All wars ultimately end through negotiations. It's not the soldiers in the trenches who decide when."
Arni enlisted in the Ukrainian army in 2022 to defend his nation's survival. When we meet him 30 months later, he speaks of a new goal: "Peace."
"No one likes war; we want to end it," he says, leaning against his camouflaged pickup truck.
The troops we encounter near the Russian border share a common desire—to end Russia's invasion on acceptable terms.
While survival remains a core motivation, it’s clear they are striving toward an endgame.
"For Ukraine, for our people, we’ll stand until the end," Arni adds.
Until August 6, Ukraine's primary objective was liberation—completely pushing Russian forces back to the borders as they stood before the 2014 invasion.
Despite the slow pace, Ukraine has been steadily reclaiming territory over the past year and a half, countering Moscow's advances.
Then came the bold move that caught everyone off guard, except the battle-hardened Ukrainian soldiers who executed it: a counteroffensive into Russia’s Kursk region.
Source: bbc
