Volodymyr Zelensky is fighting a war on several fronts. Russia is ramping up its missile attacks with almost nightly bombardment of Ukrainian cities. A blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports is choking its grain exports with a devastating effect on its agricultural economy.

Now, just this week, the Ukrainian president has had to sack a senior aide over allegations of money laundering. It’s a particularly bitter blow for a man who ran for office as an anti-graft candidate. If that weren’t enough, Mikhailo Federov, the popular defence minister he sacked just weeks ago, has demanded Zelensky call an election, citing “a systemic crisis of governance,” that has failed to get to grips with endemic corruption.

Clearly Zelensky’s first priority is defence against Russia’s missile attacks. But Ukraine lacks the air defences to cope – overnight on August 19, Russia reportedly hit Kyiv with dozens of ballistic, cruise and hypersonic missiles and more than 150 drones, killing 15 and wounding scores of people.

The Ukrainian president’s appeals to his European allies are increasingly desperate as winter approaches and Russia targets Ukraine’s power infrastructure. But there is mounting evidence that many of these countries are beginning to suffer from war fatigue, according to Benjamin Martill and Adam Holesch, who have researched sentiment to the war across EU members states.

Politically this fatigue is felt at this stage more among parties on the far right and far left, such as the Alternative für Deutschland in Germany and Podemos in Spain. But it’s a sentiment shared by many ordinary people across the dial, who see the conflict as something........

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