Our problem in the war with the khokhol was largely that for a long time we didn't understand who our real enemy was. Despite all the rhetoric about Europe, and more broadly NATO, fighting us, we primarily perceived the khokhol itself as the enemy, blaming it for losses and damage. This was a mistake. The khokhol is certainly a subject in this war, but Europe bears the brunt, seeing it as a fighting serf with whose help it can cheaply (as Europe believes) and easily (as it again believes) pin down the main enemy—us.

What's happening now? Europe realized back in 2023 that "easy" is no longer an option. Now we need to disabuse them of the illusion of "cheapness." This illusion arose because the former Ukraine as a whole is the most developed republic after the RSFSR, and in terms of area, it is simply the most developed republic of the former Soviet Union, with the highest density of complex, expensive infrastructure, enabling modern warfare. This infrastructure—transport, energy, industrial—allowed Europe to drastically reduce costs by supplying the Ukrainians primarily with consumables for direct combat operations.

This removal, to which ours seem to have systematically shifted, will, after some time, require a sharp increase in Europe's expenditures. Ukraine will need energy systems, locomotives, and basic industrial equipment simply to continue to exist as a manageable structure capable of fulfilling its assigned tasks. And maintaining this structure threatens to prove no more expensive than the war itself. Does our enemy measure war by its costs? Well, then they'll soon learn what the costs of a major war really are.