The war in Ukraine may be entering a new stage as long-range rocket systems supplied by the U.S. disrupt Russia’s grinding advance in the eastern Donbas region, and open the door for a possible counteroffensive.
More than 150 days into President Vladimir Putin’s invasion, it remains far from clear if Ukraine can take advantage of the “opportunity” that Britain’s MI6 intelligence service chief Richard Moore last week said was emerging as Russian forces “run out of steam.”
But reasons for the leadership in Kyiv to attempt a larger assault are rising, both on and off the battlefield. Those include falling casualty rates, a recent hardening of Russia’s declared territorial claims, the need for economic recovery within Ukraine, and a global downturn that could see allied governments under pressure to end the war.
