With powerful Western weapons, newly formed assault units and even a reconstituted Azov battalion, Ukraine is poised for a critical spring campaign. But overcoming casualties and keeping war-weary troops motivated are challenges.
Some who till the breadbaskets of Ukraine have already lost three seasons of planting to war. With mines and cluster bombs widely scattered, normal harvests seem far in the future.
Fully 61,000 square miles could be littered with land mines and other explosives left by retreating Russian forces, while half the electric grid has been destroyed.