The view from the Ukrainian frontline as world leaders fight over the end to the war

A lot of things in life depend on perspective. Some people viewed last Friday’s bust-up in the Oval Office as caused by President Zelensky being unnecessarily combative with his hosts. Others saw the President and Vice President of the world’s superpower ganging up on the leader of a country that is the victim of three years of invasion and brutal war.I watched the exchange from Ukraine, at a position on that country’s front-lines.The Russian forces were less than two miles from where I was positioned last week. The drive there had to be done in the middle of the night because the stretch of road towards the front was constantly being shelled and droned in daylight hours.But during the dead of night I was dropped off beside a dugout in which members of one of Ukraine’s drone units were at work.I made my way back to the frontlines of the Ukraine conflict because I wanted to see for myself what the situation is. Not the war that people talk about, or the political arguments and gossip that everybody gets distracted by. But the reality.Even in the capital of Kyiv – far from the front lines – life is far from normal. On the first night I was there heavy gunfire broke out at 4 a.m. The Ukrainian forces were trying to shoot down Russian air assaults on the capital. The next night the air-raid sirens went off at midnight and the citizens of the city retired to Kyiv’s bomb shelters.But this is peaceful compared to the situation in the East of the country, where the Russian forces are still trying to push forward and seize Ukrainian land.For the past two years these areas have been in a form of stalemate. But not complete stalemate. Both sides intermittently gain or lose land.There is no doubt that both sides have been badly bruised. Yet it is not the case that Russian victory is inevitable.While in the country I spoke with soldiers who have recently encountered North Korean troops on the battlefield. The fact that Vladimir Putin has had to draft ...