Ukrainian counteroffensive’s slow going offers reality check but could yet pay off

Hopes of a rapid breakthrough proved over-optimistic in the face of entrenched defences but Russian forces are suffering major damage

The first casualty of the Ukrainian counteroffensive was wishful thinking. Any hope that Russian troops would abandon their trenches and flee has now been left far behind on the battlefield.

The occupying forces held firm and have mostly kept their discipline in the first seven weeks, absorbing one attack after another, often counterattacking to recover lost ground, and mounting offensives of their own in Luhansk and other spots on the frontline where they sensed weakness.