Op-ed: Russia is removing Ukraine’s battlefield advantages

Russia has learned to fight far more effectively in recent months, combining its advantages in manpower and industrial capacity with rapid technological adaptation, which is erasing Ukraine’s battlefield edge, former Google ceo Eric Schmidt wrote in a September 9 Washington Post op-ed. For years, the Ukrainians held their own against Russia’s much larger force mainly due to rapid adaptation and innovation. But now Russia is combining its mass with its own innovations, such as jet-powered Iranian-derived Shahed drones and a new satellite constellation. Ukraine’s former advantage is “rapidly diminishing,” Schmidt writes, and it will likely suffer serious defeats this winter unless Western support increases. This assessment is yet another sign that Vladimir Putin’s determination remains undiminished—and that, after more than four years of war, Russia may be close to completing its conquest.