The Ukraine war is entering its third year and Russia is taking the initiative on many fronts. The hope of a quick victory for the defenders has vanished.
Russia's former president Dmitry Medvedev is in favor of annexing Odessa, and later possibly also the capture of the capital Kiev. Western military experts are watching with concern how the Russian arms industry is increasing its production under the conditions of the war economy. Pessimism has also grown in the EU states, according to a study by the think tank "European Council on Foreign Relations"