Russia’s missile attacks on Ukraine’s energy system, the bombardment of its second-largest city and advances along the front are stoking worries that Kyiv’s military effort is nearing a breaking point.
A dire shortage of ammunition and manpower along the 1,200-kilometer front and gaps in air defense show that Ukraine is at its most fragile moment in over two years of war, according to Western officials with knowledge of the situation.
The risk is a collapse of Ukrainian defenses, an event that would give the Kremlin an opening to make a major advance for the first time since the initial stages of the conflict, at least one official said.