In recent weeks the focus of the war in Ukraine has shifted decisively to Donbas, as Russia concentrates its military might on the eastern front.
In an eerie echo of photographic dispatches from the Vietnam war in the 1960s, our cover image this week – taken by Diego Herrera Carcedo – captures some of the despair and anxiety suffered by Ukrainian soldiers fighting on the eastern front, as they come under sustained artillery fire.
Amid reports of fierce fighting, some estimates claim Ukraine’s forces in the region are outnumbered by 15 to 1, with Kyiv’s troop losses running as high as 150 a day. Isobel Koshiw and Luke Harding speak to soldiers ground down by weeks of conflict, while Dan Sabbagh weighs the impact of heavy sustained losses on Ukrainian morale. Then, Phillip Inman assesses the effect of western sanctions on Russia, amid calls to lift them as a bargaining chip to bring Moscow to the negotiating table.
There has been alarm and anger since the disappearance of the British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian activist Bruno Pereira in a remote region of Brazil earlier this month. As hopes for their safe return faded this week, we look at how a shared love of the Amazon brought Phillips, who was a frequent contributor to the Guardian Weekly, and Pereira, a respected advocate for the rights of Brazil’s Indigenous peoples, together.
In October 2020, an emergency call was received from a ship in British waters. After a full-scale commando raid, seven Nigerians were taken off in handcuffs – but no one was ever charged. Samira Shackle investigates what really happened on board.
Then, we tackle the perennial subject of age. Does anyone ever really feel “grown up”? Moya Sarner asks some older people to find out.
