Is Russia's slow, endless grind really a recipe for victory?

Washington Post

12-06-2025

In today's edition:
Russia would like you to believe it is winning its war of aggression against Ukraine. But let's look at some numbers:
Russia, what exactly do you mean by 'winning'?
These statistics come from strategy analyst Riley McCabe's examination of the terrible price Russia has paid for marginal gains, and they are just the beginning; McCabe also studies the equipment Russia is losing, and the situation there looks no better. It is true Russia remains on the offensive, McCabe says, 'but initiative alone is not victory.'
He writes: 'Ukraine's defense-in-depth strategy, bolstered by U.S. and European support, has transformed the battlefield into a war of attrition that favors defenders and punishes attackers.' McCabe says the West needs to leverage Russia's slow bleed.
But however bruised it is, Russia could yet open another front in the war, Jim Geraghty writes.
'You're forgiven if you haven't spent a lot of time thinking about Moldova's parliamentary elections coming up in September,' he opens his column — but you might want to start. It is in Europe's least-visited country that Russia is meddling with to install a friendlier government, the Moldovan prime minister recently alleged.
Moscow's eye is on Transnistria, the rogue region of Moldova that has pledged fealty to Russia for years. Jim writes that 'few in their right mind would choose to visit a pseudo-country that still has a hammer and sickle on its flag,' so naturally he went to check it out.
Jim's column is both a profile of this strange place (including its through-the-looking-glass Soviet version of a Hard Rock Café) and a warning of how things could go very, very badly if it falls even deeper under Russia's control.
From Karen Tumulty's review of Tuesday's primary elections for New Jersey governor.
All eyes are on the Garden State, Karen notes, one of two 'that hold their gubernatorial contests in the year following presidential elections and are therefore seen as bellwethers of national politics.'
For a state that moved sharply to the right just seven months ago, a surprising number of Democratic voters pulled up to the polls. Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D) herself described the turnout as 'unheard of' — and hopefully a peek at 'what's coming in November here' (and, perhaps, everywhere else).
This Father's Day, Los Angeles writer Nick Dothée offers us gentle reflections on his last moments with his dad. Dothée's father was a public defender, who believed 'everyone deserved someone in their corner, even if — especially if — they'd made a mess of things.'
When Dothée made a mess of his own life — the writer experienced addiction in his past — his father made the painful decision to sever ties until his son could recover.
Dothée got sober as his dad's health declined, but in the father's final years, the two reconnected, drawing from the deep reserve of father-son love to hold each other up.
'If he had died without seeing me sober, I would've carried the guilt for a lifetime,' writes Dothée. 'But he saw me. And I saw him. And I got to tell him he did right by me.'
It's a goodbye. It's a haiku. It's … The Bye-Ku.
Conquering a foe
One Delaware at a time
Works on Delaware
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Have your own newsy haiku? Email it to me, along with any questions/comments/ambiguities. See you tomorrow!