The war in Ukraine is nearly three months old, and Russia’s forces are well short of the minimum objectives set out by President Vladimir Putin. However, after weeks of intense bombardment, the Ukrainians’ defensive lines in the east are also degraded.
According to CNN’s Tim Lister, two battlegrounds are emerging in the country. The Russians are adding combat power to their drive to take the Luhansk and Donetsk regions. Meanwhile, the Ukrainians are trying to hold them back and cut them off.
Few expect a decisive victory by either side in the coming months. A war of attrition seems likely as the weapons supplied by the United States and its allies tilt the balance on the battlefield.
“A war of attrition, combined with the reality that Putin faces a mismatch between his ambitions and Russia’s current conventional military capabilities, likely means the next few months could see us moving along a more unpredictable and potentially escalatory trajectory,” said Avril Haines, the US director of national intelligence.
In the past week, several stories made headlines, along with captivating images that reflect current events.
Britain’s Prince Charles sits by the Imperial State Crown at the opening of Parliament on Tuesday, May 10. His mother, Queen Elizabeth II, missed the occasion for the first time since 1963. The 96-year-old monarch had to withdraw due to a recurrence of mobility issues. Ben Stansall/Pool/APRich Strike, with jockey Sonny Leon, wins the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 7. The horse entered the race at 80-1 odds and was the biggest long shot in the 20-horse field. Charlie Riedel/APA girl runs away from a gorilla replica at a park in Hong Kong on Monday, May 9. Kin Cheung/APWhite House press secretary Jen Psaki, right, is hugged by Karine Jean-Pierre, her soon-to-be successor, on Thursday, May 5. Jean-Pierre will be the first Black person and the first out LGBTQ person to hold the position. Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty ImagesFirefighters battle a brush fire in Laguna Niguel, California, on Wednesday, May 11. The fire tore through the city and destroyed at least 20 multimillion-dollar homes and mansions. Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/Getty ImagesA cat is examined by a judge during a feline beauty contest in Bucharest, Romania, on Saturday, May 7.
Andreea Alexandru/AP
Firefighters spray a tanker truck with water to cool it down as it is removed from the site of an explosion that destroyed the Hotel Saratoga in Havana, Cuba, on Friday, May 6. A gas leak is thought to be the cause of the blast, which killed at least 30 people. Ramon Espinosa/APA Ukrainian serviceman fires a mortar in the country’s Kharkiv region on Monday, May 9. Serhii Nuzhnenko/ReutersDuring a news conference in Evansville, Indiana, on Tuesday, May 10, Vanderburgh County Sheriff Dave Wedding shows a photo of weapons that he said were found in possession of fugitives Casey White and Vicky White. Vicky White, a corrections official, fled a detention center in Alabama with prisoner Casey White on April 29. They were on the run for 11 days before the manhunt ended with her dead and him back behind bars. Timothy D. Easley/APPolice in Colombo, Sri Lanka, use water cannons and tear gas to disperse university students protesting against Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Friday, May 6. Rajapaksa declared a state of emergency after prolonged protests and a general strike shuttered schools, businesses and transport services. The country has been rocked by civil unrest since March, with protests at times turning violent as anger builds over the government’s apparent mishandling of the country’s economic crisis.For the first time,
