Russia is losing on the battlefield – and on the global stage

On the global stage, yes, but i would not overstate Ukrainian's gains in the past three months. Ukraine have retaken lands smaller towns and villages, but in Donbas, Russia is close to capturing Konstantinyivka, a city which is the gateway to the bigger city of Kramatorsk and Slovyansk. Even if it took Russia two years and lost more soldiers than the Ukrainians in capturing Konstantinyivka, its fall of is something that should not be underestimated and could serve as a propaganda victory for Kremlin to cover their overall net territorial losses.

If I am Zelensky, my maximalist demand is not to get the Russian out completely (because that is a Sysiphean task), but to hold on to Kramatorsk and Slovyansk to prevent the full capture of the Donbas region and embarass Kremlin to deliver a political defeat when the end of war comes.