The Ukraine-Russia war has just passed its 924^th day. The worldwide support of Ukraine has been slowly ebbing away.

Last month, Ukraine began an offensive into Russia, breaking through into the Kursk region. The Western media hype around the incursion painted Russia as collapsing under the Ukraine offensive. France 24 reported:

The Ukrainian army remains in control of more than 1,000 square kilometres of land in Russia’s Kursk region, almost a month into a brazen cross-border incursion that offered Kyiv’s forces a much-needed morale boost – and dealt Russian President Vladimir Putin a humiliating blow.

The Western media constantly put up a narrative they wish to become reality. This is a strategic tactic that it has used frequently in the past few years. This might work when attempting to control weak-minded Western masses whose opinions are formed by pop culture and social media, but it doesn’t work against bullets and steel… nor against angelic powers at play.

The Bible is clear that Russia will ultimately be in control of Europe, especially the area of Ukraine, not the reverse. The leader of the northern confederacy is described in Ezekiel 38 when the prophet states:

“Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:” (Ezekiel 38:2–3)

Josephus equates Magog with the Scythians, writing:

“Magog founded those that from him were named Magogites, but who are by the Greeks called Scythians” (Josephus, Antiquities, Book 1)

The Greek historian Herodotus, writing in 440 BC, stated that Scythia was situated between the River Don and the River Danube. This is the area of “Easter Europe”, which includes Ukraine, Poland, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Germany. This area is under the control of Gog when the invasion of the Middle East takes place. So, the prophets are clear about who eventually will come out on top.

A month into the incursion, the failure of this adventure is so evident that France 24, a French media outlet, published an article with the headline:

“Failed Gamble: Why Ukraine’s Kursk offensive has failed to distract Russia from Donbas push.”

Many news commentators have begun to question the goals of Ukraine’s offensive. Was the idea merely to embarrass Putin?  Others believe it was a desperate strategy to disrupt the status quo, which was bleeding Ukraine dry of manpower. It certainly was a bold and rapid manoeuvre. Two previous “counter offensives” also failed, the over-hyped one in 2023 and one in the spring of 2024. It is believed the goal of this campaign was to draw away Russian troops in the area of the Donbas (or the Don basin – one of the boundaries of the land of Magog) and focus them elsewhere.

Some of Ukraine’s most elite troops, along with precious weaponry garnered through massive campaigns by Ukraine to squeeze aid from Western countries, have been committed to this offensive. They have been pulled from other areas and committed to this campaign. The European Security and Defense Magazine reported:

By creating a salient within Russia, Ukraine have extended the length of the front line to be defended, and have done so in an area where it is relatively risky to bring up air defence systems. Secondly, the AFU have taken fairly serious losses of capable personnel and high-value equipment, both of which are difficult to replace. Lastly, the offensive has taken up a lot of Ukraine’s offensive potential, and the longer the operation lasts, the more Ukraine’s defenders on the main front will feel the absence of personnel, vehicles, and ammunition being used in Kursk….

The offensive will require ongoing sustainment if the AFU choose to remain in the area. Due to shortages, this sustainment will necessarily have to come at the expense of other units on the main frontline. Indeed, some reports from AFU sources on the main frontline have already stated experiencing greater shortages of supplies such as ammunition. 

In strategic terms, the nagging feeling is that the AFU now find themselves holding a poisoned chalice. Ahead of them lies the choice of either retreat, or commitment. The former would preserve lives and equipment, but would call the entire purpose of the operation into question, making it look like a blunder. Commitment would continue to exacerbate shortages on the main frontline, in exchange for holding on to questionably useful gains. Neither seems particularly good.

Ukraine’s offensive was initially successful, largely due to the area being patrolled by conscripts and border guards, with no reserves behind them. It was able quickly push into the lightly defended area.  

Ukraine has forgotten how Russia fights. Russia is a vast territory. When attacked, it has often resulted in a strategy of retreat and entrapment. It did so when King Charles of Sweden, who presided over the Swedish Empire that covered Scandinavia and reached into Europe, invaded Russia during the time of Peter the Great over 300 years ago. It employed similar measures when the French invaded under Napoleon. It used the same tactic when Germany invaded under Hitler. It has just done it again. It has pulled back, forcing Ukraine to stretch out its precious forces into a long line. Logistics again becomes the deciding factor. As former president and American General Dwight D. Eisenhower once said:

“You will not find it difficult to prove that battles, even campaigns, and even wars have been won or lost primarily because of logistics.” — Dwight D. Eisenhower

General George Patten stated:

“Wars are not won by fighting battles; wars are won by choosing battles.”

It appears Ukraine has made a mistake in choosing this offensive. Even the German WWII General Rommel stated:

“Don’t fight a battle if you don’t gain anything by winning.”

The Ukrainian war will not be won by opinion polls but by the overwhelming superiority of forces. An unexpected out of the incursion into “Russia” was the activation of Russian units that, under law, were not allowed to be deployed as the “Ukrainian Special Offensive” was outside Russian territory. Now that the Ukrainian army has crossed into Russian territory, units previously on “ice” have been activated. Rather than drawing off troops, it has allowed Russia to increase its active armed forces.

Russia has remained unmoved from its objectives; as France’s 24 reported:

“Russian goals have not changed,” Zelensky told reporters, noting that the assault on Pokrovsk began long before Ukraine’s Kursk offensive.

In the immediate aftermath of Ukraine’s brazen cross-border offensive, military experts quizzed by FRANCE 24 agreed that the operation’s primary aim appeared to be the redeployment of Russian troops engaged in the Donbas.

In that respect, Ukraine’s “provocation” has failed, Putin told Russian media on Monday, boasting that Moscow’s forces were advancing in the Donbas at the fastest pace “in a long time”.

A transport hub with a pre-war population of 50,000, many of whom have now fled, Pokrovsk is “an important supply hub, with several roads and rail lines converging there", said Veronika Poniscjakova, an international security expert at the University of Portsmouth who is closely monitoring the war in Ukraine.

Speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Putin stated on Thursday:

“The enemy aimed to cause concern and halt our offensive in key areas, particularly in Donbas, which is our main goal,” Putin said. “Did it succeed? No.”

We have to think about the people who are obviously going through serious trials and suffering from these terrorist attacks, and it is the sacred duty of the armed forces to do everything possible to remove the enemy from these territories and to protect our citizens safely. And the whole country, of course, must do everything to support the people. As for the military side of things, I have already mentioned this, the enemy’s goal was to make us nervous, frantic, to move troops from one area to another and to stop the offensive in key areas, first of all in Donbas, where liberation is our primary goal. What did or did not work out for the enemy? Nothing has worked out.

The Bible that maps out the destinies of nations, as Daniel pointed out:

“This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.” (Daniel 4:17, KJV 1900)

No amount of media bias can change the course that God sets for nations.  We watch and observe how these things play out, but the end result is secure.

Meanwhile, this week, two ballistic missiles blasted a military academy and a nearby hospital, killing more than 50 and wounding 200 others. Most of the articles reporting the blast did not mention the significance of Poltava. It is the city where Peter the Great won his decisive victory against Charles of Sweden, effectively ending the Swedish Empire and resulting in the Swedish King fleeing to the Ottoman Turks for protection.

Peter the Great is Putin’s hero. Back in 2022, during the 350^th anniversary of Peter the Great’s birth, Putin compared himself to Peter the Great and with Peter’s ambitions:

“Peter the Great waged the great northern war for 21 years. It would seem that he was at war with Sweden, he took something from them. He did not take anything from them, he returned [what was Russia’s]… Apparently, it is also our lot to return [what is Russia’s] and strengthen [the country]. And if we proceed from the fact that these basic values form the basis of our existence, we will certainly succeed in solving the tasks that we face.”

As we watch this war grind on, we are reminded that, ultimately, the angels are in charge of preparing the nations for the great day of God Almighty.  Man’s ambition and pride will lead to his fall. Russia’s ambitions will be crushed on the mountains of Israel, after a successful building up of its image empire:

“And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.” (Daniel 11:45)

The world remains blind and deaf to the prophetic word. God has a plan which he will bring about:

“For as the rain cometh down, And the snow from heaven, And returneth not thither, But watereth the earth, And maketh it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: It shall not return unto me void, But it shall accomplish that which I please, And it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:10–11)

For the Bible in the News, this has been Jonathan Bowen joining you.