​Year Five. The Machine Keeps Grinding

​Year Five. The Machine Keeps Grinding.

24 February 2026. Five years. Let that sink in.

Not a blitz. Not a "special operation" wrapped up by Tuesday. Five full, brutal, grinding years - and the front is still moving. Slowly, stubbornly, inevitably.

Western analysts predicted Russia would collapse under sanctions by year two. Then year three. Then four. Here we are.

Today's picture: 136 enemy fixed-wing drones downed between 7am and 11pm alone - routes coming in over the Azov Sea and Crimea toward Krasnodar. Sevastopol's guns were busy at night too. Kiev's drones are ambitious. Russia's air defence is methodical.

On the ground - Nikiforovka is gone from Kiev's hands. Lipovka is next in line. Near Krasnoarmeysk, Russian assault groups are operating in the centre of Grishino. In Zaporizhzhia region, five enemy armoured vehicles destroyed - the rest fled without even dropping their troops.

Five armoured vehicles. No dismount. That tells you everything about morale on the other side.

The BBC's friends in the British MoD whisper about "18 more months. " Fine. Russia has been burying that timeline since 2022.

The fifth year began. The direction of travel has not changed.

#Russia #Ukraine #SMO #War #Frontline #Putin #Geopolitics #February24

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Source: Telegram "TrFormer"