Has Ukraine Lost the War? Its Top General Is Pushing Back

Over the past week, Ukraine’s top military commander has given his most detailed assessment yet of the fight to halt Russia’s invasion. This wasn’t prompted by any sudden battlefield reversal. It reflects, rather, a deep and justifiable alarm that Kyiv has lost control of the war’s narrative, just as the US tries to force it into a terrible ceasefire deal.

General Oleksandr Syrskyi is an old-school, Soviet-trained officer and by all accounts little loved by his troops. He has to be cajoled by his communications team to speak in public at all. So, when he gives major interviews to both Ukrainian domestic media and German public TV in the space of a week, it’s worth paying attention.