After making gains in the defense of Kharkiv, Ukraine goes on the offensive around occupied Izium.

Even as Ukrainian forces reclaimed territory in the country’s northeast on Saturday, driving Russian forces away from the city of Kharkiv and going on the offensive near the occupied town of Izium, military and civilian leaders warned that the war was entering a new, slow-moving phase that could last a long time.

For weeks, Russia has been using Izium as a staging area for a broader offensive in the eastern Donbas region, trying to drive south from the city as other Russian forces push north from Donetsk to broadly encircle tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers defending the front lines.

But Russia’s loss of territory in recent days around Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, and a fierce Ukrainian counteroffensive around Izium have led some military analysts to believe that a broad encirclement is slipping out of Russia’s reach. Read more

@nytimes