Ukraine is clawing back territory in the Donbas and disrupting Russia's attempt to encircle some of Kyiv's most important remaining strongholds in the east, challenging President Vladimir Putin's repeated assertions that Moscow's conquest of the region is inevitable.
A New York Times report showed that the months-long Ukrainian counteroffensive in the northern Donbas, dubbed Operation Vivaldi, has recaptured dozens of square miles and forced Russia to contend with a Ukrainian advance just as Moscow was trying to tighten its grip around the remaining Ukrainian-held cities in the region.
