Assessing Ukraine's High-Stakes Counteroffensive

Ukraine's decision to vigorously defend Bakhmut has tied up a large proportion of the Russian military, inflicting heavy losses and creating a buffer to construct Ukrainian defensive fortifications once Bakhmut finally falls. Ukraine's success or failure in its imminent counteroffensive will determine whether its future will revolve around rebuilding a damaged but restored state or the pain of fashioning an existence in a shattered and partial one. The repercussions outside Ukraine will be no less solemn, teaching dictators either that expansionism is rewarded or that it's a catastrophic mistake.