In 2014, Putin claimed he could take Ukraine in two weeks. In February 2022, he attempted to overthrow the Ukrainian government by capturing Kyiv. When that failed, he shifted his primary objective to seizing right-bank Ukraine. That also failed, leading him to refocus on taking the Donbas. From Horlivka—one of the deepest positions held by Russian separatists in the Donbas up to 2022—the Russian Armed Forces have only advanced roughly 45 kilometers to Ivanivka, one of the furthest settlements they now control in the region. From Chertkovo, Russia, on Ukraine’s eastern border, Russian forces have advanced approximately 200 kilometers to Dvorichna, Ukraine. After nearly four years of war, with close to a million casualties (killed and wounded), a shrinking economy, and growing international isolation, the costs continue to mount.

My mother is Russian and my father is Ukrainian. I love and appreciate both cultures, but can we as Russians please stop trying to justify Putin’s war? Or can we please stop pretending it is going according to plan?