Jason Jay Smart<\/strong> conduct a harsh anatomical analysis of Russia’s systemic decline. Why have massive Ukrainian DeepStrike drone attacks on Saint Petersburg fundamentally shifted the balance of fear and caused the Russian elites to panic? How did Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s open letter to Putin destroy Moscow’s plans for a prolonged war of attrition? <\/p>\n \u2014 So this week has been really insane. The Ukrainian Unmanned Systems Forces struck St. Petersburg. Wow. And right against the backdrop of Putin\u2019s economic forum, the showcase event. The commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Robert Brovdi “Madyar,” called it a slap in the face to the dictatorial regime. Fancy, but true.<\/strong><\/p>\n On the front line, according to DeepState analytics, Russia is attacking more while gaining less. In May, over 7,000 attacks. Seven thousand. This is almost a 40% increase in assault intensity, but only 14 square kilometers came under Russian control again, occupied. This looks like a very poor efficiency rate to me for the Russian war machine.<\/strong><\/p>\n But President Zelenskyy, in his open letter, another topic, called on the Kremlin dictator for a truce and stated that he is ready to meet with him.<\/strong><\/p>\n So the most striking image of the week, of course: Putin is hosting the economic forum in St. Petersburg, eager to show that Russia is strong, stable, and completely under control. Meanwhile, Ukraine is hitting nearby infrastructure with drones. This creates a highly uncomfortable contrast for the Kremlin, if you ask me.<\/strong><\/p>\n Again, but for you as a foreigner, very, very well integrated into Ukraine, yes, but still \u2014 what do you think? St. Petersburg on fire. Do you think Putin actually feels embarrassed?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2014 I think he feels embarrassed. And look, the difference is that Russia gained 14 square kilometers \u2014 five and a half square miles \u2014 in the total month of May. And what did that achieve for them? Some destroyed farmland, which, okay, they got. Does it make Russia any stronger? No. Does it gain any prestige? No. How does it help Russia? It really doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
But if you look at what Ukraine is doing, attacking things like this in front of the international community, they see that Russia is completely insecure, that Putin cannot provide security.<\/p>\n
But look also at the attacks across all the different oil infrastructure. Twenty-five percent of gasoline and diesel production was taken offline. That\u2019s huge.<\/p>\n
Ukraine is actually changing the way that Russia as a state functions, versus what Russia achieves \u2014 nominal gains for 30,000 dead and injured soldiers. It doesn\u2019t achieve anything.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s night and day, the difference between the philosophy behind this war and the strategy of Ukraine versus Russia.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Well, okay. But if even St. Petersburg, Moscow, and St. Petersburg no longer feel entirely safe, what do you think rural Russians feel about all this? They can\u2019t be feeling any safety either, right?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2014 Most likely they don\u2019t feel safe either. I mean, especially if they are connected with people who don\u2019t live in rural Russia, who are living in other cities, and they see that things are rapidly changing.<\/p>\n
The gas shortages are across the entire country. That means that the cost of food and other goods and services are going to go up because there is a higher cost now than there was before.<\/p>\n
But also there is a lack of labor in Russia, which is further going to drive up the cost for everybody. So all in all, everybody in Russia is feeling the economic burn that\u2019s created by this war. We see that the Russian population as a whole isn\u2019t very passionate about this war anymore. They don\u2019t really see what it\u2019s doing for them. And they\u2019re right. The fact is, it\u2019s bad for them too.<\/p>\n
If anything, Putin has been bad for everybody involved. So fortunately, I think that there is a realization in the population that things are going terribly wrong. Remember, this is a three-day special military operation that\u2019s passed 1,500 days, and now it\u2019s losing territory.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Well, things are moving south a bit, but right. I mean, we can say that. But the moment for Zelenskyy\u2019s letter \u2014 astonishing. Obviously, Ukraine strikes deep inside Russian territory, allowing Ukraine to have cards, you know, big and pretty beautiful.<\/strong><\/p>\n But against that backdrop, President Zelenskyy addressing the Kremlin dictator once again, this time from an even stronger position, reminding Putin of the war\u2019s cost and things like that \u2014 like over, you said, 30,000 killed and severely wounded. And he also called on Putin to be constructive. I mean, since the war is happening and everything that he said, what\u2019s the point of talking in this tone of voice to a brutal dictator who instigated the war? Maybe I\u2019m missing the point here.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2014 Well, I think the reality is there are a few different things here.<\/p>\n
I think that, frankly, Ukraine is probably in the very near future going to have some very major breakthroughs in the direction of Crimea or Donbas.<\/p>\n
And when it has those breakthroughs, they would like to have this record that before that happened, Putin was given an option. And Putin chose not to take the option, the olive branch, to try to find a deal.<\/p>\n
He believed, through his arrogance, through his hubris, that he could continue fighting this war, and it will be rubbed in his face in the end.<\/p>\n
Because I think Ukraine is on the verge of doing something very big. We\u2019ve seen all the signs about it for the past few weeks. And as a result, we can be pretty sure that Russia is not going to be prepared for this. And this letter will serve to once again incite the Russian population to recall that their leader has done nothing else but destroy Russia\u2019s ability to operate as a normal state.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Okay. As a normal state. I would love to talk for hours about that, but a straightforward question. Jason, do you believe there will be talks or not?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2014 No, I don\u2019t think so. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s \u2014 one, I think it\u2019s bad for Putin, the way he would look at it, because he\u2019s already said that Zelenskyy is not a serious leader, that he\u2019s a dictator and everything else. For him to meet with him would then discredit everything that Putin has said so far before his domestic audience.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t think he would be willing to take that risk. But moreover, ultimately, we know what he\u2019s motivated by. And it\u2019s not because of anything that\u2019s going to come up with peace talks. This war is necessary for him to be able to maintain his dictatorship.<\/p>\n
So how do you explain that to somebody else? I don\u2019t think you really can. Everything that we\u2019ve heard about peace talks for three and a half, four years now has been a waste of everybody\u2019s time. There\u2019s never been any intention to end this war from Russia.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Okay. Well, let\u2019s slide to a different topic. I agree with that, but I don\u2019t know who\u2019s going to come next after Putin. At some point, though, I think we\u2019re going to see something happening with him. But another question is about what Russia is doing on the front line: attacking with way more assaults and getting way less.<\/p>\n
So far, the Russians refuse to understand, to grasp the language of diplomacy. They just don\u2019t want to, which is utterly stupid.<\/p>\n
The picture of the front line according to DeepState: more than 7,000 assault operations.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
In general translation, it\u2019s about a 40% increase in the quantity of offensive actions, while the quality plummeted no less. Like you said, just 14 square kilometers occupied. But seriously, Russia burns through people and resources in vain. Why? What\u2019s the point?<\/p>\n
I mean, I understand \u2014 Putin wants war, and while the war exists, he exists. Is that the thing? Is it the public image or what? Because the public image of Vladimir Putin has been shattered recently.<\/p>\n
Well, I think it\u2019s worth noting that if you look at the oligarchy in Russia, it\u2019s grown substantially due to this war. I mean, it\u2019s doubled.<\/p>\n
But more than that, the oligarchs that are around Vladimir Putin himself \u2014 their net worth has increased several times over what it was before. Like 400% growth. And that\u2019s the oligarchs around Putin.<\/p>\n
Now, all the oligarchs in Russia have had an increase \u2014 let\u2019s say, I don\u2019t recall the number, I would say it was about 27% to 35% over the past few years. But those close to Putin \u2014 we\u2019re talking three times more value, net worth today than they had before. Four times. Five times. So if you\u2019re looking at that sort of massive transfer of wealth within the population, this war is a very convenient cover for that.<\/p>\n
The transfer of wealth that\u2019s occurring right now in Russia is second probably only to the collapse of the Soviet Union. It is absolutely substantial, what is occurring across Russia.<\/p>\n
We see them seizing assets right now across the country from people who are in the oligarchy, who have left, people who speak out against the government. Time and again, Putin in the last few weeks has talked about the need to go after illegal deals from the 1990s and take assets from those people.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve heard Elvira Nabiullina, who is head of the Central Bank, talk about the fact that there is cash, U.S. dollars and euros in banks, in private personal accounts, and that the Russian government should go for those. That\u2019s where this is all heading. This is about the enrichment of a very elite class in the population. This war fundamentally is about that today.<\/p>\n
So when they are burning through soldiers in Russia, I\u2019m absolutely certain they don\u2019t care because it\u2019s just a material good to them. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s like killing people in Ukraine. They just don\u2019t care.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
So if you don\u2019t care at all about this, it\u2019s just another day at work. Then why should we be surprised? They want to continue this. If they\u2019re making lots of money, why would they want to stop?<\/p>\n
\u2014 So, are you literally telling us, Jason, that oligarchs are running Russia, or Putin runs the oligarchs?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2014 Well, it\u2019s a collective system. He\u2019s the head. It\u2019s a mafia, is a better way of phrasing that. And he\u2019s the don of the mafia, but there are other parts of the mafia, and they all work with him.<\/p>\n
\u2014 So, talking in business terms, shall we? Russia increases the input in terms of assaults, and still the output is plummeting, which translates into \u2014 if not the escalation in the number of assaults \u2014 well then, this means that the Ukrainian Defense Forces are literally breaking the very backbone of the Russian war effort. Is that what is happening on the front line, or am I just engaging in wishful thinking here?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2014 No, that\u2019s accurate. I mean, think about it this way: Russia\u2019s recruitment level right now is about 35% less than what it has to be. The front lines at this point have become brittle.<\/p>\n
We saw Ukraine take back incredible amounts of territory just in the past few weeks. It\u2019s pushing further and further into what was occupied, and as it\u2019s doing that, it is essentially liberating this territory.<\/p>\n
It means that today Russia has already reached the apex, the highest point of occupation. At this point, it\u2019s just going to decrease, because the net amount of territory that Ukraine is liberating is greater than the amount of territory that Russia takes.<\/p>\n
So now Russia is receding, and the height is already over. It won\u2019t get higher again, and Russia is being pushed further and further back. What\u2019s interesting is that because they lack soldiers, it means that today Russia will only continue to lose territory. And life expectancy at the front is like 20\u201330 minutes at different points for the Russians, which means that it\u2019s going to be impossible for them to coalesce and to advance. <\/p>\n
So as this happens, we\u2019re watching the disintegration of the Russian military inside Ukraine.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\u2014 Okay. But Russians are at least trying, looking for a way, let\u2019s put it that way, to improve it all. They call it \u201csmall assault groups.\u201d I don\u2019t know what that means, but in fact it\u2019s when one infantryman \u2014 seriously, just one man \u2014 runs across a field in a desperate hope, as this is actually a kill zone, for God\u2019s sake, still hoping that a swarm of angry Ukrainian birds \u2014 drones \u2014 will somehow spare him. So what\u2019s the plan?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2014 There is no plan. I\u2019m pretty sure that the reason the Russians do that still today is because it serves no military purpose. It doesn\u2019t advance Russia in any way. I think it\u2019s just to keep Ukraine from being able to rapidly move east. So you have to at least put up some resistance, show that there are people there.<\/p>\n
Because I can\u2019t understand what it does. It quite literally does zero to advance Russia\u2019s objective of reaching Kyiv. I think it\u2019s about that. But that\u2019s why Russia ultimately, I think, has also realized what Ukraine realized.<\/p>\n
Ukraine realizes that the actual battlefield, day in and day out, won\u2019t change how this war ends.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
It\u2019s attacking within Russia. And I think that Russia also realizes it has to have some sort of paradigm shift if it wishes to see the war go in its direction. And so the battlefield can\u2019t be its only center of focus.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Okay, let\u2019s talk a little bit about Washington and NATO. Are they beginning to see the real Russia at the moment? Well, the United States House of Representatives has passed a bill \u2014 finally \u2014 with new aid to Ukraine and sanctions against the Russian Federation.<\/strong><\/p>\n Also, Marco Rubio called the war against Ukraine a strategic disaster for Russia that can never be won. Mark Rutte, during his visit to Kyiv, spoke very bluntly. Russian recruits are poorly trained, poorly equipped, and if they have any good chance at anything, then it\u2019s dying. So my question in this regard is this:<\/strong><\/p>\n From the Ukrainian perspective, it looks as if the West is finally starting to talk about Russia not as a great invincible military power, but as what it actually is \u2014 weak, drained, and actually exhausted, as exhausted as it gets. Is that the picture that you see from Washington, Jason?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2014 That\u2019s definitely the picture I see. I think that overall there\u2019s been a change of heart in many cases, as people realize that, one, Russia is certainly not our ally. But also Russia is working openly with enemies, such as Iran. We\u2019ve seen that continuously. It has done what it can to supply intelligence to Iran, to strike American soldiers, to kill American soldiers in foreign countries.<\/p>\n
And so if that\u2019s the case, it\u2019s very hard to justify being friends with Russia, thinking that somehow we\u2019ll work together. Unfortunately, some people still believe that. But overall, I think that times are changing. Today, it\u2019s become ever more clear that Russia is a common enemy, not just the enemy of Ukraine.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Times are changing. Hearts are changing. The results of the House of Representatives vote \u2014 this $400 million, if I\u2019m not mistaken, for Ukraine and more \u2014 that is a good omen. Narratives about supporting Ukraine again dominate the Senate. For how long? Until the next ballgame, or is it unpredictable?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2014 It\u2019s hard to predict. But I think at this point it\u2019s probably reached a turning point. It\u2019ll probably get more positive from here, mostly because I think that the electoral gain that came from opposing Ukraine \u2014 because there\u2019s definitely a segment that opposed it \u2014 has already passed its peak.<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s very hard to justify that position with everything else that has transpired since then. I mean, if you have to pick examples of the U.S. misspending money, why the border wall is a great expenditure but this isn\u2019t, or Iran is a great expenditure but this isn\u2019t, it\u2019s really hard to justify.<\/p>\n
So I just don\u2019t see it as being politically useful. Even if you\u2019re a MAGA Republican and firmly believe that this is a bad use of money, there are other things you can talk about that would probably be less of a problem, more unifying, and help you more in an election than Ukraine. Ukraine is not a very good issue for them anymore.<\/p>\n
\u2014<\/strong> Even the \u2014 I call him, you know, the only adult in the room \u2014 Marco Rubio calls this war a strategic disaster. Russia. Why do many \u2014 you said it, some are believing Russia is a friend. Why do many European and American politicians still behave as if Vladimir Putin holds all the cards, all the advantages, and is definitely going to win, while Moscow, St. Petersburg, or the refineries are burning?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2014 Well, that\u2019s the incredible part. I think a lot of it is just built on a myth that was built up during the Soviet period, where we understand Russia to be a much greater country than it is.<\/p>\n
And it doesn\u2019t appreciate what modern Russia has become. It\u2019s just become a shell of a serious country.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
You know, it has nuclear weapons \u2014 if they work. Nobody really knows. Do the launchers work? Nobody\u2019s really quite sure. It\u2019s got a lot of tanks, but we found out a lot of them are rusted. I mean, they\u2019ve got a ton of artillery, a lot of which apparently didn\u2019t work. Hence why they had to get more from North Korea, in which case those explode quite a bit. It\u2019s not very impressive. It\u2019s sort of in terminal decline. And to see it all playing out, I think, has been somewhat surprising to people in the West.<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=hFgdvU_JTF4&t=613s\n<\/div><\/figure>\n
Read also:<\/strong> Why Ukrainian Weapons Head West: the War Created a New DefTech Market for NATO<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The illusion of the Kremlin’s omnipotence is finally shattered: renowned American political …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":1266301,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[72923,72924,72926,72927,72928,76,78],"sources":[],"class_list":["post-1383954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-publications-en","tag-frontline-update","tag-russian-airstrikes-on-ukraine","tag-ukraine-s-allies-aid","tag-peace-talks","tag-sanctions-on-russia","tag-glavnoe-en","tag-homepage-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
The Russian-Ukrainian War Will End Only When Putin Leaves, \u2014 Interview with Jason Smart - Freedom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/the-russian-ukrainian-war-will-end-only-when-putin-leaves-interview-with-jason-smart\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Russian-Ukrainian War Will End Only When Putin Leaves, \u2014 Interview with Jason Smart - Freedom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The illusion of the Kremlin’s omnipotence is finally shattered: renowned American political ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/the-russian-ukrainian-war-will-end-only-when-putin-leaves-interview-with-jason-smart\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Freedom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-07T16:15:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/cropped13-1-820x473.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"820\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"473\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Danylo Shportilo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Danylo Shportilo\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"14 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/the-russian-ukrainian-war-will-end-only-when-putin-leaves-interview-with-jason-smart\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/the-russian-ukrainian-war-will-end-only-when-putin-leaves-interview-with-jason-smart\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Danylo Shportilo\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/f4fe8d6d08deebcdee69f6671576d2d2\"},\"headline\":\"The Russian-Ukrainian War Will End Only When Putin Leaves, \u2014 Interview with Jason Smart\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-07T16:15:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/the-russian-ukrainian-war-will-end-only-when-putin-leaves-interview-with-jason-smart\/\"},\"wordCount\":3126,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/the-russian-ukrainian-war-will-end-only-when-putin-leaves-interview-with-jason-smart\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/cropped13-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Frontline update\",\"Russian airstrikes on Ukraine\",\"Ukraine\u2019s Allies & Aid\",\"Peace talks\",\"Sanctions on Russia\",\"\u0413\u043b\u0430\u0432\u043d\u043e\u0435\",\"\u041d\u0430 \u0433\u043b\u0430\u0432\u043d\u0443\u044e (\u0441\u043b\u0430\u0439\u0434\u0435\u0440)\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Publications\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/the-russian-ukrainian-war-will-end-only-when-putin-leaves-interview-with-jason-smart\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/the-russian-ukrainian-war-will-end-only-when-putin-leaves-interview-with-jason-smart\/\",\"name\":\"The Russian-Ukrainian War Will End Only When Putin Leaves, \u2014 Interview with Jason Smart - Freedom\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/the-russian-ukrainian-war-will-end-only-when-putin-leaves-interview-with-jason-smart\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/the-russian-ukrainian-war-will-end-only-when-putin-leaves-interview-with-jason-smart\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/cropped13-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-07T16:15:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/f4fe8d6d08deebcdee69f6671576d2d2\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/the-russian-ukrainian-war-will-end-only-when-putin-leaves-interview-with-jason-smart\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/the-russian-ukrainian-war-will-end-only-when-putin-leaves-interview-with-jason-smart\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/the-russian-ukrainian-war-will-end-only-when-putin-leaves-interview-with-jason-smart\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/cropped13-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/cropped13-1.jpg\",\"width\":1300,\"height\":750,\"caption\":\"Jason Jay Smart. Screenshot: uatv.ua\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/the-russian-ukrainian-war-will-end-only-when-putin-leaves-interview-with-jason-smart\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Russian-Ukrainian War Will End Only When Putin Leaves, \u2014 Interview with Jason Smart\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Freedom\",\"description\":\"UATV - UA|TV - International Broadcasting Multimedia Platform of Ukraine\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/f4fe8d6d08deebcdee69f6671576d2d2\",\"name\":\"Danylo Shportilo\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dfea04f04995a5257694c4ef7149b332b4103ac47f1c95f912cddd7a1e2ef4e7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dfea04f04995a5257694c4ef7149b332b4103ac47f1c95f912cddd7a1e2ef4e7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dfea04f04995a5257694c4ef7149b332b4103ac47f1c95f912cddd7a1e2ef4e7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Danylo Shportilo\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/author\/d-shportilo\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Russian-Ukrainian War Will End Only When Putin Leaves, \u2014 Interview with Jason Smart - Freedom","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/the-russian-ukrainian-war-will-end-only-when-putin-leaves-interview-with-jason-smart\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Russian-Ukrainian War Will End Only When Putin Leaves, \u2014 Interview with Jason Smart - Freedom","og_description":"The illusion of the Kremlin’s omnipotence is finally shattered: renowned American political ...","og_url":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/the-russian-ukrainian-war-will-end-only-when-putin-leaves-interview-with-jason-smart\/","og_site_name":"Freedom","article_published_time":"2026-06-07T16:15:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":820,"height":473,"url":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/cropped13-1-820x473.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Danylo Shportilo","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Danylo Shportilo","Est. reading time":"14 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/the-russian-ukrainian-war-will-end-only-when-putin-leaves-interview-with-jason-smart\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/the-russian-ukrainian-war-will-end-only-when-putin-leaves-interview-with-jason-smart\/"},"author":{"name":"Danylo Shportilo","@id":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/f4fe8d6d08deebcdee69f6671576d2d2"},"headline":"The Russian-Ukrainian War Will End Only When Putin Leaves, \u2014 Interview with Jason Smart","datePublished":"2026-06-07T16:15:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/the-russian-ukrainian-war-will-end-only-when-putin-leaves-interview-with-jason-smart\/"},"wordCount":3126,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/the-russian-ukrainian-war-will-end-only-when-putin-leaves-interview-with-jason-smart\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/cropped13-1.jpg","keywords":["Frontline update","Russian airstrikes on Ukraine","Ukraine\u2019s Allies & Aid","Peace talks","Sanctions on Russia","\u0413\u043b\u0430\u0432\u043d\u043e\u0435","\u041d\u0430 \u0433\u043b\u0430\u0432\u043d\u0443\u044e (\u0441\u043b\u0430\u0439\u0434\u0435\u0440)"],"articleSection":["Publications"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/the-russian-ukrainian-war-will-end-only-when-putin-leaves-interview-with-jason-smart\/","url":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/the-russian-ukrainian-war-will-end-only-when-putin-leaves-interview-with-jason-smart\/","name":"The Russian-Ukrainian War Will End Only When Putin Leaves, \u2014 Interview with Jason Smart - Freedom","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/the-russian-ukrainian-war-will-end-only-when-putin-leaves-interview-with-jason-smart\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/the-russian-ukrainian-war-will-end-only-when-putin-leaves-interview-with-jason-smart\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/cropped13-1.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-07T16:15:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/f4fe8d6d08deebcdee69f6671576d2d2"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/the-russian-ukrainian-war-will-end-only-when-putin-leaves-interview-with-jason-smart\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/the-russian-ukrainian-war-will-end-only-when-putin-leaves-interview-with-jason-smart\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/the-russian-ukrainian-war-will-end-only-when-putin-leaves-interview-with-jason-smart\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/cropped13-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/cropped13-1.jpg","width":1300,"height":750,"caption":"Jason Jay Smart. Screenshot: uatv.ua"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/the-russian-ukrainian-war-will-end-only-when-putin-leaves-interview-with-jason-smart\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Russian-Ukrainian War Will End Only When Putin Leaves, \u2014 Interview with Jason Smart"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/","name":"Freedom","description":"UATV - UA|TV - International Broadcasting Multimedia Platform of Ukraine","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/f4fe8d6d08deebcdee69f6671576d2d2","name":"Danylo Shportilo","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dfea04f04995a5257694c4ef7149b332b4103ac47f1c95f912cddd7a1e2ef4e7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dfea04f04995a5257694c4ef7149b332b4103ac47f1c95f912cddd7a1e2ef4e7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dfea04f04995a5257694c4ef7149b332b4103ac47f1c95f912cddd7a1e2ef4e7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Danylo Shportilo"},"url":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/author\/d-shportilo\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1383954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1383954"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1383954\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1383981,"href":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1383954\/revisions\/1383981"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1266301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1383954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1383954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1383954"},{"taxonomy":"sources","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uatv.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sources?post=1383954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}