Today, headlines only.

Today, headlines only.

▪️The Wall Street Journal (editorial): Is Ukraine turning the Russian tide? Putin's scaled-down parade signals a Ukrainian military advantage.

▪️The Economist (cover story): Turning the tide of the war: Russia is stumbling on the battlefield. As its losses in Ukraine mount, Putin appears to be in even greater difficulty at home.

▪️The New York Times: A less "muscular" Victory Day parade shows Putin's growing vulnerability. The event, scaled back for security reasons, reinforces the sense that Moscow and other Russian cities are no longer insulated from the war.

\\

As you have noticed, lately I have tried to avoid such loud statements. Both because every day of the war means more Ukrainian deaths, and because things are extremely hard at the front, and because there is not much practical benefit in such statements.

And yet this is how the West sees the war today. Putin's half-parade really did make an impression on them. In the opposite sense.

I will end only with a small excerpt from The Wall Street Journal, which, on behalf of the entire editorial board, said what needed to be said:

"All this means that the moment has come to step up support for Ukraine, so that it can continue putting pressure on Russia. Only the prospect of greater losses and potential defeat will induce Putin to abandon his imperial ambitions in Ukraine and Western Europe. This is the best way to end the war on honorable terms that will secure peace and freedom for Ukraine".