Special Report: How Ukraine is Winning the War
Ukrainian military forces have significantly outperformed expectations in its 45-day conflict with Russia, and is "perhaps the most important story of this war," writes Phillips Payson O'Brien for The Atlantic. "A close look at Ukraine’s successes illuminates a strategy that allowed a smaller state to—so far—outlast a larger and much more powerful one," he says.
O'Brien contends that Ukraine is winning the war by utilizing a "few foundational elements" such as "contesting air supremacy, denying Russia control of cities, complicating the Russian military’s communications and logistics, allowing Russian forces to get strung out in difficult-to-support columns, and attacking those columns from all sides."
Why Ukraine Is Winning (Phillips Payson O’Brien - The Atlantic)
According to the Pentagon, "Ukraine can 'absolutely' win the war against Russia as Moscow continues to struggle to make key breakthroughs," reports Sky News.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin "has achieved zero of his strategic goals" and is "really only taking control of a small number of population centers," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.
Ukraine war: Putin has 'achieved zero' and Ukraine can 'absolutely' win, says US (Sky News)
This podcast from the Ezra Klein Show features foreign policy expert, Fiona Hill, on whether Ukraine can win this war and what happens if Russia loses.
Klein writes in his introduction to the podcast that he had Hill on the show a few weeks ago to help him make sense of the Russia-Ukraine conflict as it was developing at the time, and "it was one of the most illuminating perspectives I’d heard on the topic." So, he "invited her back to discuss how the situation has changed, where we are now and how the conflict could develop moving forward."
Fiona Hill on Whether Ukraine Can Win – and What Happens if Russia Loses (The Ezra Klein Show)
Finally, Daniel Michaels writes a special report for The Wall Street Journal about the "little-publicized effort by countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization that transformed Ukraine’s military up and down the ranks, from foot soldiers to the defense ministry to overseers in parliament."
Michaels argues, "It is one big reason why Ukraine’s nimble fighting force has surprised the world by fending off a much larger and better-equipped invading army, say Ukrainians and their Western advisers."
The Secret of Ukraine’s Military Success: Years of NATO Training (Daniel Michaels - Wall Street Journal)