Western artillery surging into Ukraine will reshape war with Russia, analysts say

DAN LAMOTHE 

Source Link

WASHINGTON — The Western artillery flooding into Ukraine will alter the war with Russia, setting off a bloody battle of wits backed by long-range weapons and forcing both sides to grow more nimble if they hope to avoid significant fatalities as fighting intensifies in the east, U.S. officials and military analysts predict.

The expanded artillery battle follows Russia’s failed effort to rapidly seize Ukraine’s major populations centers, including the capital city, Kyiv, and comes as the government of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his Western benefactors brace for what is expected to be a grinding campaign in the Donbas region. The conflict there is expected to showcase the long-range cannons that are a centerpiece of Russia’s arsenal, weaponry already used to devastating effect in places like Mariupol, a southern port city that’s been pulverized by unrelenting bombardment.