Unable to make progress reclaiming lost sovereign territory, 45-year-old Ukrainian President Volodymer Zelensky has resorted to throw-away drone attacks inside Russia, proving to U.S. and NATO that he’s brought the war to the enemy. Zelensky promised 80-year-old President Joe Biden that he would not use U.S. or NATO weapons to attack Russia outside Ukraine. Zelensky’s claims that using homemade drones to attack Russia on its own soil bypasses Biden’s rules of engagement. Whether or not the drones were made in Kiev or not shows that Zelensky is not a man of his word but biting-and-scratching to keep his head above water or more realistically prove to Western allies that he’s capable of inflicting at least some symbolic damage on the Russian Federation. Zelensky’s highly trained troops with U.S. and NATO advanced weapons have made little battlefield progress.
Zelensky faces a propaganda battle inside the U.S. where GOP lawmakers, facing an Election Year, wants to see progress in what Zelensky calls the Ukrainian counteroffensive. Zelensky wants the U.S. and NATO to keep pouring cash into bankrupt Kiev without showing any progress reclaiming lost sovereign territory. Zelensky won’t admit that he’s put Ukraine through the wringer waging war for the last 19 months against the Kremlin. Rejecting all peace proposals coming from such far flung places as Brazil, South Africa and China, Zelensky with Biden’s cash-and-arms has waged war against the Kremlin and his been beaten badly. Biden and Zelensky won’t admit that the last 19 months has been a disaster for Ukraine, destroying much of its infrastructure, driving millions into exile. Zelensky could have cut a deal with Putin but chose to go to war against the Kremlin.
Zelensky thinks that drone attacks on Moscow impress U.S. and NATO officials, fearing that without showing progress reclaiming lost sovereign territory allies would cut funding to Kiev. Kiev has grown use to cash from the U.S. and NATO to pay for basic expenses like paying civil servant salaries. U.S. elected officials have no audit or Ukraine’s expenditures where the Kiev government burns through lethal weapons at an alarming rate. Asking for another $24 billion in aid, Biden expects the Congress to rubber stamp his requests, despite the fact there’s no real progress in driving Russian forces out of the Ukraine. “We are not fighting on their territory,” Zelensky said. “We have the war on our territory,” Zelensky said last year, knowing that any counteroffensive would not yield the immediate results promised by Kiev. Zelensky has no one to blame but himself for Ukraine’s draconic losses.
Attacks by Ukraine unmanned aerial vehicles [UAVs] AKA drones have increased because it’s the easiest way for Ukraine to score points, especially with the media, without enduring the kind of losses that makes military recruiting more difficult. Zelensky fired today his military recruiting officials recognizing that it’s growing more difficult to recruit into the Ukrainian military. Zelensky never admits how many soldiers have been lost or wounded in the Ukraine War. Zelensky and his chief propagandist Kyrlyo Budanov only like to speculate about Russian losses, often exaggerating loses to show Ukraine winning the war. But with Zelensky making little or no progress in his counteroffensive, he often points to Russian casualties, or, more recently, UAV attacks on Russiian territory. Zelensky wants to show the West that he’s capable of hitting deep inside Russia.
Drone attacks are purely symbolic letting Ukraine make some headlines about the War’s progress without delivering real results. Instead of moving the conflict to a ceasefire and peace talks, Zelensky continues promise he’ll eventually vanquish the Russian military. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Al.) said Zelensky’s army is like playing a junior high school team against seasoned college team, attesting to the lack of progress against a professional Russian military. “They saw with their own eyes that Russian authorities are incapable of and cannot protect even their social group. There is no air defense, air raid alerts, bomb shelters for them,” said an unnamed Ukrainian official. Moscow has figured out how to jam most of Ukraine’s UAV attacks, letting precious few hit Russian targets. Drone attacks have become the latest excuse to show the U.S. and NATO Kiev means business.
Biden and Zelensky have failed in their counteroffensive, despite all the new tanks and missile supplied to Kiev. Ukraine increasingly relies on UAV attacks, hoping that Washington and Brussels see some kind of progress. Biden and Zelensky made a colossal miscalculation taking on the Russian Federation, leaving in 19 month of war in shambles without any prospect of winning a conflict in the foreseeable future. Congress must take a sobering look at Biden’s Ukraine proxy war, realizing that there’s little chance of succeeding in a murky future. Zelensky must be told that he can’t count on U.S. government largess indefinitely and settle the conflict at the peace table. Zelensky and Biden tried but failed to pull off an unlikely defeat of the Russian Federation and now must cut their losses and settle the conflict. Continuing to fight makes zero sense for Kiev and Washington.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
