Ukraine's war of attrition exacts heavy toll on both sides

The battle for Severodonetsk has emerged as an emblem of Ukrainian resistance to Russia’s invasion and of Kyiv’s determination to wear down enemy forces, even at great cost to Ukraine. Much as Ukraine did in Mariupol, where a small number of fighters held off the Russians for weeks, Kyiv fought for two months to prevent the Russians from taking Severodonetsk, whose fall carried political significance for both sides.

Efforts such as those of Capt. Bohdan—who says he lost about half his men in the battle for Severodonetsk—represent a success for Kyiv’s stretched military, keeping Russia’s advance in eastern Ukraine to a slow crawl…

The Ukrainian military has sought to tie up large numbers of Russian troops by holding out for weeks in ever-smaller pockets, wearing the enemy down and then pulling out to fight another day.

Ukraine has made the invading forces pay dearly for every patch of land they seize, Ukrainian and Western officials say. By holding out, the Ukrainians are winning time for their military to rush more modern and powerful weapons, supplied by the U.S. and its allies, to the front lines.