Can Ukraine wait for another year of war?

Ukraine will lose the battle on the ground. Many of its soldiers are tired and exhausted after three years of fighting. The question is – will the country be able to withstand another year of war?

Their forces are still resisting the Russian advance in the east. But they are almost surrounded near the city of Kurakhava, the site of some of the most intense fighting in recent weeks.

The “Black Pack” mortar unit is trying to prevent them from being encircled around Kurakhov. The Russians are approaching from three sides.

We meet the team in the security house, rest from the battles. They are not ordinary soldiers. They include a vegan chef, a mechanic, a web developer and an artist. A group of friends of non-conformist views. Some call themselves anarchists. All of them fight as volunteers.

Surt, their 31-year-old commander, joined the army shortly after the full-scale invasion of Russia. He tells me that at the beginning he thought the war would last three years. Now, he says, he is morally preparing himself for the next ten years of struggle.

They all know that Donald Trump wants to end the war. Volodymyr Zelenskyi and the President of Ukraine have shown that they are also ready for negotiations, but it seems difficult to imagine the idea of ​​an effective deal.

For now, it’s just talk of negotiations.

Surt isn’t giving up on Trump’s goal.

“He’s quite an ambitious man, and I think he’ll try to do it,” he says. But he is concerned about the outcome of any negotiations.

“We are realists, we understand that there will be no justice for Ukraine – many will have to swallow the fact that their homes have been destroyed by rockets and shells, that their loved ones have died, and it will be difficult.”

When I ask him if he would like to negotiate or continue to fight, Surt resolutely answers: “Continue to fight.”

This is the view that most of the device displays. Chef-vegan Sergei believes that the negotiations will simply temporarily freeze the war – “and the conflict will return in a year or two.”

He admits that the current situation is “not good” for Ukraine. But he is also ready to continue the struggle. Getting killed, he says, “is just an occupational hazard.”

David, an artist, finds Trump disturbingly unpredictable. “He can be either very good or very bad for Ukraine,” he says.

The unit is at the front one week, rests the next. But even when they rest, they continue to train because they say it keeps them motivated.

In a frosty field, they undergo mortar fire drills. Recently, Denis, who voluntarily left his home in Germany, joined the team.

“I asked myself the question – can I live in a world without Ukraine?” he says. He reluctantly admits that now it looks like a loss, but adds: “If you don’t try, you’re bound to lose. At least I’ll die trying to win instead of just lying there and taking it.”

But, unlike the others, Denis says that he believes that Ukraine should at least consider the issue of a ceasefire. He believes that Ukraine’s losses are greater than officially recognized — more than 400,000 killed and wounded. Greater mobilization of the population, he believes, will not solve the problem.

“I just think that a lot of motivated soldiers are either lost or they’re pretty damn exhausted — and so to me it’s not like we want a cease-fire, but we can’t go on for many more years,” he says.

Dnipro, Ukraine’s third largest city, also reflects a sense of war weariness. It is regularly targeted by Russian missiles and drones. Air-raid sirens wail intermittently, day and night. If they are silent, Ukrainians are trying to find some normality in this abnormal time – including in the theater.

In the afternoon, at the screening of the humorous play “Kaidashov’s Family”, reminders of the war are still heard – a moment of silence in memory of the dead, after which the national anthem of Ukraine is played.

But some viewers admit that they also hope for a longer release. Lyudmila tells me: “Unfortunately, there are fewer of us. They help, but it is not enough, so we need to sit down and negotiate.”

Ksenia says: “There is no simple answer. Many of our soldiers died. They fought for something – for our territories. But I want the war to end.”

Public opinion polls also show that support for the talks is growing.

Some of the strongest calls for a ceasefire come from those who have been forced to flee the fighting. In a shelter near the theater, in a former student house, a group of four elderly women reminisce about the homes they left behind.

Eighty-seven-year-old Valentina says that they came with nothing, but were provided with shoes, clothes and food. She says they were treated well. “It’s good to be away, but it’s better to be at home.”

Now her house is on the territory occupied by Russia. All four women want peace talks. But Maria, 89, says she doesn’t know how the two sides will be able to “look each other in the eye after the sheer hell they’ve done”.

She adds: “It is already clear that no one will win by military means, so negotiations are needed.”

If negotiations take place, these women may have to sacrifice the most – just as Ukraine may have to sacrifice land for peace.

Additional reporting by Daniel Wittenberg and Anastasia Levchanka.