Europe | Waiting for D-Day

Ukraine’s counter-offensive is drawing near

Its Western allies want success—but not too much

Apr 16th 2023

“BREAK THE spine!” shouts the man in Russian, chiding his colleague. “What, you’ve never cut a head off before?” The video shows what appears to be a knife-wielding Russian soldier beheading a Ukrainian one, alive. “Put it in a fucking bag,” demands another voice, “and send it to his commander.” The footage, posted by a popular Russian far-right account on Telegram, a social-media site, on April 11th, provoked outrage in Ukraine. “Everyone must react,” said Volodymyr Zelensky, the country’s president. “We are not going to forget anything.” Mr Zelensky’s army will soon have a shot at revenge.

This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Waiting for D-Day”