While Russian public opinion polls show continued support for the war, there are questions about the polls’ reliability and indications that public approval of Putin is declining.
Russian recruits gather inside a military recruitment centre on Sept. 26, 2022.
(AP Photo)
Russia’s military is plagued by problems all the way to its commander-in-chief Vladimir Putin.
A Ukrainian soldier inspects a residential building after it was damaged following a Russian shelling attack In Kyiv.
Mykhaylo Palinchak/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Liam Collins, United States Military Academy West Point
Despite having superior military forces, Russian President Vladimir Putin has found Ukrainian resistance much tougher than expected. A West Point military expert looks at the future of the war.
Sinking ships: Russia’s Black Sea fleet has largely been neutralised.
Mark Edward Harris/ZUMA Press Wire
Artillery shelling, stressed-out technicians and power supply disruptions increase the chances of catastrophe at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest.
Crimea’s ports have been recognised as strategically important for centuries. Here, celebrations of the memorial of defence of Sevastopol in 1941-42 were cancelled due to a Ukrainian military strike.
Sipa US/Alamy
This lull before the next phase of a long attritional campaign will be a test of Ukrainian resolve, Russia’s ability to resupply, and the West’s strategic patience.
Giving Russia the finger: drinkers in Kyiv enjoy the iconic image of defiance from Russia’s capture of Snake Island early in the war.
EPA-EFE/Oleg Petrasyuk
Beyond a symbolic win, reclaiming Snake Island has strategic repercussions, from the opening of a safe corridor to the diplomatic confrontation between Moscow and the west.
Liam Collins, United States Military Academy West Point
On paper, Russia’s military outmatches its Ukrainian rival. But better training, strategy and battlefield decisions have helped Ukrainian forces keep Russian troops at bay.
A Russian military intercontinental ballistic missile launcher rolls by during the 2019 Victory Day military parade celebrating the end of the Second World War in Red Square in Moscow in May 2019.
(AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
The sort of scenarios that might lead to the use of nuclear weapons in the Ukraine war would require a significant deterioration in Russian fortunes — and greater western involvement in the conflict.
Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill, center, and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, right, at the consecration of the Cathedral of Russian Armed Forces outside Moscow, June 14, 2020.
Oleg Varov, Russian Orthodox Church Press Service via AP
World War II has a central place in Russian nationalism. Its importance is written all over a new cathedral dedicated to the armed forces.
Vladimir Putin watchers the launch of Russia’s latest ICBM via video link in his office in the Kremlin.
EPA-EFE/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin pool/Sputnik