Russia’s failure to take down Kyiv was a defeat for the ages

By ROBERT BURNS
AP National Security Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Kyiv was a Russian defeat for the ages. It started poorly for the invaders and went downhill from there. When President Vladimir Putin launched his war on Ukraine on Feb. 24, he sent hundreds of helicopter-borne paratroopers — the best of the best of Russia’s “spetsnaz” special forces — to assault a key airfield on Kyiv’s doorstep. But Putin failed to achieve his goal of quickly crushing Ukraine’s outgunned and outnumbered army. “It’s stunning,” says Frederick Kagan, who says he knows of no parallel in modern military history to a major power like Russia invading a country at the time of its choosing and failing so utterly.