The prospect of a direct NATO-Russia war has only continued to grow since as a possible nuclear WW3-level disastrous catastrophe, still looming darkly on the horizon. 

Legendary American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh in his latest article has bluntly stated, "The reality is that Volodymyr Zelensky's battered army no longer has any chance of a victory." Whereas previously there was a vast chasm between Hersh's conclusions and those of mainstream Western press reports, this is no longer the case… just see The Economist this week:

The narrative dissonance must be particularly jolting for average Americans who up till this point have been treated to constant rosy pictures and overly optimist reports of Ukraine "winning" or at least "pushing back" the Russians. This was certainly the mainstream's driving theme at least throughout the first year of war, and even into the summer. 

Hersh in his Thursday Substack report cited an unnamed intelligence source who "spent the early years of his career working against Soviet aggression and spying." That source said that despite some continued and recent attempts to paint the Ukraine counteroffensive as making slow but steady progress, the truth is the opposite.