Ukraine's Most Powerful Weapon Against Russia Is Its Battle-Hardened Soldiers

Four years and four months after Russia invaded Ukraine, the war is often described as a contest of drones, missiles and advanced air defenses. But Ukrainian soldiers on the front say the decisive weapon is not in an arsenal, it is the people who keep fighting despite exhaustion, wounds and personal loss.

One example is Ihor Vizirenko, a sergeant in the 21st Mechanized Brigade. He has facial twitches from concussions, walks with a limp from back injuries, and remembers 10 close friends killed in combat. His younger daughter was born after the war began, and he has barely been able to raise her. Even so, he remains at the front. “I am tired, but we have to finish this,” he said.

His case is far from unique. In his unit, soldiers have been at war for years, many have lost dozens of comrades, and others carry both physical and psychological injuries. They return to their positions repeatedly because, in their view, the struggle is not only for territory or military objectives, but for Ukraine’s existence as an independent state.

The article notes that Ukrainian drone strikes deep inside Russia have drawn global attention, and some fighters say battlefield momentum has recently shifted in places as Russian advances slowed and pressure on Russia increased. But they stress that those gains depend on years of endurance by Ukrainian troops, at enormous cost to families split apart and children growing up without their parents for months at a time.