From Moldova to Crimea Lies an Uncertain Future for Russia

A changing situation exists along coastal Ukraine, Moldova, its neighbor to the west, and Crimea in the east. It threatens the unwitting Russian intruder more than the nations it has menaced.

Russia escalated its aerial assault upon Ukraine’s major coastal city and seaport, Odesa, beginning in December, 2025 and continuing into 2026. The city has considerable strategic value as Ukraine’s major throughway for foreign trade accounting for 65% of its imports and exports. Its rail connections, in turn, extend nationally to provide for both the efficient concentration of goods for export and quick distribution of imported needs. In its usual fashion, Russia has destroyed residential buildings, hospitals, electrical and heating substations, water supplies and bridges, resulting in more than 60 casualties thus far along with protracted power outages and exposure to the current winter’s extreme cold. … More From Moldova to Crimea Lies an Uncertain Future for Russia

Knocking Russia Down to Size: Ukraine’s Cross-Border Offensive

Within its borders, Ukraine confronts Russia’s military forces in the east and southeast and, otherwise, defends its civilians throughout the country from Russia’s aerial attacks upon its cities. Vladimir Putin’s war has primarily distilled into two immediate strategies: 1. capture and hold ground, particularly in the Donbas, in order to fully occupy some of the oblasts in the eastern territories, and 2. terrorize Ukrainian citizens to weaken their resolve and sue for peace. Over the past 3.5 years, Ukraine with the support of over 40 nations worldwide, has withstood the Russian assault upon its sovereignty and its people with the sort of resilience normally attributed to a comparatively much larger nation. It has managed this not only by courage manifest in battle but through cunning, innovation and remarkable boldness in execution. Whereas Putin has concentrated his efforts upon indiscriminate destruction of civilian life and infrastructure and the deliberate sacrifice of Russian troops for limited territorial gain, Ukraine has undertaken the highly strategic tact of undermining his war industry and the money supporting it. … More Knocking Russia Down to Size: Ukraine’s Cross-Border Offensive