High troop looses for the Russians. who seem to be exhausted and unable to gain ground anymore…..
Trouble getting more troops (Ukraine has the same problem of recruitment)
Zelensky pleads with the US , Trump and Congress, to send more Patriot missiles to intercept Russian missile attacks…
Ukraine is worried about possible Russian drone attacks coming from Belarus ….
Below an Ukraine Op-Ed about the post-war Ukraine economy….
Will those who left return to boost their countries economy?
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Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made a dual appeal to Donald Trump and the US Congress for more air defence munitions including Patriot missiles after Russia battered Ukraine with waves of ballistic missiles. The Ukrainian president said the Russian missiles represented Vladimir Putin’s “last major advantage on the battlefield” and neutralising them would force the Russian ruler to negotiate. Russia used 30 ballistic missiles against Ukraine in a massive strike on Sunday, and only 11 of them were shot down, according to Ukraine’s air force. Zelenskyy also said Moscow’s troops launched two nuclear-capable Oreshnik missiles.
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Ukraine’s only means to shoot down Russian ballistic missiles is US-made interceptors shot by the Patriot air defence system. Throughout four years of war, Kyiv has been short of these interceptors. The US is supposed to be providing them through the European-financed Purl initiative, but the Iran war and Donald Trump’s antipathy to Ukraine have threatened supplies. Ukraine also has the similar SAMP/T interceptor system produced by France and Italy, but Ukrainian authorities say it needs upgrades to shoot down ballistic missiles.
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In his letter to Trump and the US Congress, seen by Reuters, Zelenskyy pitched missile defence as a tool to force the Russian president to the negotiating table. “As long as Putin still has even one meaningful advantage in conventional weapons, he will avoid conventional diplomacy. Today, his ballistic missiles remain exactly that – his last major advantage on the battlefield … Ukraine is ready to purchase the number of Patriot systems and interceptor missiles we need … The current pace of deliveries through the Purl programme is no longer keeping up with the reality of the threat we face.”
Russia’s defence ministry has returned to proclaiming the capture of Ukrainian villages at a time when senior analysts concur that Ukraine holds the initiative on the frontline. Moscow’s defence ministry said its troops have taken control of Hraniv in the Kharkiv region on the border with Russia and Vozdvyzhivka in Zaporizhzhia. Ukraine’s 14th army responded that Hraniv was under the control of the Ukrainian militarywith the Russians taking “significant losses in personnel and equipment”. DeepState, a reputable Ukrainian war blog, said Russian servicemen had briefly entered Vozdvyzhivka this month but were evicted or killed. The 14th Army also denied the capture of one of two villages the Russian military claimed to have seized in Sumy region.
Ukraine has a six-month window to seize the initiative from Russia and strengthen its hand for peace talks, Brig Gen Andriy Biletsky of Ukraine’s Third Army Corps has told a Reuters interviewer. “I believe the next six to nine months are a turning point,” Biletsky, who heads one of Ukraine’s most respected fighting forces, said in an undisclosed bunker in the Kharkiv region. “More precisely, I think the next six are the most critical.”
The general said he believes Russia’s army is exhausted and incapable of making major breakthroughs – “The lack of personnel no longer allows them to advance the way they did, for example, a year ago.” Ukraine’s military can push Moscow to abandon its designs on the last part of the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine that it does not yet occupy. “We need to define those directions where we can improve our positions, take some strategic points, and then speak with the Russians from a position of strength – not weakness – about a truly stable truce,” said Biletsky, a rightwing political leader who founded the Azov Battalion and now commands tens of thousands of troops. “From a military point of view, this is realistic.”
Assessing the military situation, John Helin of the Finland-based Black Bird conflict-analysis group agreed fatigue was a problem for Russian forces, while Ukraine’s war effort is still hampered by a manpower shortage. “It does seem like, four or five months into this year, it’s much more likely that the Russians will get exhausted before the Ukrainian problems come to a breaking point,” Helin told Reuters. On Monday, the US-based Institute for the Study of War said Kyiv’s forces were now “actively challenging the positional character of the war” and could soon be capable of staging limited mechanised assaults.
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ISW…Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, May 27, 2026
- The Kremlin’s domestic contract recruitment campaign continues to show signs of strain under the pressure of high battlefield losses.
- The effect of a potential Russian involuntary reserve call-up on the battlefield remains unclear given Russia’s growing requirements for manpower and the fact that Ukrainian drone strikes are inhibiting Russian troop movement towards the frontline.
- Ukraine’s successful mid-range and frontline drone strike campaigns are limiting Russia’s ability to transport personnel to the frontline and to supply and sustain frontline positions.
- Ukrainian forces have created a deep zone of drone activity from the intermediate range to the frontline, and it is unclear that additional reserve mobilization would materially improve Russian forces’ battlefield performance unless Russian forces can first counter Ukrainian drone operations.
- The Russian government is reportedly considering imposing a temporary restriction on Russian diesel and jet fuel exports after several months of Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries.
- Ukrainian forces advanced in Sumy Oblast and in the Kharkiv and Borova directions. Russian forces advanced in the Pokrovsk direction.
- Russian forces launched 163 drones toward Ukraine overnight….
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Daily Kos Grunt Report for Today….
A sobering question….
When the War ends?
Will Ukrainans who left?
Return to rebuild the countries Economy?

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