With Ukraine’s forces at risk of encirclement, the top military commander ordered a retreat. In startlingly candid accounts, soldiers described disarray and despair.
The Ukrainian leader is expected to sign security agreements and seek to push the European leaders to help bolster aid as concerns over U.S. funding grows.
Ukrainians are weary, short of ammunition and outnumbered, and their prospects look bleak. “We can stop them for now, but who knows,” one soldier said. “Tomorrow or the next day, maybe we can’t stop them.”
The assault appeared to be part of a wider air campaign that Russia began in late December, seeking to wear down Ukrainian air defenses with waves of missiles.