The fighters believe a deal is coming, but remain resolute in their belief that the fight is far from over.
And while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has sounded positive that his weary nation’s fight may “end sooner” with Trump in the White House, the women’s attitude is shared by many others here, from makeshift volunteer units to top military officials.
“We can’t surrender, » said U.S. Army veteran Miro Popovich, a Ukrainian American combat volunteer who has fought on or near the front lines since the war began. « We can’t surrender territory, we can’t surrender people, because our existence is on the line once again.”
A recent Gallup poll nonetheless found that 52% would like to see their country negotiate an end to the war as soon as possible, and that many are less hopeful about the future than a year earlier.
Low on morale and manpower, Kyiv’s troops have been on the defensive for months as Russia’s military pushes to retake lost territory or seize new land behind a wave of drones, missiles and infantry.
But if Ukraine is to enter warily into negotiations, it wants to do so from a position of strength.
A source in the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine told NBC News that Ukraine still controlled over 300 square miles of Russia’s Kursk region, and that airstrikes deep inside Russian territory were helping “to destroy Russia military infrastructure” after Ukraine’s allies, particularly the U.S., relaxed restrictions on Kyiv’s use of Western weapons.
Trump, for his part, has never explained how he would try to break the diplomatic deadlock between the two sides, but his public comments and determination to seek a rapid resolution have raised fears that his return to power will prove favorable to the Kremlin.
