Briefing | Finding an ending

On what terms could the war in Ukraine stop?

Pressure for peace talks is growing, even as Russia retreats from Kherson

Catherine, 70, looks out the window while holding a candle for light inside her house during a power outage, in Borodyanka, Kyiv region, Ukraine, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022. Airstrikes cut power and water supplies to hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians, part of what the country's president called an expanding Russian campaign to drive the nation into the cold and dark and make peace talks impossible. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Nov 10th 2022|WASHINGTON, DC

RUSSIA’S lightning attack on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, was a failure. Its creeping artillery war to seize the eastern region of Donbas has ground to a bloody halt. It has lost a chunk of stolen territory south of the city of Kharkiv, and this week announced a retreat from Kherson, the only provincial capital it had captured since its invasion in February. With each setback, Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, has sought new ways to torment Ukraine. The latest is a relentless bombardment that seeks to wreck Ukraine’s infrastructure. Residents of the capital have been told they may have to evacuate if the power grid collapses, halting water and sewage services.

This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline “Finding an ending”