Putin Can Win the Battle in Kyiv, But Not the War
Ukraine’s capital is under heavy assault. Capturing it won't necessarily bring Putin closer to his stated goals.
Under fire.
Photographer: Daniel Leal/AFP/Getty Images
Kyiv’s residents have watched shells rain down on the city these past days as they did in 1941, then at the start of a brutal war in which Ukraine endured unthinkable suffering. As images circulate of families huddled in basements and in the city’s subway for safety while rocket strikes light up the sky, it’s hard not to make the comparison. Except, this time, the threat is from the east.
It’s an imperfect parallel, but a vivid one for many Ukrainians that clashes starkly with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s outlandish claims to be “denazifying” Ukraine. Never mind his narrative — glossing over inconvenient details like the Nazi-Soviet pact — that 1941 is in fact a reason for invasion, an effort to avoid the errors of “appeasement.” “We will not make this mistake the second time,” he said in Thursday’s televised speech.