Russia-Ukraine War Momentum Shifts Since 2022 as Zelenskyy Revises Strategy
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jul 28
Russia-Ukraine War Momentum Shifts Since 2022 as Zelenskyy Revises Strategy
2 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jul 28
Summary
A Guardian video explainer examines who currently holds the advantage in the Russia-Ukraine war and how that balance has changed since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Luke Harding says the conflict’s momentum has shifted dramatically over the course of the war, making the current battlefield balance the central question of the analysis.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s approach is presented as having changed alongside those battlefield developments, linking Ukraine’s strategy to the war’s evolving conditions.
The explainer frames the war less as a static front than as a conflict whose military and political direction has repeatedly changed over more than 4 years.
Is Zelenskyy's radical shift to decentralized command a winning masterstroke or a desperate gamble against overwhelming Russian numbers?
Can Ukraine's devastating deep strikes and drone swarms break Russia's war machine before Kyiv runs out of soldiers?
Ukraine’s 2026 Turning Point: Leadership Crisis, Drone Warfare, and the Battle to Break Russia’s War Machine
Overview
In 2026, Ukraine’s war effort was shaped by a dramatic leadership crisis and a surge in technological innovation. After President Zelenskyy dismissed Defense Minister Fedorov, mass protests erupted, leading to the removal of Army Chief Syrskyi and the rise of reformist Drapatyi. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s breakthrough in mass-producing advanced drones enabled a wave of strikes that crippled nearly 40% of Russia’s oil refining capacity, triggering a severe fuel crisis and public discontent in Russia. As Russia retaliated with massive drone attacks, Ukraine countered with its own interceptor drones, while also forging new defense alliances with Gulf states and securing major EU financial support, highlighting a pivotal shift in both the battlefield and global alliances.