Mud, Arms and Haste Pose Donbas Risk for Putin
A Russian soldier in Mariupol, Ukraine, on April 12.
Photographer: Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images
Ukrainian, European and NATO officials are bracing for a new Russian offensive that Poland’s prime minister warned could result in the “biggest tank battle” on the continent since World War II.
The concern is that President Vladimir Putin — a strongman prone to grand gestures — may want to declare his invasion a victory by the May 9 anniversary of Nazi Germany’s defeat.