As the Ukraine war enters a third year, Putin waits for Western support for Kyiv to wither
The IndependentFor free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. With the war now entering its third year, Russian President Vladimir Putin seems to be trying to turn that initial failure to his advantage — by biding his time and waiting for Western support for Ukraine to wither while Moscow maintains its steady military pressure along the front line. Western officials and analysts note that while the 1,500-kilometer front line has remained largely static with neither side making significant gains, Ukrainian forces have launched bold missile and drone attacks deep behind the line of contact, raising the costs for the Kremlin and challenging Putin’s attempts to pretend that life in Russia is largely unaffected by the war. The U.K. Ministry of Defense said in a recent intelligence update that Ukraine's successes forced the Russian navy to sharply limit operations in the western Black Sea, allowing Kyiv to expand its agricultural exports despite Moscow’s withdrawal from a deal brokered by Turkey and the U.N. that guaranteed safe shipment of Ukrainian grain. Even though he claims the public overwhelmingly supports what the Kremlin calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine, new cracks have emerged in the country’s tightly controlled political system.