There’s no denying that the Ukraine-Russia war is, in part, an information war, and with the recent announcement that Russian forces would be withdrawing from the Kiev front, the propaganda has gone into high gear. Russia claims it’s destroyed the Ukrainian army’s ability to fight, and will now liberate the Donbass (as well as claiming that’s all it ever wanted)Some, going to extremes the other way, see Ukrainian victory as imminent, and the Russian army as a broken force. While I want to get back to questions of defence economics and industry as quickly as possible, I wanted to address this topic from the recent poll before moving on. I’ll include the disclaimer that this is a question I’ve actively avoided to date, because it’s harder to quantify and assess than other questions, but hopefully you appreciate the approach I’ve taken. In the end, only one person knows the true scope of Russia’s intentions, and I’m not Vladimir Putin. Personally, I think their real goals have little relation to the publicly stated ones, I just take Russia at its word here as a means to make a point. And, as for the headline question; whoever is winning the fight, let’s all remember the costs it imposes on civilians.