In the Ukraine War, Victory Is the Only Option; Zelenskyy Calls Liberation of Kherson ‘beginning of the end’; Analysis: Ukrainian Liberation a Powerful Dynamic in War; Kherson Diary: No Power, No Water But the Joy Just Flows, LIVE UPDATES and MORE

Photo: Efrem Lukatsky/Associated Press

In the Ukraine War, Victory Is the Only Option:

Any compromise would be unjust, and Vladimir Putin would be sure to violate an agreement anyway.

I understand why Volodymyr Zelensky says he is willing to negotiate with Vladimir Putin. I have no doubt the Ukrainian president is sincere. If there were anything that remotely resembled a viable peace plan, his government would leap at it.

Mr. Zelensky’s people have suffered the most bestial bombardment in Europe since World War II. Whole cities have been broken and blackened by Mr. Putin’s war machine, tens of thousands of innocents killed. Every day it goes on, without pity or remorse: captives tortured, women raped, schools and kindergartens deliberately targeted. Every day the Iranian-made drones thump into the cities, turning off the lights, cutting the water supply.

Peace? Of course Ukraine wants peace. The economy is in ribbons. Mr. Zelensky’s government can barely pay its public servants. Of course it would like a negotiation.

There is only one problem. It is the same problem that has confronted Mr. Zelensky every day since Feb. 24. There is nothing to negotiate. No would-be mediator on earth has been able to come up with any compromise that even begins to be plausible.

What kind of deal could we possibly construct, under the current circumstances? Let us suppose that Western powers were to try to persuade Ukraine to trade land for peace. Any such bargain would, naturally, be disgusting. It would be a moral reproach to humanity.

But let’s imagine that some kind of agreement could be struck whereby Mr. Putin keeps not only the pro-Russian parts of the Donbas but also at least some of the territory he has captured in the south. The minute you think about it you can see that the idea isn’t merely repugnant. It is hopeless.

It has zero chance of working. Which bit should the Ukrainians give up, in perpetuity, to the Russians? A couple of cities? The whole land bridge from Mariupol to Crimea? --->READ MORE HERE

Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP

Zelenskyy calls liberation of Kherson ‘beginning of the end’:

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy triumphantly walked the streets of the newly liberated city of Kherson on Monday, hailing Russia’s withdrawal as the “beginning of the end of the war,” but also acknowledging the heavy price Ukrainian troops are paying in their grinding effort to push back the invaders.

The retaking of Kherson was one of Ukraine’s biggest successes in the nearly 9-month-old war, dealing another stinging blow to the Kremlin. It could serve as a springboard for more advances into occupied territory.

President Joe Biden called it a “significant victory” for Ukraine.

“I can do nothing but applaud the courage, determination and capacity of the Ukrainian people, the Ukrainian military,” he said on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit in Indonesia. “They’ve really been amazing. ... we’re going to continue to provide the capability for the Ukrainian people to defend themselves.”

Large parts of eastern and southern Ukraine are still under Russian control, and the city of Kherson itself remains within reach of Moscow’s shells and missiles. Heavy fighting continued elsewhere in Ukraine. Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti reported the town of Oleshky, in Russian-held territory across the Dnieper River from Kherson, came under heavy artillery fire.

Zelenskyy awarded medals to soldiers in Kherson and posed with them for selfies while striking a defiant note.

“This is the beginning of the end of the war,” he said. “We are step by step coming to all the temporarily occupied territories.”

But he also grimly noted the fighting “took the best heroes of our country.”

The end of Russia’s occupation of the city — the only provincial capital seized since the February invasion — has sparked days of celebration. But as winter approaches, its remaining 80,000 residents are without heat, water and electricity, and short on food and medicine. Zelenskyy says the city is laced with booby traps and mines. And Ukrainian authorities say there are signs of atrocities emerging, just as in other liberated areas. --->READ MORE HERE

Follow links below to +++++relevant+++++ and related stories:

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+++++Analysis: Ukrainian liberation a powerful dynamic in war+++++

+++++Kherson Diary: No power, no water but the joy just flows+++++

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