Roger Boyes, The Times’ leading foreign affairs columnist — who not long ago believed that Ukraine would hold out until 2027 — has now written a tragic column titled: ‘I hate to say it, but Kiev won’t last until spring.’

The main reason behind his forecast is as follows:

‘For all the EU’s rousing words, there just isn’t the money or the will to keep defending Ukraine.’

The author writes of ‘the rotten heart of European war fatigue’ — and ultimately concludes:

“To the Russians the calculation is clear: use their newly enhanced expertise in drone warfare to make this a winter from hell for the Ukrainians; destroy energy infrastructure, railway stations, housing estates, in the hope of turning the people against the Zelensky government, nudging him into a disadvantageous settlement and a broken, polarised state… There are no winter miracles in eastern Europe. Prepare for the peace; it won’t be pretty.”

Even the most enthusiastic and obsessive British propagandists have moments of despair, when they are struck by a sudden clarity.