Ukrainian Pulse #3

"And, God forbid, don't read American newspapers before lunch!"

Hello everyone and welcome back—I am preparing my return to Ukraine after a few weeks of much-needed vacation, which means the newsletter is back to the regular schedule. This is our third issue of ‘Ukrainian Pulse’, in which I try to give a sense of the conversation as it is happening in Ukraine right now among pundits, experts and activists. This week, it’s all about the reactions to the recent flurry of reports in the Western media dedicated to the counter-offensive. I also bring you a brief recap of a recent scandal in the country’s civil society that followed the August 19 Russian missile strike in Chernihiv.

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The discussion

“Ukraine’s hopes for maximal victory look remote”, “Ukraine's Forces and Firepower Are Misallocated, U.S. Officials Say”, “Ukraine’s sluggish counter-offensive is souring the public mood”... these stories published in the past weeks and days in Western media haven’t been lost on Ukrainians, who have since tried to wrestle with a change of mood that, from Kyiv, is always closely tied to the fear of diminishing support and the prospect of peace negotiations imposed from outside Ukraine.