On 24 February 2022, Russian troops surged out of Belarus toward Kyiv, barely 150 km away. The Kremlin expected the capital to fall in days.
A snail, crawling nonstop, could cover that distance in about five years. More than three and a half years later, Russia still hasn’t managed it. Kyiv endures, the frontline frozen.
The image is almost absurd: an army of tanks and missiles, outpaced by the patience of a garden snail. But it’s also bittersweet. The failure reflects not only Russian weakness, but the staggering cost Ukraine has paid to hold its ground.