Seizing the city took 10 months and untold lives. Most likely, analysts say, Russia’s exhausted forces will settle into a defensive crouch, preparing for Ukraine’s counteroffensive.
The twists and turns of a war are rarely easy to predict. In Ukraine, they landed on a city in the east that few had ever heard of. And then the whole world watched for months.
Military analysts say that if Moscow continues to send reinforcements to defend the city, that could weaken Russian forces’ ability to hold off a broader counteroffensive that Ukraine has been planning.