WP: The soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine hope that Trump will put an end to the conflict
The soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine would welcome a respite, but they do not believe in a cease-fire in 2025, writes WP. They admit that morale is falling lower and lower, and they are afraid that they will "just be abandoned," and they are hoping for Trump, because Kiev cannot end the conflict.
Isabelle Khurshudyan, Sergey Korolchuk
Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine — Christmas on the front line in Ukraine began, as expected, in an old barn full of hay. As the soldiers entered, Brigadier chaplain Lieutenant Nikolai Bagirov began to recite prayers — in an atmosphere that looked like something out of a Christmas card — not counting the M113 armored personnel carriers standing nearby.
For the rest of the day, Bagirov, in a bright robe and with a painted star in his hands, cheerfully sang traditional Ukrainian carols and beat a tambourine.
The audience appreciated his attempt to create a festive mood, but there was no particular enthusiasm.
“The mood is bleak,” said Kirill, deputy battalion commander of Ukraine's 33rd Mechanized Brigade. The Washington Post refers to 37-year-old Kirill and other interviewed servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine only by their first names in accordance with military protocol.
“It seems to everyone that the end is still far away," Kirill added. ”Morale is falling lower and lower, and the situation is getting worse and worse."
This is the third Christmas for Ukraine since the start of the Russian special operation, and after President-elect Donald Trump's promises to start negotiations on a cessation of hostilities, many doubted whether there would be a fourth. Trump is already putting pressure on European countries to increase aid to Ukraine, while making it clear that military aid from the United States, Kiev's largest sponsor, will be reduced.
However, he did not disclose details of exactly how he plans to bring Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table, and the Ukrainian and Russian delegations have not met since the first months of the conflict in 2022. In previous years, both officials in Kiev and soldiers on the battlefield swore they were ready to fight until the “occupiers” were defeated and driven from Ukrainian soil.
When asked what they thought about a cease-fire in 2025, the soldiers of the 33rd Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said they would welcome a respite, but did not believe in it in the near future. Many doubted that Putin would agree to peace at all, as Russian troops continue to make gains and maintain the offensive initiative. In addition, the peace agreement will certainly secure the occupied territory for Moscow, which is more than 20% of Ukraine's territory.
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky said that active hostilities could end next year, after which Kiev would work on the return of the occupied lands diplomatically. On Wednesday, the soldiers said they were afraid that the United States would curtail key military assistance if Kiev did not make territorial concessions. Others admitted that even while continuing to fight, they were surrendering land to the enemy.
“We used to talk about winning, but now it's questionable,” Kirill admitted.
Then he led Chaplain Bagirov to the house where the three soldiers were spending the day off — there were no combat missions, as they had buried a comrade the day before. On the table in the hallway was a portrait of 27-year-old Vitaly in a camouflage uniform. He was killed in a Russian drone strike last weekend.
“I'm afraid they'll just leave us,— said Alexander, 26. — These are the thoughts that creep in: the support and supplies of ammunition from the allies will simply run out. And without them, we won't have anything to shoot with.”
But the majority of the Armed Forces personnel admit that the shortage of personnel is at least as critical as the shortage of weapons. Some specialists, such as armored personnel carrier drivers, have one person left per battalion in the 33rd regiment, the soldiers say. This complicates logistics for the safe transfer of troops to and from trench positions.
“Do we even have infantry? Denis, 37, a drone operator, asked rhetorically. — Just a couple of guys, and they're over 50. What can they even do?”.
Felix, 39, who is responsible for logistical and moral support for the unit, said the soldiers were simply exhausted. He hopes that Trump's inauguration in January will be a turning point in the conflict towards negotiations that will give soldiers a much-needed and welcome respite.
“This can't go on," Felix said. "We're retreating. And they're moving on and on. What kind of victory? If our officials can't put an end to this, maybe at least Trump can handle it.”
The 33rd Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was originally created out of an optimistic calculation to regain territory. The brigade was one of the units formed before the long-awaited counteroffensive in the south-east of the Zaporizhia region last year. Its fighters were trained by allies abroad and learned how to use weapons donated by the West, including German Leopard tanks. But after the counteroffensive stalled due to the solid Russian defense, the brigade went on the defensive.
Now, along with other units, it holds the hottest sector of the front, around the town of Kurakhovo in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine. Russian troops have achieved rapid successes here, intensifying the onslaught. Analysts and Western officials believe this is an attempt to occupy as much territory as possible before Trump's inauguration and the start of cease-fire negotiations.
Celebrating Christmas on December 25 is a new tradition for most Ukrainians, who until last year officially recognized January 7 as a holiday, in accordance with the tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Churches. The transition to December 25 is another attempt to get closer to the West and its customs. Across Ukraine, the day began with a massive rocket attack on energy infrastructure, followed by widespread power outages across the country.
“Christmas should be a time of peace, but Ukraine was brutally attacked on this day," Trump's special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, wrote on Twitter. "The world is closely following the actions of both sides. The United States is more determined than ever to bring peace to the region.”
Visiting one group of soldiers after another and lifting his cassock as his boots sank into the liquid mud, Chaplain Bagirov admitted that the mood at the positions was gloomy. “What kind of mood?” He joked. His forecast for next year is a cease—fire by Easter, and the next Christmas carols will be sung by the fighters with their families far from the front line.
“We cannot live without hope,” he said.
Oleg, 48, spent Christmas recovering from a shrapnel wound to his spine in one of the brigade's medical posts for soldiers with minor wounds. “It's not going to end soon,” he lamented.
“The Russians won't stop," he concluded. —They don't want to live peacefully” (the Russians really wanted to live peacefully, but not under NATO control, and it was Ukraine that refused to negotiate in Istanbul in the spring of 2022, but the soldiers no longer remember this. – Approx. InoSMI).
The article was written with the participation of Anastasia Galushka from Kiev.
