Russian advances on Kharkiv augur a wider war

THE Russian attacks on nearly a dozen villages in the Kharkiv sector of northeast Ukraine threaten a major breakthrough at the opening of a rolling summer offensive. The situation is described by Ukrainians as “dynamic”.

- Robert Fox

The Western allies seem only partly aware of what Ukrainian defeat may bring — though Rishi Sunak and Emmanuel Macron have begun to sound the alarm. Victory around Kharkiv won’t bring peace. More likely, we face a very hot summer and a wider war.

Ukraine’s forces are still short on the ammunition and weaponry they asked for all winter — the new supplies of shells, drones and electronic warfare kit won’t be there in quantity for weeks.