A half dozen officers from Ukraine’s 54th Mechanized Brigade hover around the table in what was once a modest civilian home on the outskirts of Sloviansk, a small, war-torn city just behind the front line. The table is heaped with a holiday feast—meat, rice pilaf, salads, and even smoked salmon canapés. We’re waiting for the colonel, code-named Khors, a career officer in his early 50s with a Cossack haircut—shaved on the sides to show off a long, flaxen topknot. When he arrives, we sit down to eat.
No one speaks of the battle a few days before—a close encounter with more numerous and better armed Russian forces. The Ukrainians mounted a robust defense, and the men now seem eager to put it behind them. But when I ask about morale, their faces grow longer. “People are tired,” Khors says, staring into the middle distance. “Especially the commanders. And the winter doesn’t help.”
After nearly three years of all-out combat, the war in Ukraine is heading into what could be a pivotal few months. The Russians have been moving forward on the eastern front, throwing troops at the fight and losing as many as 2,000 a day, but still advancing yard by yard into Ukrainian territory. Intensifying bombardments terrorize cities far from the battlefield. Over half the country’s electricity-generating capacity has been destroyed; some households experience daily outages. Ammunition is somewhat more plentiful than when U.S. aid stalled a year ago, but many units complain they are short of manpower.
Perhaps most uncertain is what a Trump presidency will bring. Will the new American leader try to make good on his promise to end the war in one day? Will Vladimir Putin heed his call to come to the negotiating table? And what kind of peace deal might they strike, with or without Ukrainian approval?
