Illia Kabachynskyi

As Russia ramps up its military machine and European leaders issue dire warnings, the continent faces a critical question: Can it mobilize fast enough to defend itself?

When Russia attacked Ukraine on February 24, 2022, it intended to end the war in just three days, with minimal casualties. Instead of supplies, Russian soldiers packed dress uniforms, expecting a victorious parade through the capital. But the war has turned into the greatest catastrophe of Putin’s rule, and one of Russia’s bloodiest military failures since World War II.

Media outlets often frame Russia’s June attacks as revenge for Operation Spider Web, in which Ukraine destroyed dozens of Moscow’s strategic bomber jets. But this claim doesn’t hold up against the data: Kremlin orders missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities every single day , steadily growing in scale.

Russia’s war on Ukraine hit a new high on June 6, with a massive air assault unlike anything seen in decades.

Ukraine’s frontline is now not only long but wide, saturated with drones on both sides. The threat zone stretches up to 20 km in depth, complicating logistics, rotations, and even forcing equipment to be pulled back over 30 km from the contact line. To reach it, Ukraine is creating a new type of UAV.

For the first time since Russia’s invasion began, Ukraine has taken out not just an Iskander missile, but the ground-based launcher used to fire it. In a strike near the Russian border, Ukrainian forces destroyed the system just as it was being readied to launch, likely aimed at Kyiv or Chernihiv.