IS THE DONBAS LOST? The latest battleground map of Ukraine produced by British intelligence shows Russia in control of a solid chunk of Ukraine’s eastern and southeastern region, a swath of border area that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky puts at 20% of his country. The pivotal battle is for Severodonetsk, once a thriving city of 100,000 people, where maybe 15,000 remain living among the rubble left by Russia’s relentless shelling of the city.

“Russian forces continued efforts to gain control over the eastern outskirts of Severodonetsk,” says the latest update from the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War, but “Ukrainian forces are continuing to conduct a flexible defense of Severodonetsk and are likely focusing on inflicting high casualties on Russian personnel rather than seeking to hold the entire city.”