Ukraine, Russia Send Reinforcements for Pitched Battles in Conflict’s Next Phase https://www.wsj.com/articles/ukraine-russia-send-reinforcements-for-pitched-battles-in-conflicts-next-phase-11649588496
Ukraine and Russia poured reinforcements into eastern Ukraine this weekend, preparing for what is likely to become the war’s biggest battles as refugees continued to flee the looming Russian assault.
Russia’s main objective now is to seize the parts of the eastern Donbas region not yet controlled by Moscow. Unlike the first phase of the six-week-old conflict, that shift is forcing Ukraine into fighting conventional battles involving tanks, artillery, and aircraft on flat, often barren terrain that allows Russia to leverage its superiority in military equipment.
Fresh Russian tank and artillery units, as well as forces withdrawn from areas around Kyiv, began arriving in recent days to staging grounds for the offensive north of the Ukrainian city of Izyum, according to footage shown on Russian military television. Ukraine, too, started moving toward Donbas combat units from areas of northern Ukraine that it recovered after Russian troops retreated.
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