‘A second Afghanistan’: Doubts over Russia’s war prosecution

Russian soldiers walk along a street in Mariupol as troops intensify a campaign to take eastern and southern Ukraine [Alexander Nemenov/AFP]

Russia appeared to become bogged down in a new military deadlock in eastern Ukraine during the 10th week of its war, as its forces made incremental advances but failed to score any significant breakthroughs.

At the same time, Russia attempted to prepare to annex the regions it holds economically and administratively, while the United States prepared to approve massive amounts of new military funding for Ukraine and the European Union readied itself to ban Russian oil.