Ukrainians have stopped recognizing the heroism and achievements of their army amidst the losses, says Serge Marko.

The morale of the troops.

A few personal observations.

We are currently living in a situation where the enemy has the initiative. When the initiative was with us, the Russians were in a more subdued state; now that they have taken the initiative, everything has changed 180 degrees. We all perceive things in dark tones.

Everyone seems to have forgotten that initiative is a variable thing, and to possess it requires a plan and the appropriate moral state.

We mainly discuss failures while neglecting those who are successfully doing their job, month after month.

For example, our unit has stopped posting videos of enemy defeats and equipment because we no longer find anything interesting or new in it. And what is there to show? All these drone defeats from different angles have already been seen many times by all our subscribers, including from other units that are also doing their job well.

The infantry has ceased to post videos of successful repulses of assaults or their own assaults because "well, we’ve seen that many times already."

And what’s the point of boasting about reclaiming a position if we lost 10 square kilometers yesterday?

All these feats remain behind the scenes. All this work that subscribers see in the dry statistics of the General Staff every morning, with enemy losses of 1,000-1,500 per day.

The military machine is functioning. It generates events that remain behind the scenes. It persistently grinds the stone made up of thousands of meat bags of personnel, understanding that this stone has limits, and someday another strike will create an unexpected yet crucial crack; then we will realize that we have endured until the necessary event, we have held our ground, and we will start hitting harder, crushing that stone more actively. But for now, we need to stand firm and inflict defeats. And we are standing. Enduring another difficult day. With nerves frayed, bad moods, criticism (well, how can it be otherwise? Which soldier doesn’t criticize the command?), and trying to ensure our survival for tomorrow, because tomorrow will be no less challenging.

So, I really dislike that we have started to forget the forces we are relying on and the events we are generating. Because every day consists not only of territorial losses but also of heroic events from the infantry, successful events from drone operators, and many simple occurrences that allow this military machine to continue its bloody harvest, regardless of everything.

And we need to learn to talk about this again.

This is also one of the problems of mobilization. People may join an army that is successful, but joining an army that is losing and surrounded by only bad news is perceived quite differently.

We need to talk more not just about problems, but also about achievements and heroism. Yes, it is harder than in 2022, when not everyone was so worn out by the war. But it is necessary.