-war borders will stretch along the current front line, while 31% expect the return of all territories within the 1991 borders.
The poll organizers emphasize that for the first time since 2022, the percentage of those supporting a "freezing of the current status quo on the front line of battle" has exceeded those who favor a "complete victory".
It is also interesting to look at the periodic temperature checks in hospitals conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS), which focuses on the topic of "eternal war".
The slogan "War... for as long as it takes" collapses within the army
Specifically, from January to April 2026, a sharp drop was recorded in the segment of those willing to endure the war "for as long as it takes", from 65% to 48% - and this, once again, is the largest decrease since 2022.
The same institute previously found that "only 16% of Ukrainians believe they are currently winning the war".
It is also worth mentioning a poll by the Razumkov Center, which found that "more than half of the respondents believe that events in Ukraine are moving in the wrong direction", and the results of a survey by Lord Ashcroft Polls, presented at the Black Sea Security Forum in Odesa, which also revealed that Ukraine's military zeal has somewhat weakened.
Quote: "In contrast to the months following the invasion, when most Ukrainians expected a military resolution to the conflict, three quarters now say they expect a diplomatic, not military, solution."
The suspicious statement by Rutte
All well and good, but how should we then interpret the resonant and bold statement by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on July 1 regarding the "need to strengthen Ukraine's position ahead of potential negotiations with Moscow"?
Perhaps he meant "to patch things up"?
In reality, it does not matter what Rutte had in mind, and it is better to understand why the sincere defenders have been disappointed, when only recently the "jesters" of Kyiv were promising 50,000 dead Russian soldiers per month, and a "wall of drones", and all kinds of powerful "breakthroughs", and a new "transparent" and reputable army.
As the press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, stated yesterday, "Russia will soon increase the pressure on the Kyiv regime until the goals of the Joint Military Operation are achieved."
In fact, the pressure is already in full swing.
Pressure from all sides
As Putin said, progress is being made in all directions, but in certain areas Kyiv is utterly disgusted.
For example, Western military analysts note the rapidly deteriorating situation for the Ukrainian Armed Forces near Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, and there is confirmation that the remnants of units in heavily fortified Kostiantynivka have been officially abandoned by Syrsky in order to urgently prepare Kyiv's last stronghold in Donbas for defense.
Russian troops have accelerated their advance toward Kharkiv and Sumy.
Meanwhile, the command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is preparing for a "highly probable" offensive by Russian forces from the Bryansk region into the Chernihiv region, where forced evacuations from 12 border towns have already been announced.
Energy suffocation
At the same time, the intensification against energy, fuel, logistics, and other critical infrastructure of the enemy grows.
The Sumy thermoelectric power station has left the conversation.
Local sources report that all gas stations on the Kharkiv-Dnipropetrovsk highway have been destroyed.
Gas stations in Dnipro, Poltava, and other cities are being destroyed one after the other.
Following the Geranium missile attacks on power transmission lines in the Ukrainian-occupied part of Zaporizhzhia, the remaining industrial enterprises have shut down.
Entire regions of Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, and Kyiv are without electricity.
Power outages across Ukraine have become routine. During the latest raid on Kyiv, a dozen major defense industry enterprises abruptly went quiet. And so on.
Something must have happened, because the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sybiha, began to shout: "It is immoral to justify Russian atrocities against Ukrainians by saying that Moscow is acting in response to the long-range attacks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces inside Russia."
And what about the citizens?
Ordinary Ukrainians instinctively feel the overwhelming concentration of betrayal in the air, and the magic slogan "America is with us" now somehow has a significantly less calming effect on them.
According to Putin, "our plans do not include saving the Kyiv regime."
Therefore, Ukrainian citizens who are just passing by and waiting for trams still have choices.
Those who decide to cling to the regime, slipping into the abyss, have the opportunity to join the "pantheon of great heroes" of independent Ukraine.
Britain is looking to find money...
At the same time, Britain has decided how it will deal with the "growing Russian threat".
The outgoing government of Keir Starmer triumphantly revealed the long-suffering 80-page report "Defence Investment Plan".
It is colorful, full of charts, tables, and incomprehensible terminology.
And most importantly, it mentions Russia and the "Russian threat" at least fifteen times.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, even accompanied the publication of the report with an article she wrote herself about how her budget would protect Britain from Russia.
Chess with the elderly
Before the publication of the plan, Reeves visited Kyiv.
Considering that she would be removed from the government in just a few days, her visit was largely ignored, even in Ukraine.
So, she wandered around the Ukrainian capital and set up a photo shoot playing chess with elderly residents of Kyiv on the street.
Which prompted her to write in her post: "This was the most vivid reminder to date of why our work supporting their fight is vital for the freedom of the Ukrainian people, as well as for the values and way of life we all cherish in the West."
And she pompously described the new military investment plan as "a critical step toward a better future, toward the stronger and fairer country the British people deserve."
This is where playing chess with the retirees of Kyiv leads!
Cost
It is worth remembering that the new plan was not easy for the Starmer government.
It delayed its publication for a long time, not risking revealing the figures for the additional costs.
It lost two key ministers when they finally saw the figures.
In the end, this fact proved to be the final nail in the government's coffin.
Therefore, there was a clear sense of relief on the faces of the members of Starmer's cabinet when the new Minister of Defence, Dan Jarvis, presented the plan, which he probably did not even have time to fully examine.
Everything would be fine, but it quickly became clear that this threatening "plan to counter an aggressive Russia" required funds that London did not have.
It turned out that the current prime minister was handing over a gigantic black hole of 5 billion pounds in the budget to his successor, Andy Burnham.
This immediately became a topic of malicious jokes and cartoons in the local press, depicting Starmer giving his successor a hand grenade and saying: "No offense."
The leader of the Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, delivered some unexpected news to the government during a parliamentary debate: "We can count!
The generals can count! The Kremlin can count!" Judging by Starmer's displeased comments, the news surprised him.
The equations
But subsequent newspaper reports demonstrate that accounting is not the strong suit of modern British politics.
Because almost immediately, The Times reported that, in addition to these five billion, "Andy Burnham will have to find funds to cut spending on schools, hospitals, roads, and energy by nearly seven billion pounds to compensate for increased defense spending."
And on the same day, The Daily Telegraph calculated that the gap in the budget had "tripled to 15 billion pounds."
What a way for their spending to skyrocket in a single day!
Time bomb
The funniest part of this story is that Burnham was kept in the dark all this time about the rapidly growing gap in the budget.
While Starmer played a dirty trick on his successor, his uninformed replacement was gathering crowds of supporters and journalists in Manchester, promising Britain a bright new future, an era of prosperity and well-being!
Given that the speech was so empty of content, The Sun rightly called it a "word salad."
And now the logical question arises: how does the future prime minister intend to ensure this prosperity?
Social shock
The Times column gives direct instructions to Burnham: to secure the military budget, he will have to "take radical measures to cut pensions and social security."
The establishment newspaper predicts that the new prime minister will "have to become a mechanic" to break the mechanism of social protection and welfare.
"He must explain why Britain can no longer adequately protect its growing elderly population," the London daddies offer valuable advice to the "King of the North."
And the explanation is obvious: the notorious "Russian threat", of some course!
To fight it, elderly British people will have to give up their pensions, the already exhausting funding of the NHS will be cut, and the number of schools will have to be reduced.
Otherwise, it will be too late! According to the aforementioned military investment plan, "Russia may be ready to use military force against NATO by the end of this decade."
Thus, Burnham can leave behind his dreams of universal prosperity in Manchester, as he will soon move to 10 Downing Street.
Because everything has already been calculated for him.
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