Ukraine is digging in as the Kremlin steps up its offensive
Will it be enough?
![Workers built a concrete dugout as part of a system of new fortifications, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine.](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20240420_EUP505.jpg)
The sunken faces that peer from behind battered fences are aged, whether or not the bodies that carry them are old. Russia, eight kilometres away, isn’t hiding. In the past 24 hours, three guided bombs landed in the village, with two of them exploding to devastating effect. Everyone here is in waiting mode. Oleh, the officer in charge of constructing a new network of fortifications on the outskirts of the village, shouts back a warning. “If you hear a whistle, you’ve got a few seconds to drop down on the floor. And hope for the best.”
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This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “The Russians are coming”
Europe April 20th 2024
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- The German chancellor’s awkward meeting with China’s boss
- How Russia targeted France and radicalised Emmanuel Macron
- Ukraine is digging in as the Kremlin steps up its offensive
- Ukraine is ignoring US warnings to end drone operations inside Russia
- How a conservative conference morphed into a crisis of liberalism
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