When the world's at stake,
go beyond the headlines.

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 Monday, we bring you a curated selection of articles from Ukrainian media offering insight into how Ukrainians themselves debate the issues shaping their country.American 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 StrategyЕспресо — Espreso24-hour television channel and digital outlet with a pro-European outlook“A Russian Drone Strike on the SBU Headquarters in Kyiv Is Primarily an Element of Information Warfare”By Mykola Knyazhytskyi/Sept. 5, 2026The strike on the Security Service’s administrative building in Kyiv had little military value, as Ukrainian security leadership doesn’t work from well-known, mapped locations, explains Knyazhytskyi. Instead, the attack functioned as an information-warfare operation, comparable to a viral fake on Telegram: designed to create a picture of Russian strength and Ukrainian weakness ahead of possible negotiations. The goal, he says, is to convince Ukrainians, Europeans, Americans, and Russians themselves that time favors Moscow, despite Russia’s failure to achieve its strategic war goals and Ukraine’s growing long-range strike capability. The author argues this is decorative, illusory power; alarming, of course, but not proof of real military strength.“We’ve already seen similar logic when Russian drones flew into NATO territory, or missiles fell near NATO borders. The military damage from such episodes may be minimal, but the political and psychological effect is much greater. The goal is to demonstrate the alleged weakness of NATO, which cannot fully close its airspace; the weakness of Ukrainian air defense; and the weakness of the Ukrainian state.”***Фокус