Russia thought it had it all figured

out. Take territory and force your

influence on the Ukrainian people. But

Ukraine has just slapped Russia upside

the head. A massive derussification

tsunami is sweeping through Ukraine,

eradicating Putin's forces as it goes.

The occupied lands are being reclaimed.

The end of Russia's influence is

imminent. Something just began, and

there's not a thing that Russia can do

to stop it. That something is a push.

Deep into the southeast, Ukraine's

forces are taking out Russia's soldiers

left, right, and center. Gray zones are

now being cleared, followed by Ukraine

recapturing settlements that Russia

thought was safe from liberation. This

is a counterattack, yes, and one that is

being done to set up a stalwart defense

against a Russian offensive that will

come in the spring, as you'll learn if

you keep watching. But there's something

deeper going on for Ukraine. This isn't

just about retaking territory. It's

about expelling Russian influence. It's

about teaching Putin that no matter how

hard he tries, Ukraine is rejecting

Russification at every turn. It all

started with the gray zones. In

traditional terms, a gray zone is any

area where hostility is present, but

that hostility is below the threshold

needed for true state-on-state conflict.

Think of the incursions that Russian

drones and fighter jets have been making

into NATO airspace over the last few

months, and you get the idea. But in

Ukraine, a gray zone is a little

different. It's a region where neither

side has true control. Although Russia

often claims it does, there are isolated

pockets of conflict, but the entire

idea, at least from the Russian

perspective, is to create a murky view

of the battlefield that allows Putin to

claim propaganda victories related to

territory that Russia doesn't actually

hold. Russia has been creating these

gray zones by sneaking small units

behind the Ukrainian front line. Once

in, those units dig down and wait,

ostensibly for backup, but often for the

inevitable death that will arrive when

Ukraine's forces catch up to them.

Still, chaos reigns in these zones, and

they create opportunities for Russia to

Russify by claiming that Ukraine can do

nothing to stop what Putin tries to tell

the whole world is an unstoppable

advance. Nothing could be further from

the truth, and Ukraine's campaign of

derification in the southeast is the

perfect example. It all started with the

clearing of the gray zones in

southeastern Ukraine. As Euromidan Press

reported on February 25th, the operation

started about 4 weeks ago in early

February, and it's seen Ukraine complete

a very immediate and important goal,

clearing the small pockets of Russian

infiltrators.

Amid the Starink shutdown that has wre

havoc among Russia's forces, Ukraine

sent out search and destroy squads into

the southeast gray zone that separated

Russian Ukrainian forces, spanning about

30 km or about 18.6 6 milesi from the

Ukrainian controlled settlement of

Petrovska in Denipo Petrovk oblast to

the town of Julia which is under

Russia's control and in the Zaparisia

oblast that gray zone was in danger of

being Russified if Ukraine did nothing

about it. So Ukraine pushed it searched

and destroyed and now with control over

the gray zone established Ukraine has

shifted its goals no longer solely

targeting infiltrators. Ukraine is

taking massive steps toward ridding

Russian influence from the southeast

forever. Ukraine is retaking settlements

and territory. A lot of settlements and

territory. With the gray zone cleared,

the advance could begin. And though

Ukraine has retaken several settlements,

as we'll go into in a minute, the

headliner in all of this is the village

of Tanova. Located in Denipo Petrovsk,

though close to the borders of both

Zaparisia and Bonetsk, Tanova is tiny.

It had a population of a little over 300

before it was ruined by the war. Now,

thanks to Ukraine's forces, it's a

symbol of diversification. the first

settlement that Ukraine retook in its

southeast counter offensive and the

village that set the stage for

everything that we've seen since. It all

started on February 21st. That's when

the Thor Kill 65X account posted images

and an account of what happened in

Tanova. Units from the second battalion

of Ukraine's 425th Assault Regiment

started a push into the settlement.

Therein were the entrenched, though

limited, members of Russia's 69th

Covering Brigade, which had taken

control of the settlement just weeks

before. The Ukrainian assault didn't

last long. It didn't have to. With

Russia's forces already in disarray

following their communications

breakdown, Ukraine completed the

derification of Tanova in record time.

And with control gained over the

settlement, Ukraine set itself up for a

deeper push into the southeast with

Berzova landing on the agenda. Tanova

was a sign for Russia. As Uramidan press

points out, Ukraine actively retaking

this village was a signal that the gray

zone clearing operation has morphed into

a new kind of campaign. one that would

see Ukraine push Russians out of as many

settlements in the southeast as

possible. All in service of ridding

those settlements of Russian influence

and preparing for Putin's renewed

campaign of Russification that is

anticipated to begin during the spring.

It wouldn't be long before Ukraine

started pushing deeper. At around the

same time as Ukraine's forces had pushed

the Russians out of Tanova, Pravda was

reporting that Ukraine had also pushed

the occupiers back near the settlement

of Kalinka. By February 24th, a mere 3

days after news broke of the liberation

of Tanova, Ukraine had liberated eight

settlements in flash assaults that

Russia couldn't stop. Risna, Andrekka,

Nachayka, Ostapska, and Nova Zaparisia

all fell back into Ukraine's hands. With

RBC Ukraine reporting that there had

been no evidence of the Russian presence

in these settlements for 2 weeks leading

up to February 24th, Tanova then may

have been the first liberated settlement

that we learned about, but it looks like

it wasn't the first settlement that

Ukraine cleared. What we see here is a

campaign to de-rassify settlements that

appears to have started alongside the

gray zone clearing operation. And in

many ways, that makes sense. Russia's

infiltrators would have chosen the

shattered remains of settlements as

hiding places. By clearing those

infiltrators out, Ukraine was also

liberating villages and towns,

destroying Russian influence in the

southeast as it went. By February 23rd,

the commander-in-chief of Ukraine's

military, Alexander Syski, was reporting

that Ukraine had liberated about 400 km

or around 154 square miles of territory.

Keep that figure in mind. Going to be

coming back to why it's so important in

just a few minutes. But for now, what

this amounts to for Russia is really

simple. 4 months of infiltration had

gone down the drain in 3 weeks of

Ukraine's dustification campaign. That's

according to Clement Mulan, who is a

French military analyst who mapped out

what Ukraine had been doing on February

21st. Right on the eve of news breaking

about the liberation of so many of

Ukraine's southeastern settlements.

Milan reported that a combination of

satellite imagery and confirmation of a

massive increase in Ukraine's shelling

of Russia's positions confirmed that

clearing had turned into

diversification. Milan noted 3,000

additional shelling incidents in the

turnover direction, which amounted to

Ukraine regaining control of most of the

defensive line that it had held in that

sector back in 2022. An anti-tank ditch,

barbed wire, and dragon's teeth came

back to Ukraine, offering the foundation

for fortifications that will tear

through Russia in the spring. Using maps

of artillery and air strikes, Milan

demonstrated that Ukraine has indeed

advanced and that Russia is in retreat

in the southeast. Russia's artillery

strikes have practically stopped, which

is a clear indication that the forces it

had stationed in the settlements that

Ukraine has liberated are no longer in

range. In other words, they've been

pushed back and Ukraine keeps on firing.

This situation largely benefits Ukraine.

Russia lost in 3 weeks at least 4 months

of infiltrations far behind the lines,

Milan says, adding, "This will buy time

to better defenses as well as the H15

highway leading to Zaparisia." Milan

caps off his report by claiming that

more is coming. Using a handy map, he

draws a white line that shows how deep

he believes that Ukraine will push as it

dustifies the southeast. That white line

is already loaded with barbed wire,

meaning Ukraine's goal now will be to

gain full control over it so that it can

both expand its defenses and push the

gray zone deeper into territory that

Russia thought it held. This isn't any

old counteroffensive by Ukraine. It's

the broad reshaping of the battlefield

that has happened in large part because

of the communication breakdown that has

racked Russia's military. Before we dig

deeper into that, you are watching the

Military Show. If you haven't subscribed

yet, now is the perfect time. Ukraine's

campaign of southeastern diversification

kicked off in early February because

that is the precise time that Elon Musk

and SpaceX finally decided to do

something about the illicit Starlink

terminals that Russia has been using to

coordinate its assaults. These smuggled

terminals have been in use all across

the 700 mile front line, Uridan press

reports. And Russia had been using them

to coordinate its units and even conduct

drone strikes. All that disappeared in

the wake of the Starling shutdown. And

to make matters worse, no less than

Putin himself decided days later that it

would be a good idea to restrict access

to the social media app Telegram. In his

desire to maintain his own influence,

Putin kicked his soldiers off the one

communication channel that they could

use, but would have a chance of filling

at least some of the gap that the loss

of Starink left behind. Russia's

military was and still is shambles.

Command centers could no longer

coordinate assaults. Infiltrators who

had bedded into the gray zones lost

contact with their backup. Russia's

assault units got lost. Scared, all they

could do was wait around, hoping that

help would come as they heard Ukraine's

drones drawing closer. Without Starlink,

Russia's entire southeastern line

collapsed, and Ukraine took full

advantage. Eight settlements and

counting have been liberated. The

occupied lands have been reclaimed.

Dussification can begin. If this were a

game of chess, Putin's decision to

snatch Telegram away right after Starink

was lost would be akin to taking your

queen and just tossing it away. The king

is now exposed, lost and cornered as

Ukraine's pieces advance. There's an old

joke that you should never play chess

with a pigeon. Why? Because the pigeon

will kick all of the pieces off the

board, take a dump on it, then strut

away, acting like it won. Putin seems to

have taken that joke as literal advice

when determining his strategy. His

soldiers and his influence are now dying

in Ukraine's southeast as a result. What

we're saying here is that Putin made a

bad situation for Russia even worse by

making the dumbest decision that he's

made so far in the war. And now what

we're seeing in the southeast is a

result of that decision. Earlier we

asked you to keep Serski's remarks about

Ukraine taking 400 km of territory back

from Russia in mind. The reason is that

this number is special. While Russian

forces run around like headless

chickens, Ukraine's derification

campaign in the southeast, has seen it

making the most significant gains since

August 2024, which is when Ukraine's

forces launched a counteroffensive into

Russia's Kursk region. Euromidan Press

highlights this, noting that we can

combine the territory that Ukraine has

retaken in the southeast with the

territory that it liberated in Kyansk

toward the end of December. All of which

adds up to a terrible start to 2026 for

Russia's forces. What Putin thought was

safe is now in Ukraine's hands. And it

doesn't look like Russia is going to be

able to reoccupy what Ukraine is

liberated anytime soon. That's the

entire point of the resification. And

we're going to explore some of the many

other things that Ukraine has been doing

to rid itself of Russia's influence

outside of the battlefield toward the

end of the video. First, it's worth

focusing on what happened in Capansk, as

that town was something of a precursor

to the campaign that Ukraine has

launched in the southeast. Back in

November 2025, Russia made the bold

claim that it had taken Capyansk. It

repeated that claim in mid December. And

we say that it was a bold claim because

Russia hadn't actually taken Kapyansk.

The city had been close to falling into

Russia's hands due to the infiltration

strategy we mentioned earlier. But

Ukraine certainly hadn't lost it by

December. Quite the opposite. Ukraine's

forces were actively ridding the city of

Russia's soldiers as Putin and his

cronies crowed about their control over

Capansk. By December 1st, Ukraine had

shattered the Russian narrative in

Capansk, which is in the Khiv region.

Far from falling to Russia, the city had

been practically liberated by Ukraine.

The country's forces held 90% of the

city by the same period in December that

saw Russia claiming to have taken

control. Ukraine has pushed on in the

Cupansk direction since then. According

to Uramidan press, Ukraine's forces have

retaken at least 183 km or about 70.6

miles in the Kyansk direction between

December 11th and 25th, which adds to

all of the territory that is liberated

in the southeast during February. If the

liberation of Capansk was symbolic on

the diversification front, as seen when

Ukraine put an exclamation point on what

it had achieved by raising the country's

flag in the center of the city, what

Ukraine has been doing in the southeast

serves as much of a practical purpose as

a symbolic one. Ukraine is preparing for

something. On February 9th, the Kev Post

reported that Ukrainian and

international observers all agreed that

Russia has been trying to accumulate

strategic reserves that it intends to

use for a large-scale assault against

Ukraine in the eastern and southern

regions of the country. Part of this

offensive will focus on Donetsk, where

Russia is trying to push past Papovsk

and toward the fortress belt. However,

Russia will also send troops likely as

part of a supporting attack in the

summer toward the major cities of

Zaparisia and Oorke. Those supporting

forces may head in that direction to

divert Ukraine away from Daetsk. Though

Putin will also be very happy if his

soldiers are also able to capture these

two cities. Ukraine's southeastern

campaign of diversification takes on a

different complexion with this

knowledge. As Uramidan press points out,

Russian troops planned for the spring

summer 2026 offensive must now first

fight to reestablish defensive

positions, then regain lost ground. Only

then can they launch planned operations

in the spring or summer. What Ukraine

has achieved beyond ridding at least

eight of its southeastern settlements of

Russia's influence is forcing a hard

reset of Russia's strategy. Before any

assault can be launched to distract

Ukraine's forces away from Daetsk,

Russia will first have to feed more of

its soldiers into Ukraine's defenses

simply to reclaim territory that it had

gained over the four months leading into

February. And remember, Ukraine is

reinforcing its defenses in the

liberated territories. It's creating

kill zones packed with drones, anti-tank

defenses, and artillery ambush points,

which means that Russia will have to

work much harder to reclaim what Ukraine

has liberated than it did just a few

short months ago. Russia may be planning

to distract Ukraine with a spring push

into the southeast. But the reality may

end up being that Putin has to sacrifice

reserves that he intended to use in

Donetsk just to get Russia back into the

same position that it had in January.

What we've seen in the southeast is a

process of diversification that began a

long time ago, only accelerated to an

extent that Putin never expected. As

Leamond reports, Ukraine has been trying

to rid itself of Russia's lingering

influence long before Putin launched his

full-scale invasion. That campaign began

with the Maidam revolution of 2014, the

outlet says, and it has accelerated

significantly since Putin's forces

invaded in February 2022. And while

every liberated settlement is a tangible

battlefield manifestation of Ukraine's

desire to deustify, there is plenty

going on in the country that shows us

how it's crafting a new identity that

will ultimately see it free itself of

the Soviet shackles that have for so

long held it back. Chattam House

provides more information, noting that

the period between the Maidan Revolution

and Putin's invasion had seen Ukraine

make some interesting strides. Ukraine

was steadily consolidating its

sovereignty in educational, language,

media, religious domains, the outlet

says with a pair of highlights coming in

2019. That's the year that Ukraine

restored the independence of the

Orthodox Church of Ukraine from Russia,

in addition to being the year when

Ukraine passed a new law mandating the

use of the Ukrainian language in all

education, media, and public

administration settings. Every single

one of these actions sent a jolt through

Putin. Russia's leader could feel his

influence waning. That's likely a huge

reason why he launched his invasion in

the first place. But all that Putin has

really achieved in four years of war is

strengthening the Ukrainian desire for

true sovereignty. Every scrap of

territory that Ukraine liberates,

including all that it's just retaken in

the southeast, is a reminder to Putin

that Ukraine doesn't want Russia in its

country. On the more symbolic front,

Ukraine's non-combatants are also

pushing to rid their country of Russian

influence, even as Putin sends more

soldiers to their deaths against

Ukraine's defenses. For instance,

October 2025 brought with it a push

within Ukraine to get rid of the Copek

coin, which is a piece of Russian

currency that remains in circulation in

Ukraine. As Andre Pishny, who is the

chief of Ukraine's national bank, put it

at the time, the Copek is a piece of

Moscow that remains in our pockets, on

our price tags, and most importantly, in

our heads. This is the real Ukraine.

Putin may try to deny it. He may try to

tell anybody willing to listen that most

in Ukraine want to be controlled by

Russia. But time and time again,

Ukraine's own people, from its soldiers

to its civilians, prove Putin wrong. If

Ukraine wanted Russification, it

wouldn't have spent four years fighting

tooth and nail to stop Russia in its

tracks. And now, as Ukraine liberates

more territory than it has in years,

we're seeing the push against Putin's

influence enter a new stage. The total

derusification offensive has begun, and

it signals Ukraine fighting harder

against Russia than it ever has before.

Ironically, Ukraine may be getting help

in the fight for diversification from

the most unexpected source of all,

Putin. As Ukraine eradicates Russian

influence from its own land, Putin's

Ukraine war tunnel vision is leading him

to make decisions that are destroying

the identity of Russia itself. In just

one month, Ukraine has scored victory

after victory against Russia. Massive

territorial gains are being made as

Ukrainians take back what's theirs and

crush the Russian forces. None of this

is happening by accident. Ukraine has

developed into a fearsome fighting force

that combines innovation with brilliant

tactics, resulting in liberations in key

sectors of the front lines that are

stopping Russia in its tracks.

Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian

armed forces, Alexander Sies, provided

the details in a Facebook post on April

15th, noting that Russia has launched a

more intense series of assaults as part

of its spring offensive. CSKI detailed

how Ukraine is responding and what that

response has meant for Russia. We must

seize the strategic initiative. Thus, we

are conducting an active defense, CSI

declared before breaking the bad news to

Putin. Thanks to this, in March, our

troops regain control over nearly 50

square kilmters of territory that have

been occupied by the enemy. Those gains

are the results of a series of

counteroffensive actions that have

caught Russia offg guard as Ukraine

focuses on retaking territory over which

Russia only held a tenuous grasp with

its infiltration strategy. Putin's plans

have backfired. He thought he could use

Russia's manpower advantage by sending

in soldier after soldier to turn

occupied sectors into gray zones. Putin

was wrong. Ukraine has come roaring back

and it's making gains even as Russia

attempts to ramp up the pressure during

its spring offensive. Things wouldn't be

so bad for Russia if Ukraine were making

these gains on the back of months of

Russian advances. But that isn't the

case. The latest 50 km or 19.3 miles of

territory liberation comes off the back

of a month where Ukraine retook even

more land than that. After launching a

series of counteroffensives in the

south, Ukraine had regained about 300 km

or about 115 square miles by February

20th. By the end of March, Syski was

reporting that Ukraine had bree taken

about 450 km or around 185 square miles

from Russia in a counteroffensive that

seemed sweeping at first. It isn't. What

Ukraine is doing is extremely strategic

and focused on a handful of key sectors.

As you'll discover if you keep watching

the video, the key here is that Ukraine

has seen back-to-back months of

extensive gains against Putin's forces.

And in March, the territory recaptures

were accompanied by a mind-bogglingly

bad casualty rate for Russia. Al Jazzer

reports that Russia suffered a new

monthly high for confirmed casualties

caused by Ukraine's armed forces in

March. Ukraine says enhanced drone

production made this possible. It's more

complicated than that, but the headline

figure is simple. 35,351

Russians were killed or wounded in

Ukraine in the same month that Ukraine

retook 50 km of its territory. That

casualty rate represents a 29% increase

over the rate from February, which shows

us that something is changing in

Ukraine. It's not just holding the line

anymore. Ukraine is pushing forward

using an active defense that is killing

more Russians than ever before. Adding

to Putin's woes is that Russia's

recruitment rate isn't keeping up with

its 2026 rate of attrition. Russia plans

to recruit 409,000 soldiers by the end

of the year. It's getting nowhere near

that number. Right now, Russia has a

daily average recruitment rate of 1,120,

which Alazer says will ultimately lead

to it having a 65,000 soldier shortfall

against its target by the end of 2026.

That means fewer soldiers being cycled

onto the front. And when Russia has

fewer soldiers to defend the territory

that it occupies, opportunities for yet

more counterattacks open up for Ukraine.

what we've seen in March is already

impressive, but it may just be the start

of something much bigger as Russia's

manpower problems take hold deeper into

2026. So, Russia is dealing with

recruitment issues, record casualties,

and Ukraine retaking large chunks of

territory. Could it possibly get any

worse for Putin? The short answer is

yes. All of this is happening as Russia

launches the grand spring offensive that

is supposed to result in the collapse of

the Dombas and Russia stealing vast

quantities of territory from Ukraine.

Attacks have ramped up across the entire

front as a result of this spring

offensive launch. Russia is sending

waves of soldiers in the directions of

Constantiniva, Lyman, Denipropovsk,

Zaparisia, and toward the fortress belt

of cities in Donetsk as it follows the

only strategy that Putin has ever had.

Throw cannon fodder at defenses until

Ukraine breaks. Heavy fighting has also

been reported in the Alexandria and

Povsk directions, the latter of which is

a city that Russia has claimed to have

taken since as far back as December.

Basic logic dictates that more assaults

should add up to more territory being

taken by Russia, but that hasn't been

the case. What we're actually seeing

across the front is a massive slowdown

in the rate of the Russian advance.

Business Insider highlights this, noting

that Putin's forces were moving forward

at a rate of about 12.9 km or 5 miles

per day in March 2025.

Fast forward a year and the rate of

advance is a comparatively poulry 2.58

km or one square mile per day. In other

words, Russia's rate of advance has been

slowed by a factor of five in just one

year. And to apply a healthy dose of

salt to the Russian wound, Ukraine has

snatched away the momentum to achieve

daily gains of 4.66 km or 1.8 square

miles per day, almost twice what Russia

is gaining. What this all means for

Russia is very simple. The launch of the

spring offensive has been a complete

failure. According to France 24, an

assessment by the Institute for the

Study of War, or ISW, smashes the final

nail into the coffin of Russia's March

2026 campaign, when tallying Ukraine's

advances against Russia's, March is the

first month in 2 and 1/2 years, where

Russia's gains amounted to net zero.

Ukraine is outpacing Russia. It's

putting Putin to shame by launching a

better and more effective offensive than

Russia in the precise month that was

supposed to mark the start of Russia's

victory march. This isn't just

humiliating for Putin. It's an outright

catastrophe that should be showing him

just how poorly his throw people at the

problem until it goes away strategy

works in the 21st century battlefield

that Ukraine has created. What we're

seeing now is that things are starting

to shift in Ukraine's favor. And this is

how it's happening. The obvious answer

to how Ukraine is pulling all of this

off against a Russian military that has

a massive numbers advantage is drones.

We could just say drones did it and be

done with it. I mean, there's a lot more

to it than that. Still, drones are

crucial. Do you remember those March

casualty figures that we shared earlier?

35,351

Russian soldiers killed or wounded.

According to Uramidan press, a

staggering 96% of those casualties were

caused by drones. Ukraine's flying and

ground robots have been taking a massive

toll on Russia's spring offensive, which

is allowing Ukraine to hold its ground

in the regions that Putin is targeting

as it makes advances elsewhere.

Incidentally, Ukraine's drone advantage

is getting stronger. 2026 will see the

UK send a bumper package of more than

120,000 drones to Ukraine, which will

add to the millions of drones that

Ukraine is building itself. The

longrange drone aspect of the war isn't

going any better for Russia. For a long

time, in an area where Russia held a

clear advantage, long-range drones have

been used to wreak havoc on Ukraine's

cities and infrastructure. Again, volume

was key, as it has been on the ground

for Putin. However, March represented

another turnaround in that department.

ABC News reports that March was the

first month of the entire war in which

Ukraine launched more long-range drones

at Russia than Russia managed to launch

at Ukraine. The disparity is

significant. 7,347

Ukrainian drones versus 6,462

Russian drones. And to make matters even

worse for Putin, Ukraine's new breed of

interceptor drones, which take out

Shahits for pennies on the dollar, help

Ukraine to score a near 90% interception

rate against Russia's drones. in March.

Russia is launching fewer drones than

Ukraine, and it's seeing less success

with those drones than it has in months.

And what this means is that March wasn't

just catastrophic on the battlefield for

Putin. Ukraine's growing focus on deep

strikes means that it's whittling away

at the Russian war machine from the

inside. Inside Russia alone, 76 targets

were struck by Ukraine's drones,

including 15 facilities relating to

Russia's oil refining sector. All of

this is done to weaken Russia on the

front. Be that by destroying military

assets in Russia, such as production

facilities, or by snatching away the

fuel that Russia provides to its troops

and sells for a profit to other nations.

So, drones have been huge for Ukraine in

March. But you probably knew that

already. Whenever there is a discussion

about how Ukraine has pulled off

something spectacular against Russia,

drones are usually one of the reasons

why. But pay attention to what we just

said there. One of the reasons behind

the drone barrage, there is a lot more

going on behind the scenes that has

enabled Ukraine to make massive gains

against Russia. But before we get deeper

into that, there's a lot more where this

comes from. If you're getting value from

the military show, make sure you're

subscribed to the channel. There was

something in CSKI's words that should

have caught your attention beyond the 50

km claim. Saski used the words active

defense, and that term represents far

more than many realize. CSKI himself

gave us some clues as to why when he

said, "We are countering Russian numbers

with Ukrainian quality of combat

operations, forcing the enemy to play by

our rules and constantly postponing the

deadlines for completing tasks." He adds

that Ukraine has been using strikes

against Russia's military and defense

industrial complexes both in Russia and

in the occupied territories to reduce

Russia's offensive capabilities.

Ukraine's defense minister, Milky

Federov, also spoke about the need for

Ukraine to take the initiative and go on

the attack earlier in 2026. Back in

January, Fedorov said that Ukraine was

going to focus on boosting Russia's

killed in action rate as he set a target

of 50,000 irreoverable casualties for

Russia per month. That combined with the

systemic reform inside the Ukrainian

military would lead to a situation where

Ukraine could take the initiative

against Russia. That's what we're now

seeing on the battlefield. But taking

the initiative doesn't translate to

Ukraine launching a sweeping counter

offensive across a front line that now

stretches for 1,200 km or about 745 mi.

Ukraine is being much smarter than that.

The reason why it's made gains against

Russia in both March and February is

that Ukraine has taken a sectorbased

approach to its counterattacking

strategy. George Baros of the ISW tells

Business Insider, "It's not accidental.

It's not circumstantial. There are

reasons for it." when describing how

Ukraine has been degrading Russia's

defenses in key sectors for months to

set the stage for the counter offensives

that we're seeing today. What this tells

us is that Ukraine has learned from the

mistakes of the past. It's launched a

counter offensive against Russia before

back in 2023. That counter offensive

ultimately failed for several reasons.

One of which was that Ukraine spread its

forces too thin. Ukraine isn't making

that mistake now. Instead, it's looking

at areas where Russia has spread itself

too thin and is countering there. The

idea is simple. Russia's infiltration

strategy, which it used for much of

2025, allowed it to claim territory even

when it had only managed to sneak a

handful of troops into that territory.

These small gatherings of defenses are

what Ukraine is targeting now. And the

results are plain to see, where Russia

is weak, Ukraine attacks, and it

launches those attacks while maintaining

a stalwart defense in the regions that

Russia really wants to take. That

defense inflicts massive casualties

which further weakens Russia as Putin is

forced to move troops around the

battlefield before he's ready. Those

unanticipated movements lead to more

weakening and more opportunities for

Ukraine to make gains. Alexandrika,

where Russia is now trying to launch

attacks, was one of those sectors. The

Nepo Petrovski is another business

insider points out. And even before we

started hearing about Ukraine's counter

offensives in 2026, it was giving us

hints about the type of strategy it

would deploy. Heading to Cupyansk in the

Kivo blast, Ukraine spent the end of

December shattering an attempted Russian

occupation of that city, rubbishing

claims made by Putin and his cronies

that Kupansk had fallen in the process.

That gave us some early insight into the

strategy that Ukraine is pursuing now.

It's allowing Russia to take territory

in strategically unimportant areas while

Ukraine focuses on retaking key pieces

of territory that actually have an

impact on Russia's long-term plans. In

Capansk, Ukraine destroyed Russia's

attempt to project strength ahead of

peace negotiations. Now in Alexandria

and Nepropsk, Ukraine is preventing

Russia from building a buffer zone to

protect its forces in Donetsk as well as

pushing back against an attempted

Russian advance in Zaparisia. This is a

maturation in Ukraine's operational

planning and it shows us that Ukraine is

getting better at both anticipating what

Russia wants to achieve and countering

in places that Russia can't defend.

Business Insider says that Ukraine's

Delta system, which is a huge

cloud-based battlefield management

system that lets Ukraine review

real-time data recorded by drones and

other units from the battlefield, is

playing a huge role. Ukraine constantly

gets its hands on up totheminute

intelligence that feeds into the

planning of its operations. The

maturation of Ukraine's approach can

also be seen in its military command.

We've already mentioned that Fedorov is

working on overhauling Ukraine's

military structure. Ukraine is shifting

to a core system which improves

coordination between units and aids

operational planning. All of these

changes are already being reflected on

the front and they're being accompanied

by a new Ukrainian focus on mid-range

strikes. Ukraine is hitting more targets

in places like occupied Donetsk as it's

introduced a new generation of drones

that fly further than FPV drones and

don't cost as much as the long range

drones it already has. We mentioned

Ukraine's targeting of Russia's air

defenses earlier. That has a purpose,

too. The key independent says that the

period between June 2025 and March 2026

saw Ukraine carry out 429 strikes

against Russian air defense systems.

Those strikes set up the mid-range

strikes we're seeing now. Ukraine uses

these strikes to target Russia's

ammunition depot and its Shahid drone

storage units in the occupied

territories. It's taking out command

centers and troop gatherings, forcing

Russia into a position where it's having

to deploy frontline units that don't

have what they need. That's been made

possible because the air defenses that

once protected Russia's infrastructure

in the near rear have been taken out of

the game, which creates safe aerial

corridors that Ukraine can exploit to

smash Russian logistics and supply

lines. Ukraine's strategy is complex and

requires a great deal of coordination.

However, we can sum it up as follows.

Ukraine is weakening Russia from the

inside to create opportunities for the

types of counterattacks that were seen

in February and March. Now, are these

counterattacks warending? No. but

they're not supposed to be. Again, it's

all about the active defense that CSKI

mentions. Ukraine is taking territory

and strategic positions that enable it

to defend other sectors better than it

would otherwise be able to. Take Donetsk

as an example. Now that Ukraine has

liberated the southern territories that

Russia intended to use as a buffer zone,

it can start funneling more soldiers

north and into the Donetsk region. If

Russia wants to counter that, it has to

send soldiers who were previously

destined for Donetsk to the south.

Either way, Russia's attempts to advance

into Netsk weakened because Ukraine took

the initiative in a completely different

sector of the battlefield. And there are

other factors at play. Just when Russia

might start to think that it has a

handle on Ukraine's tactics, Ukraine

finds new surprises for Putin. According

to the Keefe Post, Ukraine is now taking

advantage of underground routes through

which it's moving troops and military

equipment. The outlet doesn't provide

much more information than that, though

we do know that Ukraine has invested in

building networks of tunnels in the kill

zones that it's created. Those tunnels

were and likely still are being used to

ambush Russian infiltrators. Perhaps now

the underground network Ukraine has

created is large enough to enable it to

use the tunnels as logistical arteries.

Russia would never have seen that

coming. And that's the point. Speed and

innovation have always been key

advantages that Ukraine has held over

Russia. As we speak, Ukraine is working

to embed research and development into

the military units that are actively

fighting against Russia. The Center for

Strategic and International Studies

claims it adds that Ukraine has also

created a better training pipeline for

its air defense operators, which all

adds up to Ukraine using its

technological advantage to hurt Russia.

Ci himself says that Ukraine's military

never stands still. Every month,

Ukraine's military conducts assessments

of the combat operations that it

launches, which it uses to refine its

tactics and figure out how it can

improve coordination across all levels

of military command. In short, Ukraine

is always looking for ways to get

better. Putin would have been happy with

waging a war using decades old tactics.

Even now, Russia is having a hard time

adapting. Yes, it's using drones against

Ukraine, but beyond that, Russia is

following the same attritional playbook

in 2026 as it was in 2022, and the

strategy is starting to fall apart. So,

when we say that Ukraine retaking 50 km

of territory from Russia is an

unbelievable victory, we aren't just

referring to the territory itself.

That's important, of course, but far

more vital for Ukraine is that these

gains are being made as a result of the

country's ability to constantly adapt

and mature. Putin's invasion, as brutal

as it has been, has led to Ukraine

becoming one of the world's strongest

military powers. The bite back is now

underway. Ukraine has the momentum as it

claws back territory and destroys

Russian soldiers in record numbers. The

spring of 2026 was supposed to kickstart

the final push for a Russian victory.

Instead, it's starting to look like the

beginning of Ukraine ending Russia's

invasion for good. They said that

Ukraine would lose the war. It was

inevitable. Russia was simply too big,

too powerful. A military superpower

against a mino needed the West to give

itself even a fighting chance of

surviving more than a month or two. How

things have changed. Ukraine is now a

master of war. And it's grown so

powerful that even the US needs its help

in Iran. The country that once relied on

others is now ready to become the nation

that its allies can rely on in every

aspect of modern warfare. Ukraine's

president, Vladimir Zalinski, has made

an announcement. For the first time in

Ukraine's history, the courage of our

warriors and the resilience of our

people are sufficiently armed to defend

against Russian strikes. Zalinski said

during an address to mark Ukrainian Arms

Makers Day on April 13th. What this

means is that Ukraine has combined the

support that it's received from so many

allies since Putin invaded with the

development of its domestic defense

industry, become the sort of powerhouse

that Putin always feared it would

become. Now Ukraine is stronger than it

ever has been at any point during its

history. And Zalinski is quick to let

the world know about it. This is not the

first time that Russia has come to

destroy Ukrainian statehood and freedom,

Ukraine's president said of Russia's

invasion of its territory before adding.

But now, Ukrainians are in a stronger

position than ever before, stronger than

in 2014, stronger than in the 20th

century, and stronger than at any

earlier time. For some, these might seem

like empty words. That's how Putin wants

the rest of the world to hear what

Zilinski has to say. For years, Russia's

president has been trying to craft the

narrative that Russia is the

allconquering power that will take

Ukraine any day now. It's been over 4

years, and any day now hasn't arrived

yet. Still, Russia tells its own story

of dominance. Even as recently as the

end of March, Putin was giving Ukraine a

two-month deadline to get out of the

Dombas, or else Russia's forces would

sweep through and take it. Again, Russia

has been trying to do that for years. It

hasn't succeeded yet, and it has a whole

fortress belt to topple before it does.

The reality that we're seeing on the

ground is that what Zalinsky claims

Ukraine to be is precisely what it has

become. And the results speak for

themselves. In March, which is the month

when Russia launched the spring

offensive that is supposed to lead to

the fall of the Dombas by the end of

2026, Ukraine has beaten Russia in every

category that matters. On the long range

front, Ukraine intercepted close to 90%

of Russia's drones and the vast majority

of its missiles. And as only one in

every 10 Russian drones was finding its

mark, Ukraine came out on top in

long-range attacks for the first time

since the war began. Ukraine launched

885 more deep strike drones at Russia

than Russia launched at Ukraine in

March, hitting a staggering total of

7,347,

which amounts to 237 unmanned aerial

vehicles attacking Russian territory

every single day. Records fell left and

right throughout all of March. On March

17th, Russia endured more casualties

than it has on any day in 2026 so far,

as 1,710 of Putin's soldiers fell to

Ukraine's weapons. By the end of the

month, Russia had lost 35,351

of its soldiers to death or injury,

which is a high water mark for the year

so far and one of the highest monthly

totals yet recorded in over 4 years of

fighting. April was also the month when

Russia's total casualty count climbed

past the 1.3 million mark. And in

Donetsk, which is part of the Dombas

that Russia still has to try and rest

away from Ukraine, Putin's forces are

now in the position where they're losing

316 soldiers for every square kilometer

of Ukraine that they are managing to

claim, which is equivalent to 0.38

square miles. So Russia is losing

somewhere in the region of 900 soldiers

for every square mile that it takes. Not

that it's taking many. March saw Russia

make absolutely no territorial gains,

which is the first time that has

happened for 2 and 1/2 years. Every gain

that Russia managed to make was

counteracted by Ukraine making gains of

its own, leading to Russia losing over

35,000 soldiers for absolutely no

progress forward. These are the results

that Ukraine achieves now that it has

everything that it needs to defend

itself. And in a few minutes, we're

going to be explaining why the United

States should be paying very close

attention to what Ukraine is doing, as

Ukraine could end up making all the

difference in Iran. But before we get to

that, Zilinsky had plenty more to say

about Ukraine's transformation into a

military power that is more than capable

of defending itself against Russia.

Today, our diplomatic strikes are no

longer a sensation. Although each time

it is a very fair and very pleasant

piece of news, today our Ukrainian

drones have fundamentally changed

approaches to warfare. And once

everything was decided by the quantity

of artillery, now the battlefield is

undoubtedly the bravery of the infantry

and the scale of drone application,

Ukraine's president declared. He added

that Ukraine has developed its own

electronic warfare or EW systems and

that the work the country has done up to

this point has done more than put it on

a level footing with Russia. Ukraine is

now achieving par with its partners.

Those who give to Ukraine are now

receiving from the nation. As Ukraine

works to develop new strategies to

overcome Russia's ballistic missiles.

It's building defense partnerships with

allies in Europe and elsewhere. Many in

Europe are now thinking about this,

Zilinsky says of Russia's ballistic

threat. That shouldn't be a surprise. As

Russia's actions in Ukraine have led to

many in Europe theorizing that Putin and

his cronies want to turn their attention

to Europe and its NATO nations if they

manage to win the war in Ukraine.

Ballistic missiles would be key to any

Russian assault against a European

nation. For Zalinski, that fact alone

creates an opportunity for Ukraine and

its European allies to work together on

developing countermeasures. Ukraine can

be this leader, Zilinski says when

talking about a ballistic missile

project. And again, Zalinski comes with

the receipts to prove that Ukraine can

step up as one of the key defenders not

only of Europe, but of nations outside

of the continent who are being affected

by the actions of Russia and the nations

that align with Putin's course. We feel

this very concretely now when countries

in Europe, the Middle East, the Gulf,

Asia, Africa, all are very interested in

Ukrainian weapons, Ukrainian military

expertise coming to their defense,

Zilinsky declared. And he made it clear

that Ukraine has a model in place to

make all of this happen. We'll get into

that model in a moment. There is

something in what Zalinski said there

that offers another sign that the US

needs Ukraine to help in Iran. Two

things actually. Ukraine is working with

nations in the Gulf region and in

Africa. In the wake of the US launching

Operation Epic Fury against Iran, the

Iranian regime closed the straight of

Hormuz and started sending drones into

the territory of its Gulf neighbors.

Hundreds of Iran's Shahi drones have

been launched and these are precisely

the types of drones that Russia has been

receiving and then building upon to

attack Ukraine. Counters for these

drones have been created by Ukraine,

including lowcost interceptors that are

a big reason why Ukraine's drone

interception rate is so high right now.

Gulf nations have been taking notice.

Ukraine has signed decadel long deals

with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United

Arab Emirates, all of which want to make

use of the weapons that Ukraine is

building so they can defend themselves

against Iran. It gets even deeper. Back

in March, Zalinski revealed that Ukraine

had sent over 200 of its anti- drone

experts to the Middle East to fulfill

its end of the defense deals that it

struck. Those experts are doing more

than training Ukraine's new Gulf allies.

Zilinski himself has revealed that they

have been directly involved in the

destruction of Russian Shahid drones,

which means that Ukrainian soldiers are

now helping to defend the Gulf against

Iran. As for Africa, RFI has broken the

news that Ukraine now maintains a trio

of bases inside Libya, which it may have

used to conduct strikes against Russia's

shadow fleet assets in the Mediterranean

Sea. Again, this is all due to what

Ukraine has to trade. Drone expertise

and weapons have become hot commodities,

and Ukraine is using them to build the

types of relationships that it never

would have had if Putin hadn't forced

Ukraine to turn itself into a military

power. Russia only has itself to blame.

A war that was supposed to be over in

days has lasted for years, and it's led

to Ukraine reaching the point where it

can not only defend itself against

Russia, but it can also work with and

provide for others. All of this has been

made possible by what Zalinsky dubs the

G2G or government to government model.

With these kinds of agreements, Ukraine

focuses on building trust with a

partners first, then it moves on to

everything else later. Contracts between

enterprises within the nation in

question are only negotiated once an

intergovernmental framework has been put

in place, which is what we're seeing now

in the Gulf, Libya, and many countries

in Europe. Ukraine has the model, it has

the weapons, and it's willing to share

them to help its partners. Here's where

the US comes into play. Right now, the

US is embroiled in a war with Iran that

is presenting it with problems that

Ukraine is perfectly positioned to

solve. The US needs Ukraine in Iran. But

before we explain how and why, this is a

reminder that you are watching the

military show. If you haven't subscribed

yet, now is the perfect time. So, the US

needs Ukraine. Why? We'll need to cover

some quick background before we dig into

the question. On April 13th, the US

announced that it's going to enforce a

blockade in the Straight of Hummus after

a fragile ceasefire with Iran fell

apart. Iran won't stop its nuclear

program, the US claims. So, it intends

to turn what has been a key piece of

leverage that Iran has held throughout

Operation Epic Fury against it. A

blockade by the US means very different

things than the one that Iran had in

place. Iran uses fast boats. The US uses

warships. And while this disparity in

naval power should mean that the US is

able to successfully blockade Iran's

ports, it also creates problems. For a

start, warships are far bigger targets

than fast boats. When those ships have

to stay in the same place for an

extended period, as is the case when

they're being used to create a blockade,

they become vulnerable to Iran's Shahid

drones. Furthermore, the fact that this

blockade has even been created at all

tells us that the Iran war is

reigniting. US President Donald Trump

has already threatened that anybody who

attempts to attack a US vessel will be

blown to hell, which tells us that he's

more than ready to pull the trigger on

conducting yet more of the types of air

strikes that have led to Iran to attack

so many of its Gulf neighbors in

response. Those affected Gulf states

have formed partnerships with Ukraine

for a reason. Now, the US should do the

same for that very reason. One of the

greatest threats that Iran poses to any

enemy, be it the US or anyone else, is

its Shahid drones. The US already knew

this way back at the beginning of

Operation Epic Fury, and it has called

on Ukraine for help in the past. At

least that's according to Zalinski. On

March 5th, Ukraine's president said

there had been requests from the

American side to help it deal with

Iran's Shahi drones, which resulted in

Zilinsky providing instructions to

Ukrainian specialists to provide

whatever means necessary to help the US

and its Gulf allies fend off Iran's

attacks. At the time, Trump seemed very

open to the offer, stating, "I'll take

any assistance from any country."

Ukraine saw an opportunity to make a

deal. Interceptor drones for Patriot

missiles that Ukraine could use to

defend itself against Russian ballistic

missiles. Trump's reaction to that

request was to reject help from Ukraine.

But now, as the situation in the Strait

of Hummus heats up again and the US

warships are being ordered to sail into

positions that make them vulnerable to

Shahid drones, the US has to face up to

a clear fact. It needs Ukraine. And

there are five reasons why. First up is

something that we've already touched on

several times. Ukraine has become the

global master in drone warfare. The Gulf

States know it, which is why they're

signing 10-year defense deals with

Ukraine. The very Shahid drones that

Iran is now using against the US, its

bases, and likely soon American warships

are the weapons that Ukraine has been

dealing with for much of the war. Iran

provided Shahids to Russia. For Ukraine,

that makes Iran complicit in the crime

of aggression against Ukraine, as the

country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs

puts it. However, it also means that

Ukraine has been forced to come up with

counter measures to the very weapons

that the US needs to overcome. One of

those counters is interceptor drones,

and they are the second reason why the

US needs Ukraine right now. According to

the American Foreign Policy Council,

Ukraine has been developing interceptor

drone technology throughout its war with

Russia. Now, Ukraine has the tech down

to a fine science. Tiny interceptor

drones use a combination of kinetic

energy and in some cases small warheads

to take out Shahid drones that are much

larger than they are. In January alone,

Ukraine deployed 40,000 of its

interceptors, which is proof that

Ukraine is able to build these defense

weapons at scale. Per the proof comes

from the fact that Ukraine can now build

around 1,500 interceptor drones every

day, creating a monthly output of about

45,000. The odds are high that it will

be able to build more, assuming that it

has investment from a country like the

US. So, Ukraine has the expertise and

the tools that the US needs in Iran

right now. The third reason the US needs

Ukraine is that the price is right. The

council adds that it costs Ukraine

somewhere between $300 and $1,200 to

build an interceptor drone. That's

peanuts in the context of the US defense

budget. And even when you add a markup

for exporting these interceptors to the

US, Ukraine's interceptor drones are far

cheaper than the Patriot missiles that

the US has often used to stop Iran's

Shahi drones in their tracks. These

missiles are effective, but they also

cost about $4 million each, which is far

too much to spend on Iranian drones that

cost $20,000 to $50,000 to build. Even

America's own attempts at interceptor

drones, such as the Lucas, cost far more

than Ukraine's proven solution. A single

Lucas drone costs roughly the same as a

Shahid. A Ukrainian interceptor costs as

much as 66 times less than the lowest

priced Shahid. That brings us to the

fourth reason why the US needs Ukraine

in Iraq. Ukraine is so much more than a

producer of cheap interceptor drones.

You'll have picked up on that already

due to Zilinski's comments about how

effective Ukraine's defense industry has

become and how many of Ukraine's

partners are looking for weapons of all

types from Ukraine. But let's put some

numbers on Ukraine's innovation. On

April 14th, United 24 media reported

that Zalinski unveiled a video

showcasing 56 weapon systems that

Ukraine has developed itself. Of the 56,

31 were drones, seven were missile

systems, four were electronic warfare

tools, and six were robotic ground

platforms. Other innovations included

four new types of armored vehicles, a

trio of unmanned naval systems, and even

a mobile air defense turret. Think about

this list of weapons for a moment.

Almost every single one is something

that the US could use in its war with

Iran. Beyond the interceptors, the US

could be using Ukrainian drones to

strike Iranian positions and fast boats.

It could be deploying unmanned naval

systems against those boats. And a few

mobile air defense units to go along

with the defenses that are already built

into America's warships would go a long

way toward keeping those vessels safe in

the straight of Hormuz. Ukraine is the

sort of innovator that can help the US

deal with almost anything that Iran

throws at it. But more important than

that, and perhaps more crucial than any

other reason why the US needs Ukraine

that we've shared so far, is that

Ukraine offers the US something that

almost no other allies offer. Support

for Operation Epic Fury. Trump has

regularly bemoaned the fact that

America's NATO allies aren't willing to

get involved with the reopening of the

Straight of Hormuz or the war that the

US started with Iran. NATO wasn't there

when we needed them, and they won't be

there if we need them again, Trump

blared in the wake of a meeting with

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutter on

April 8th. Whether that's true or not is

up for debate. To this day, the US is

the only nation for which NATO has

invoked Article 5 of its charter, which

was done so that the US could receive

direct help from its NATO allies in the

wake of the September 11th terrorist

attacks. Many of those allies then went

to war, first in Iraq and then

Afghanistan to help the US. But it's

what Trump is saying, and it reveals

that the US isn't getting the help that

it might have anticipated when it

launched Operation Epic Fury. But

Ukraine wants to help. More than any

other ally of the US, Ukraine has an axe

to grind with Iran for supplying Shahi

drones to Russia. On February 28th,

which is when the US launched Operation

Epic Fury, Zalinski himself took to X to

share his opinion. He pointed out that

Russia has used over 57,000 Shahiti type

drones against Ukraine, which Russia

wouldn't have had if not for Iran. It's

important that the United States is

acting decisively. Whenever there is

American resolve, global criminals

weaken. This understanding must also

come to the Russians, Zilinski said,

adding that he believes that America's

actions will ultimately bring peace to

the Middle East. Opportunistic perhaps,

but it's about as strong a statement of

support that the US has received for

Operation Epic Fury from any nation that

isn't directly involved in the war. So,

what is the US waiting for? Ukraine has

the antidote for Iran's Shahid drones.

It can make that antidote cheaper than

any other nation, and it's become one of

the most innovative military powers in

the world. Most importantly, Ukraine

wants to help the US. Ukraine is the

master of what the US needs most. Now

it's ready to answer America's call,

just as the US did when Ukraine was in

its hour of need. The only barrier that

seems to be standing in the way is the

Trump administration. But perhaps

Ukraine's expertise in other areas might

convince the US to form a partnership.

After all, it's not just weapons that

Ukraine has to offer. Putin had a war

plan for 2026. The collapse of the

Dombas, a taking of territory on the

left bank of the Denipro River. This was

all supposed to happen as Russia's

unstoppable momentum led to Ukraine's

forces crumbling under Russian pressure.

But those plans have already fallen to

pieces. Ukraine is taking control as it

has flipped the script. Russia thought

it would finish the war in 2026, but

it's Ukraine who will win it all as

Putin burns through more soldiers than

he can replace. Russia's plan is all

about advancing. Putin has built a force

of about 700,000 soldiers in Ukraine,

and their job in 2026 is to advance deep

into Ukraine on several axis. The Denro

River is a key target. Putin wants

Russia's troops to get as close to the

left bank of that waterway as possible

and perhaps even get to the point where

they could cross it. Donetsk, of course,

is very high on the agenda. Putin has

the legendary fortress belt in his

sights and he wants Russia to push

toward the cities of Slovansk and

Crmaturk.

This one is huge for Russia. The closer

it gets to taking those cities, the

nearer it comes to taking Donetsk and by

extension the entire Dombas region that

has been the key in all peace talks that

have occurred between Ukraine and Russia

so far. But there's more. Putin's plans

are as ambitious as they come in 2026.

Beyond these two key targets, Russia

will do everything in its power to

consolidate its control over the Black

Sea coast, which in turn feeds into the

taking of Donetsk and could also relieve

Ukrainian pressure on Crimea and the

Black Sea fleet that has been backed

into a useless Novaisk corner for much

of the invasion. That hasn't been

working out well recently as Ukraine is

building bigger and better drones that

it's using to attack that new base as it

did on March 2nd when Ukraine damaged a

pair of warships that are part of the

Black Sea fleet in Novarosk. And it

keeps on going. Russia wants to complete

the capture of Luhansk, which is the

other key part of the Dombas region that

needs to fall alongside Donetsk. But

wait, Russia says that the fall of

Luhansk has just happened for the third

time since the Ukraine invasion started.

The Institute for the Study of War or

ISW reported on April 1st that Russia's

Ministry of Defense made the grand

proclamation that Russia has seized the

entirety of the Luhansk region. But even

though this is the third time that

Russia has claimed as much and the ISSW

notes that it does indeed control 99.84%

of Luhansk, the Oblast is still yet to

completely fall. Nadia and Nova Rivka,

which both lie east of Bova, are still

holdouts. Presumably, Russia will want

to capture those settlements so that it

can claim for a fourth time that

Luhanska's fallen. The fourth time might

actually be the charm. Oh, and Russia

still wants to create a buffer zone that

stretches from Chernah through Sunumi

and into the Kiva blast, which would

provide protection for Russian border

regions against Ukrainian counter

invasion. Advances in the Zaparisia and

Julia Polola directions are also on the

agenda with the former also supposed to

enable Russia to create a secondary

buffer zone that it can use to prevent

Ukraine's forces from advancing from the

south and into Donetsk. Phew. Those are

some very grand plans and they'll

require every scrap of manpower that

Russia has to pull off. Putin is as

ambitious as he has been since the very

beginning of the so-called special

military operation. Russia has already

launched the spring offensive that will

feed into the summer and then into the

fall which is supposed to achieve all of

these objectives. But the real problem

is this. That operation failed to take

Kev and these latest plans are also

falling apart before Russia even gets a

chance to execute them. Something has

changed for Russia as it tries to

present itself as an allconquering force

on the battlefield. What we're actually

seeing is a complete switch in momentum.

Putin might have the plans, but Ukraine

has the advantage. Russia's script has

been flipped and torn apart by Ukraine.

What is supposed to be a war ending 2026

for Putin is being transformed into the

year where Russia will suffer its most

embarrassing humiliations on the

battlefield that it's seen so far. And

the reason why comes down to the fact

that Ukraine has a plan of its own to

counter everything that Russia is doing

while simultaneously setting the stage

for a comeback that will see it liberate

territory even as Russia attempts its

advances. That plan can be summed up in

four words. Exhaust, hold, build, and

strike. That's according to the

Ukrainian armed forces commanderin-chief

Alexander Sirki, who spoke to ICTV on

Russia to detail Ukraine's counter plan.

2026 will see Ukraine do everything that

it can to hold the territory that Russia

intends to assault, which is the most

obvious portion of the plan. Ukraine

doesn't want to lose that territory.

Every square mile relinquished to Russia

brings Putin closer to his goals. In

holding that territory, Ukraine also

completes the second part of this plan,

which is to exhaust Russia's forces.

Again, the logic is clear. Putin and his

cronies have shown time and time again

that their main strategy on the ground

is to throw meat and metal at Ukraine's

defenses until they collapse. The longer

Ukraine holds the territory that Russia

attacks, the more of this meat and metal

gets destroyed, which in turn limits the

strength of Russia's military.

Long-range strikes add to this second

part of the Ukrainian strategy as they

shatter the Russian war machine from the

inside. However, it's parts three and

four of Ukraine's strategy that change

the game for Ukraine. The country plans

to build strong reserves as its military

holds positions. And as you'll discover

soon, those reserves amount to more than

building a large army of soldiers. Then

there is the strike portion. Cies says

that Ukraine is going to strike wherever

Russia is weakest, no matter where it is

on the front lines. In other words,

Ukraine is going to liberate as much

territory as it can, and it'll do it for

two reasons. First, territory liberation

puts the wind of the Ukraine war firmly

behind Ukraine's sails. As CSKI himself

points out when he states, "Right now,

the enemy is playing by our rules. That

is, they are forced to adapt and

concentrate their efforts where we are

advancing." And that clues you into the

second reason, is that the territory

that Ukraine retakes is more territory

than it can hold, which disrupts Putin's

war plans and forces Russia to dedicate

forces to unexpected areas of the front.

That in turn weakens the Russian

offensive that is supposed to achieve

the grand goals that Putin has laid out.

So we have two countries with two very

different plans. And here's where it

gets painful for Putin. Russia's plan

has been a whole lot of talk followed by

the complete destruction of every early

effort to turn that plan into something

practical. As for Ukraine's plan, it's

already been executed and we can see

that all over the battlefield as we

speak. Let's start with the most

interesting part of Ukraine's

four-pronged approach, which is the

intention to strike wherever Russia is

weakest. Ukraine has been putting that

particular part of its plan into action

since late January when SpaceX finally

eliminated Russia's ability to access

Starlink via elicit terminals. That

single decision caused a communication

breakdown in the Russian military that

would have made Led Zeppelin proud and

it led to massive pockets of weakness

opening up in Ukraine's south where

Russian infiltrators had tenuous holds

on territory taken throughout the latter

portion of 2025. Ukraine has struck hard

and fast, making impressive gains as it

liberates sades of territory and

multiple settlements from under Russia's

nose. UK are informed reports that Syski

said on March 31st that Ukraine has

liberated over 480 km or 185 miles of

its territory in the Alexandria

direction since it began its strike

campaign earlier in 2026. That adds to

430 km or 166 miles that Ukraine

reclaimed in the Doorelia

counteroffensive that came earlier, as

well as Ukraine's retaking of Capansk,

which has seen the city fall completely

out of Russian hands. CSGI adds that

these operations are already forcing

Russia to divert troops from the PROVs

and Artina directions, which means that

they're having the precise impact that

Ukraine wants them to have, force

Russian diversions, create yet more

weakness on the front. Oh, and do you

remember the southern buffer zone that

we mentioned earlier? Ukraine retaking

so much territory in the Alexandrika

sector has made that buffer zone a no-go

for Russia. Putin can't create a buffer

using territory that Russia no longer

controls. And as Ukraine advances

further in that direction, which seems

the most likely course in the coming

months, what was supposed to be a buffer

zone is going to transform into an

avenue that Ukraine can use to funnel

troops in the direction of Donetsk. So,

the strike portion of Ukraine's

four-part war-winning plan is already

well underway. And remember, every scrap

of territory that Ukraine retakes

becomes territory that it can hold,

which in turn makes it territory that

Ukraine can use to exhaust Russia's

forces. And speaking of holding, Ukraine

is doing a great job of that, too.

Before we get deeper into that, this is

why we make the military show, to

explain how power really moves on the

battlefield. If you want to see more,

make sure that you subscribe to the

channel so you never miss a video. Now,

holding territory. Ukraine has been

doing plenty of that since Russia

launched its spring offensive earlier in

March. According to Euromaidan press,

Ukraine has successfully disrupted and

for the most part blocked a 13-pronged

Russian offensive that focuses on all of

the locations we mentioned. There are

individual examples of Ukraine's

success, such as what the country's

Ronini Battalion, which is part of

Ukraine's 65th separate mechanized

brigade achieved on March 28th. Russia

attempted to launch an armored assault

near the settlement of Robertina, which

is in Zaparisia on that date. The result

was complete failure for Russia as

Ukraine's drone operators destroyed all

10 of the armored vehicles that Russia

dedicated to the assault. This is a

story that's playing out all over the

front lines as Russia tries to throw

more meat and metal at Ukraine. Medusa

highlighted as much in an April 1st

analysis where it noted that there is

currently something of a lull across the

front lines. Even as Russia tries to

scale up the number of its assaults, the

counteroffensive that led to Ukraine

reclaiming so much territory means that

attempted Russian advances along the

Khiv, Zaparisia, and Denipo Petrovsk

axis have all been stopped in their

tracks. Ukraine still holds the

outskirts of Constantin, which is where

the city's high-rise buildings are

located. This is setting the stage for a

brutal attritional battle that will see

Putin's forces lose thousands as they

try to take the city. Ukraine reports

that the situation has stabilized in the

Slavansk direction and that Ukraine has

even managed to retake part of the

village of Minkka in another successful

counterattack. And in the Ora and Julia

Polola directions, yet more Ukrainian

counterattacks have slowed Russian

advances to acrruel. What we're seeing

here is Russia trying and failing to

advance on key settlements. It's not

even trying to take those settlements

directly right now. It's attempting to

capture territory around them to set up

for a deeper offensive. But Ukraine is

still holding even against those

efforts. That's all feeding into the

exhaustion part of Ukraine's plan.

Before we cover that, there's the

building aspect to focus on. Ukraine

says that it wants to build reserves. As

we've already said, that means more than

just collecting manpower. Ukraine

suffered through a terrible winter as

Russia bombarded its energy

infrastructure with drone and missile

strikes that were designed to inflict as

much terror on Ukraine's civilians as

possible. Blackouts and loss of heating

were common throughout Ukraine during

much of the winter of 2025 into 26. And

Ukraine is going to do everything that

it can to make sure it's prepared for

Russia trying to do the same thing again

at the end of 2026. That's according to

Reuters, which said on March 30th that

Ukraine is building up its gas reserves

already for the next winter. It's

looking to increase its supply of

liqufied natural gas from pipelines in

the vertical corridor system that runs

through Greece. Diesel fuel imports are

already being stepped up as Ukraine

stockpiles for what it believes is to

come. Reserves come in several forms.

This example will be one of the most

important for Ukraine as it tries to

extend the war long enough to really

make its exhaustion strategy pay off. Of

course, there are also the types of

reserves that most directly impact the

Ukrainian armed forces, which is the

buildup of manpower that can be sent to

the front as and when the need arises.

That's one aspect of Ukraine's plan that

is quite difficult to pull off. As far

back as August 2025, Syski said that

Ukraine was focusing on building combat

ready reserves. Fast forward to now and

Syski says that personnel are still a

main priority for Ukraine. Mobilization

is in force in Ukraine and Syski says

that he rates the efforts that Ukraine

has implemented so far as a 6 or 7 out

of 10, which implies that Ukraine could

do better. Syski recognizes that the

armed forces must create the proper

conditions to ensure those it recruits

don't go absent without leave or AWOL.

Aussie states, "The main reason for

going AWOL is unwillingness to serve and

fear for one's life. The transition into

military service, from recruitment

centers to training should be as smooth

and painless as possible. Ukraine is

working on improving the conditions for

mobilization with a focus on every part

of the chain from accommodation to

training and nutrition. The aim seems to

be to make that process as smooth as

possible, which will lead to benefits on

the back end as Ukraine manages to

retain more of the soldiers that it

recruits. Higher attention leads to the

ability to build reserves. And those

reserves feed into every other aspect of

the plan that Ukraine has implemented to

[ __ ] Russia's 2026 campaign. And with

that, we come back to exhaustion. Russia

launched its spring offensive in early

March. We were already starting to see

the impact of Ukraine's exhaustion

strategy pay off earlier in 2026. The

first 3 months of 26 have seen Russia

churn through 89,000 soldiers, and

Russia is now dealing with around 1,500

casualties per day. The good news for

Putin is that this figure is lower than

the 100,000 or so soldiers that Russia

lost between November 2025 and January

26. However, we've also seen a sharp

increase in Russia's casualty rate since

the spring offensive was launched,

including a record-breaking day when

Putin burned through over 1,700 of

Russia's soldiers on March 17th, which

is the highest daily total so far in

2026. And that's the big point. So far,

as Russia attempts to intensify its

attacks, Ukraine's successful execution

of the strike and hold parts of its

strategy are key to ramping up Russia's

losses even further. Ukrainian Defense

Minister Mko Fedorov says he wants

Ukraine to achieve a monthly casualty

toll of 50,000 against Russia. Ukraine

isn't there yet, but if it manages to

make 1,700 plus daily Russian casualties

a regular occurrence, which is very

possible as Russia tries to push harder

than it has for months, 50,000 may not

seem such a crazy target. After all,

1,700 multiplied by 30 days makes 51,000

casualties. Even if Ukraine doesn't hit

the 50,000 casualties target, the plan

Ukraine has created means that any

shortfall will be more down to Russia

backing off because of the scale of its

losses rather than Ukraine's defenses

crumbling. When Syski says that he wants

to make Russia play by Ukraine's rules,

this is what he means. More casualties,

the liberation of territory, holding

where it's most important, diverting

Russia's forces, and building reserves

to ensure Ukraine can keep fighting for

as long as possible combined to form the

path to victory for Ukraine. As for

Russia, its main goal of finishing the

war that Putin started over 4 years ago

by the end of 2026 has already been

shattered. What Russia wants is to

increase the scale and size of its

assaults, which it sees as the key to

toppling Ukraine's defenses. Of all the

directions in which Putin wants to push,

Ora stands out as the most important

outside of the Donet's fortress belt.

That settlement would provide Russia

with a route to the Denipro River's left

bank, which in turn allows for a push

against Saparisia City. But to take

Arakiv, Russia has to topple Julia

Polola. As we mentioned earlier, Ukraine

has been counterattacking in that

sector, causing casualties in the

process. The Russian march on has

already been reversed, and Ukraine

clearly plans for more of the same. This

is not how things were supposed to go

for Putin. Ramping up assaults was meant

to mean more territory taken, not

territory lost amid thousands of

casualties. But that's what's happening

to Russia right now. And as the new

voice of Ukraine reports, the Kremlin is

already so wary of what it's seeing on

the battlefield so early in Russia's

offensive that it's already starting to

scale back its goals for 2026. Troop

shortages are already starting to choke

that offensive. The outlet reports that

has led to the Kremlin pushing back

goals like creating the buffer zone in

the Sunni region and pushing further

into Zaparisia back into the second half