On April 19, after Russia announced it would focus its military efforts on southeastern Ukraine, intensive air strikes and artillery bombardment rained down across the broad arc of the contact line running from Izyum to Mykolayiv.
But the sound and fury have proved a passing spring storm: in the low-level fighting that ensued Russia has slowly ground forward, despite expectations that a more concentrated use of force could tip the conflict in Moscow’s favour after its failed assault on Kyiv.