Ukraine Advances Raise The Cost of War for Putin

A destroyed residential house following a missile strike in Kyiv region on Aug. 27. 

Photographer: Anatoli Stepanov/AFP/Getty Images

Despite gloomy talk from some allies about the slow pace of the military counteroffensive, Ukraine is steadily making progress on the battlefield and raising the cost of the war for Russia.

After weeks of punching against fortified Russian frontlines in the occupied east and south, Ukrainian forces may have made significant breakthroughs that open up the prospect of a more rapid advance.