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Simon Schuster of [[TIME magazine]] reported on the grim Führerbunker stage of the conflict in late October 2023:<ref>[https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/time-magazine-profile-depicts-grim TIME Magazine Profile Depicts Grim Führerbunker-Stage of Zelensky's Conflict ], Simplicius the Thinker, November 2, 2023. simplicius76.substack.com</ref>

Simon Schuster of [[TIME magazine]] reported on the grim Führerbunker stage of the conflict in late October 2023:<ref>[https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/time-magazine-profile-depicts-grim TIME Magazine Profile Depicts Grim Führerbunker-Stage of Zelensky's Conflict ], Simplicius the Thinker, November 2, 2023. simplicius76.substack.com</ref>

{{quotebox-float|"The usual sparkle of his optimism, his sense of humor, his tendency to liven up a meeting in the war room with a bit of banter or a bawdy joke, none of that has survived into the second year of all-out war. “Now he walks in, gets the updates, gives the orders, and walks out,” says one longtime member of his team. Another tells me that, most of all, Zelensky feels betrayed by his [[Western alliance|Western allies]]. They have left him without the means to win the war, only the means to survive it.

{{quotebox-float|"The usual sparkle of his optimism, his sense of humor, his tendency to liven up a meeting in the war room with a bit of banter or a bawdy joke, none of that has survived into the second year of all-out war. “Now he walks in, gets the updates, gives the orders, and walks out,” says one longtime member of his team. Another tells me that, most of all, Zelensky feels betrayed by his [[Western alliance|Western allies]]. They have left him without the means to win the war, only the means to survive it.

But his convictions haven’t changed. Despite the recent setbacks on the battlefield, he does not intend to give up fighting or to sue for any kind of peace. On the contrary, his belief in Ukraine’s ultimate victory over Russia has hardened into a form that worries some of his advisers. It is immovable, verging on the messianic. “He deludes himself,” one of his closest aides tells me in frustration. “We’re out of options. We’re not winning. But try telling him that.”

But his convictions haven’t changed. Despite the recent setbacks on the battlefield, he does not intend to give up fighting or to sue for any kind of peace. On the contrary, his belief in Ukraine’s ultimate victory over Russia has hardened into a form that worries some of his advisers. It is immovable, verging on the messianic. “He deludes himself,” one of his closest aides tells me in frustration. “We’re out of options. We’re not winning. But try telling him that.”