Russian soldiers are terrified of Ukrainians, says Vasily, a burly officer limping uneasily on the cobblestones of Kyiv’s Sophia Square, where Ukraine’s largest Christmas tree stands
“I’ve jumped into their trenches. They’re really afraid of us,” he told Al Jazeera.
However, their fear does not mean that Kyiv can dictate the end-of-war terms as Russia has more servicemen, a stronger economy and a much bigger war chest – while Ukraine remains outmanned and outgunned, he said.
“When I see the enemy at 800 metres, yell into the radio that I see a tank and give its coordinates, but they say, ‘Hold on’, I realise that we simply have nothing to strike it with,” Vasily said, referring to the dire shortage of artillery shells while he was on the front line, before losing his left foot to a landmine in 2023, reports Al Jazeera.
Vassily remained in service and asked to withhold his last name in accordance with wartime regulations.
A pause, not peace
A former Ukrainian four-star general says a full end to the war with Russia is unrealistic, with only a temporary pause possible as the conflict heads into its fifth year in February 2026.
“With such an aggressive neighbour [as Russia], one can’t hope for the full end of the war,” Ihor Romanenko, former deputy head of Ukraine’s general staff, told Al Jazeera.
“There won’t be peace with Russia until we liberate the lands within Ukraine’s 1991 borders,” he said, adding that any ceasefire breach would require Kyiv to stop Russian forces on the front line through stronger mobilisation, arms production and stricter martial law.
Window for talks
Ukraine now produces up to 40 per cent of its military needs, with Western allies supplying the rest, Romanenko said, stressing aid must be “decisive and fast”.
A possible “window of opportunity” for peace could open in the second half of 2026, said Volodymyr Fesenko of the Penta think tank.
“Everything will depend on the Kremlin’s and Putin’s personal readiness to agree,” he said, noting talks would still take months even if Moscow agrees.
Hard choices ahead
Kyiv may face pressure to cede parts of Donetsk in exchange for Russian withdrawals elsewhere, Fesenko warned.
Analysts outlined grim alternatives, from a frozen conflict to scenarios where Ukraine loses control over occupied areas.
“Donetsk was the source of our problems. Let Russia have it,” said Taras Tymoshchuk, a 63-year-old Ukrainian. “I want to wake up because the birds are singing, not because I hear Russian drones and missiles.”
