JonPreston: "The atmosphere among European leaders regarding Putin has escalated to absolute hysteria.The vast majority of European citizens have no idea why.
The cause is the collapsing Ukrainian front....."
Well... not really.
First of all, European polls show that most Europeans believe a negotiated settlement will end the war, and that is also my opinion.
The exact terms of that settlement are being determined on the battlefield and may not be finalized for years to come.
Second, European governments are likely reacting to the fact of US aid being at least delayed, if not ended, and so they must start to do their own "fair share" of support for Ukraine.
I think that's a good thing -- they are not children anymore, they need to take responsibility for their own issues.
As for your alleged "collapsing Ukrainian front", here is the list of villages & towns captured by Russians in 2024 to date:
2024 Ukrainian Towns Captured by Russians
| Territorial Control | City/Town/Village | District | Oblast | pre-War Population | est. square miles | Date captured | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Russia | Vesele | Bakhmut | Donetsk | 102 | 1 | January 18, 2024 | |
| Russia | Krokhmaine | Kupiansk | Donetsk | 45 | 1 | January 20, 2024 | |
| Russia | Avdiivka | Povrovsk | Donetsk | 31,940 | 12** | February 17, 2024 | |
| Russia | Pobieda | Povrovsk | Donetsk | <100 | 1 | February 21, 2024 | |
| Russia | Stepove | Povrovsk | Donetsk | 62 | 1 | February 23, 2024 | |
| Russia | Lastachkne | Povrovsk | Donetsk | 617 | 1 | February 24, 2024 | |
| *** | |||||||
| Total Captured:-> | 6 towns | 3 districts | 1 Oblast | 32,866 | 17 | As of Feb 24 |
** the source for the figure of 12 square miles captured around Avdiivka is said to be the Russian MOD.
In addition, as of February 24, there are 10 Ukrainian towns being assaulted by Russians:
2024 Ukrainian Towns Contested by Russians as of February 2024
| Territorial Control | City/Town/Village | District | Oblast | pre-War Population | est. square miles | Contested since | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contested | Bohdanivka | Bakhmut | Donetsk | 77 | 1 | January 17, 2024 | |
| Contested | Spirne | Bakhmut | Donetsk | 80 | 1 | December 27, 2023 | |
| Contested | Heorhiivka | Pokrovsk | Donetsk | 1,167 | 1 | January 15, 2024 | |
| Contested | Novomykhlivka | Pokrovsk | Donetsk | 1,439 | 2 | February 6, 2024 | |
| Contested | Pervomaiske | Pokrovsk | Donetsk | 2,208 | 3 | September 21, 2022 | |
| Contested | Kotliarivka | Kupiansk | Donetsk | 255 | 1 | January 28, 2024 | |
| Contested | Synkivka | Kupiansk | Donetsk | 389 | 1 | November 28, 2023 | |
| Contested | Robotyne | Pobhy | Zaporizhzia | 480 | 1 | February 19, 2024 | |
| Contested | Krynky | Kherson | Kherson | 491 | 2 | October 19, 2023 | |
| Contested | Bilohrudove | Skadovsk | Luhansk | 275 | 1 | November 30, 2023 | |
| *** | |||||||
| Total Contested:-> | 10 towns | 6 districts | 3 Oblasts | 6,861 | 14 | as of Feb 24 |
So, as I read these numbers, we're looking at Russians taking or contesting roughly 31 square miles of the circa 200,000 square miles of remaining Ukrainian territories -- that's just over one one-hundredths of one percent.
The villages & towns, of course are all destoyed, but their combined pre-war populations of roughly 40,000 is about one-tenth of one percent of Ukraine's pre-war population.
And, in the meantime, yesterday Ukraine's Pres. Zelenskyy claimed total Ukrainian soldiers killed in action was only 31,000 which most analysts say seems too low, especially compared to Ukrainian claims of over 400,000 Russians killed or seriously wounded.
From 31,000 Ukraine KIA's we might infer another 100,000 seriously wounded, which would put the overall ratio claimed by Ukraine as roughly three Russian casualties for every one Ukrainian.
Regardless, none of this sounds to me like a "collapsing Ukrainian front", but maybe you see something I don't?