Ukrainian military and civilian soldiers are continuing to halt Russian forces.

 

State of the war

Ukrainians defended two crucial cities yesterday, shooting down three Russian fighter jets over Kyiv and preventing troops from entering Mykolaiv, on the Black Sea coast. The humanitarian crisis keeps getting worse. Nearly 1,000 towns and villages in Ukraine are without electricity, water and heat, and some areas lack medicine. Two million people have fled Ukraine since the invasion began, according to the U.N. refugee agency.

More on Ukraine

Losses, low morale and food shortages have shattered the Russian military’s fearsome image. Some troops got meals that expired in 2002. U.S. intelligence agency chiefs said Russia is facing serious military shortcomings, including morale and logistical problems, and will be hard-pressed to control territory and install a pro-Moscow regime in the face of what U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines called a persistent and significant Ukrainian insurgency,