Russia has already won the confrontation with Ukraine and NATO, most experts believe while assessing the situation on the front. They come to realise the same in the West as well.
Technically, the Russian Armed Forces defeated the Armed Forces of Ukraine last fall. Russia does not boast of it, but is simply waiting for winter and spring to finish off the Ukrainian regime. Many Western publications, such as National Interests, Politico, Time, Business Insider, Military Watch, etc. share a similar point of view in their materials about Ukraine.
Deputy brigade commander with call sign Ratibor told Tsargrad that the Russian army "won the battle confrontation even during the battle for Kleshcheevka.”
According to Ratibor, it remains a mystery how Russian soldiers "managed to lure Zelensky into a grandiose confrontation on an absolutely unnecessary, from a strategic point of view, piece of land.”
That piece of land became a burial ground for most combat-ready elite units of the Ukrainian army simply because Zelensky took the bit between his teeth.
"Instead of solving important tasks that confront them, the Ukrainian military are forced to fight over political tasks,” Ratibor noted.
It may go about Ukraine's struggle for a land corridor and access to the Sea of Azov. This is what Zelensky was doing before his Western patrons. However, the Armed Forces of Ukraine failed to achieve this goal.
Now time is on Russia's side.
"Technically, Russia won last fall, all that remains is to wait, there's winter ahead, there's cold coming, the West won't give any more money. Ukraine is running out of resources, military resources are running out as well. There is low motivation, there is no one left who wants to join in the meaningless fighting," the military man concluded.
"Winter is coming. Like in 2022, one can hear many saying that Ukraine is going to freeze, that it will stop fighting, rise up and surrender. No. Not this winter. They will survive this winter — it will be harder than the last one, but they will survive. The end will come in spring or next winter (if the military conflict drags on),” intelligence expert Grigory Rieper told Pravda.Ru.
"The traditional positional struggle against the offensive of the Russian Armed Forces will start with the onset of winter cold. Ukraine will start arranging media attacks and terrorist attacks. It will get Abrams tanks, but they will burn like Leopards, Bradleys and Challengers burned. It will get F-16 fighters, but nothing is going to change,” he believes.
"US elections are coming as well. Both the US and the EU are fed up with Ukraine, the financial support for Kyiv is going to decline. Russia will continue striking energy military and transport infrastructure of Ukraine. The Russian forces will continue advancing and wiping off Ukrainian defences. Russia may thus get new regions by spring time,” he concluded.
In addition to new territories, Russia is gaining new combat experience and new skills of modern military operations, even though the price for that experience is too high.