Momentum in Ukraine Is Shifting in Russia’s Favor

A war in Ukraine that began with a Russian debacle as its forces tried and failed to take Kyiv has seemingly begun to turn. Russia is picking off regional targets, Ukraine lacks the weaponry it needs and Western support for the war effort is fraying.

On the 108th day of President Vladimir V. Putin’s unprovoked war, driven by his conviction that Ukraine is territory unjustly taken from the Russian Empire, Russia appeared no closer to victory. But its forces did appear to be making slow, bloody progress toward control of eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, said on Saturday, “We are definitely going to prevail in this war that Russia has started.”

Yet, the heady early days of the war — when the Ukrainian underdog held off a deluded and inept aggressor and Mr. Putin’s indiscriminate bombardment united the West in outrage — have begun to fade. The war is becoming what analysts say will be a long slog. Read more

@nytimes