Ukraine is digging in as the Kremlin steps up its offensive
Will it be enough?
The sunken faces that peer from behind battered fences are aged, whether or not the bodies that carry them are old. Russia, eight kilometres away, isn’t hiding. In the past 24 hours, three guided bombs landed in the village, with two of them exploding to devastating effect. Everyone here is in waiting mode. Oleh, the officer in charge of constructing a new network of fortifications on the outskirts of the village, shouts back a warning. “If you hear a whistle, you’ve got a few seconds to drop down on the floor. And hope for the best.”
Explore more
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “The Russians are coming”
Europe April 20th 2024
- Germany is flunking the education test
- The German chancellor’s awkward meeting with China’s boss
- How Russia targeted France and radicalised Emmanuel Macron
- Ukraine is digging in as the Kremlin steps up its offensive
- Ukraine is ignoring US warnings to end drone operations inside Russia
- How a conservative conference morphed into a crisis of liberalism
Discover more
Marine Le Pen spooks the bond markets
She threatens to bring down the French government, but also faces a possible ban from politics
The maths of Europe’s military black hole
It needs to spend to defend, but voters may balk
Ukraine’s warriors brace for a Kremlin surge in the south
Vladimir Putin’s war machine is pushing harder and crushing Ukrainian morale
Vladimir Putin fires a new missile to amplify his nuclear threats
The attack on Ukraine is part of a new era of missile warfare
A rise in antisemitism puts Europe’s liberal values to the test
The return of Europe’s oldest scourge
Once dominant, Germany is now desperate
As an election looms its business model is breaking down