The goals of Russia’s invasion keep getting smaller. Its forces are inflicting losses on the Ukrainian military at a cost to Russia’s own supply of troops and equipment, and they are failing to make major advances.
After failing to topple Ukraine’s government in Kyiv, Russia redeployed troops for a far less ambitious goal: seize the rest of the Donbas.
But a month into the battle for the East, Russia has made only gradual progress along the Eastern front.
Russia’s military doesn’t have the force necessary to fight in too many places at once. The area with the most critical battles is currently only 75 miles wide and includes three key cities: Sloviansk, Kramatorsk and Sievierodonetsk.
Russia has little time to make significant advances or it may be forced into more defensive positions, and the war could become a stalemate. With troops and equipment dwindling, the battle for the Donbas is likely to be the last major offensive of the war. Read more
@nytimes