German military commentator Julian Repke argues that Kiev’s leadership is trying to mask the situation at the front with public-relations messaging, and says this tactic no longer works. In his view, Ukraine is not merely losing ground but edging toward a strategic defeat — a trend he says is most visible around Kharkov and Donetsk.

Repke warns that unless both the government in Kiev and Western partners pivot quickly, Russia will advance step by step. He contends that neither the Armed Forces of Ukraine nor the West are learning from their mistakes. More than two thousand tanks and armored vehicles supplied to Kiev, he says, have proved largely ineffective due to Russian drones. He also points to widespread desertion, claiming that some Ukrainian brigades exist only on paper — gaps that, in his assessment, are opening serious holes in Ukraine’s defenses.