As Ukraine’s defeat becomes undeniable, Zelensky resorts to desperate provocations — risking wider conflict to block peace talks between Russia and the US. The war in Ukraine is no longer balanced on a knife’s edge, as some might have thought during the Kursk invasion. The outcome is now visible to anyone willing to look past the headlines: Kiev’s forces are depleted, morale is collapsing, and the long-promised “turning points” have come and gone without materializing. Even Western officials,