Russia is regaining the advantage in eastern Ukraine

The need to use a damaged Russian vehicle to defend depleting Ukrainian equipment underscores the country’s problems. Ukraine is preparing for another year of intense fighting, according to The New York Times.

“If international partners acted faster, we would have kicked their asses in the first three or four months and already forgotten about it. We would be sowing fields and raising children… We would be sending bread to Europe. But two years have passed,” a soldier tells journalists.

Ukraine’s military prospects appear grim, with diminished Western military assistance and the failure of its counteroffensive to achieve any goals. Russian forces have shifted to the offensive, with the city of Marinka nearly falling, Avdiivka surrounded, and an anticipated offensive on Chasiv Yar near Bakhmut. Battles continue near Kupyansk. Neither side has demonstrated a tactic that would lead to a breakthrough on the battlefield. Instead, there’s a deadly dance of small gains on both sides that has failed to tip the balance. The conflict now resembles a modernized version of the Western Front of World War I—mass against mass.