| ‘Mission accomplished’ in Bakhmut? |
| Russia has claimed victory in the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. Though Moscow is trumpeting a “mission accomplished” moment, Ukraine insists that the city has not completely fallen. But while the deadliest battle of the war might be over, what comes next is far from clear. |
| Bakhmut is in ruins, and controlling it would not necessarily help Moscow toward its larger goal — conquering the entire eastern region of Donbas — now that Ukrainian troops have worn out Russian forces and broken through their defenses in some areas to the city’s north and south. |
| Ukrainian officials say they now plan to rain artillery on Russian forces occupying Bakhmut. Military analysts say that if Moscow continues to send reinforcements to defend the city, that may weaken Russian forces’ ability to hold off a broader counteroffensive that Ukraine says it is about to begin. |
| Quotable “You have to understand, there is nothing,” President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said of the razed city, once home to 80,000 people. He added, “There is nothing on this space, just ground and a lot of dead Russians.” |
| In other news from the war: |
| U.S. tech start-ups are using the war in Ukraine to demonstrate a new generation of military systems.At the G7 summit, President Biden and other world leaders vowed further support and more weapons shipments for Ukraine. |
