Optimistic headlines touting and praising Ukraine's counteroffensive which officially kicked off just before the start of the summer have all disappeared at this point. This after Ukraine's top leadership itself began admitting that it is faltering or even failing in recent weeks.
But two fresh major reports in prominent mainstream US sources this week (excerpts of which are presented below) suggest things are going even worse than any official account has as yet recognized for the Ukrainian front lines. Both contain first-hand accounts and testimonies of collapsing Ukrainian morale and immense fast-mounting casualties in the face of overwhelming Russian firepower. In short, from the perspective of Kiev's supporters, things are much worse than previously thought.
This brings up the question of whether an overall Ukrainian battlefield defeat could happen soon, and points to the likelihood that Western officials are continuing to hide the real state of the battlefield situation. One indicator of the desperate and dire state of Ukraine's efforts is that we have begun to see the emergence of reports of backchannel peace negotiations happening, even if in their infant stages.
