Certainty is a Luxury Ukrainians Must Create

Welcome to The Ukraine Compass, a weekly digest of Ukrainian commentary and analysis from across the political spectrum only for War on the Rocks members. Each week, we bring you a curated selection of articles from Ukrainian media offering insight into how Ukrainians themselves debate the issues shaping their country.Western coverage often narrows the view to the battlefield — these pieces widen it, revealing the texture of daily life, politics, and public argument in a nation at war. The perspectives gathered here are varied, candid, and often surprising, together forming a more complete picture of Ukraine as it really is.Frontline and StrategyФокус — Fokus (“Focus”) National weekly magazine with a patriotic voice“The Main Task After The War: How to Demine Ukraine”By Victor Taran/Sept. 30, 2026Kosovo has just finished a demining program nearly three decades after its 1998–1999 war, a sobering benchmark for Ukraine, writes Victor Taran. As of 2026, more than a fifth of Ukraine’s territory may need surveying and clearing, and fighting adds contaminated land every month, he writes. He estimates returning most areas to safe use could take 10 to 20 years once fighting ends. Taran argues that drones, satellites, AI, sensors, and autonomous vehicles can speed the work, turning demining into a technological challenge where Ukraine could lead the world in innovation.“For Ukraine, demining is not only a humanitarian task but a technological challenge that will span decades. We have already been forced to develop unmanned systems for war at remarkable speed, and once the war ends, we will need to build robotic and autonomous solutions just as quickly to return the land to normal life. This is also an important opportunity: beyond clearing our own territory over the coming decades, Ukraine can create technologies, standards, and practices that other countries will later adopt.”***Обозреватель — Obozrevatel (“Observer”) Major Ukrainian