Ukraine stalemate sets stage for possible winter escalation


              FILE - A local resident leaves his home after Russian shelling destroyed an apartment house in Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022. Since October, Moscow has particularly focused on pummeling energy facilities and other key infrastructure with missile and drone strikes in an apparent hope of breaking the will of the Ukrainians and forcing Kyiv to negotiate on Russia's terms. (AP Photo/LIBKOS, File)
            
              FILE - Olexandr Manzirokha, left, helps police officers to carry the coffin of his relative Henadiy Vengrynovskyi, who was shot dead in their car by Russian forces during exhumation at the cemetery in recently liberated village of Tavriiske, Kherson region, Ukraine, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022. Since October, Moscow has particularly focused on pummeling energy facilities and other key infrastructure with missile and drone strikes in an apparent hope of breaking the will of the Ukrainians and forcing Kyiv to negotiate on Russia's terms. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File)
            
              FILE - Ukrainian soldiers fire French MO-120-RT-61 120 mm rifled towed mortar at Russian positions in the frontline near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022. With the war in Ukraine grinding through its 10th month, both sides are locked in a stalemated battle of attrition, which could set the stage for a new round of escalation. (AP Photo/LIBKOS, File)
            
              FILE - Ukrainian State Emergency Service firefighters work to extinguish a fire at the scene of a Russian shelling in the town of Vyshgorod outside the capital Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022. Since October, Moscow has particularly focused on pummeling energy facilities and other key infrastructure with missile and drone strikes in an apparent hope of breaking the will of the Ukrainians and forcing Kyiv to negotiate on Russia's terms. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)
            
              FILE - A woman walks past debris of the destroyed house after recent Russian air strike in Chasiv Yar, Ukraine, Sunday, Nov. 27, 2022. Since October, Moscow has particularly focused on pummeling energy facilities and other key infrastructure with missile and drone strikes in an apparent hope of breaking the will of the Ukrainians and forcing Kyiv to negotiate on Russia's terms. (AP Photo/Andriy Andriyenko, File)
            
              FILE - In this handout photo released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, Oct. 11, 2022, a Russian warship launches a cruise missile at a target in Ukraine. Russia responded with a barrage of strikes across Ukraine, which Putin said were aimed at knocking down energy infrastructure and Ukrainian military command centers. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, File)
            
              FILE - In this handout photo taken from video released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022, Russian soldiers take their position upon their landing at an unspecified location in Ukraine. With the war in Ukraine grinding through its 10th month, both sides are locked in a stalemated battle of attrition, which could set the stage for a new round of escalation. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, File)
            
              FILE - A Ukrainian serviceman patrols area near the Antonovsky Bridge which was destroyed by Russian forces after withdrawing from Kherson, Ukraine, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022. With the war in Ukraine grinding through its 10th month, both sides are locked in a stalemated battle of attrition, which could set the stage for a new round of escalation. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka, File)
            
              FILE - Police officers look at collected fragments of the Russian rockets that hit Kharkiv, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022. With the war in Ukraine grinding through its 10th month, both sides are locked in a stalemated battle of attrition, which could set the stage for a new round of escalation. (AP Photo/Libkos, File)
            FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin visits the Crimean Bridge connecting Russian mainland and Crimean peninsula over the Kerch Strait, which was damaged by a truck bomb attack in October, after restoration works, not far from Kerch, Crimea, Monday, Dec. 5, 2022. In Russia, there is a growing sense of desperation among hard-liners about what they see as President Vladimir Putin's hesitancy and lack of a clear strategy. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File) FILE - Soldiers who were recently mobilized by Russia for the military operation in Ukraine stand at a ceremony before boarding a train at a railway station in Tyumen, Russia, Friday, Dec. 2, 2022. Russian President Vladimir Putin's order to mobilize reservists for the conflict prompted large numbers of Russians to leave the country. (AP Photo, File) FILE - Russian troops walk in a destroyed part of the Illich Iron & Steel Works Metallurgical Plant in Mariupol, in territory under the government of the Donetsk People's Republic, eastern Ukraine, Wednesday, May 18, 2022. Justin Crump, a former British tank commander who heads security consultancy Sibylline, noted that the Ukrainian military could try to reclaim control over the Russia-occupied parts of the southern Zaporizhzhia region and push toward the key strategic port of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov. Mariupol fell to the Russians in May after a nearly three-month siege. This photo was taken during a trip organized by the Russian Ministry of Defense. (AP Photo, File) FILE - Ukrainian soldiers fire artillery at Russian positions near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Nov. 20, 2022. With the war in Ukraine grinding through its 10th month, both sides are locked in a stalemated battle of attrition, which could set the stage for a new round of escalation. (AP Photo/LIBKOS, File) FILE - In this handout photo released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, left, and Deputy Commander of the Airborne Troops Anatoly Kontsevoy, right, visit a military training centre of the Western Military District for mobilised reservists in Ryazan Region, Russia, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022. In Russia, there is a growing sense of desperation among hard-liners about what they see as President Vladimir Putin's hesitancy and lack of a clear strategy. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP, File) FILE - Ukrainian soldiers fire at Russian positions from a U.S.-supplied M777 howitzer in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, June 18, 2022. U.S. officials say the United States is poised to announce it will provide Ukraine with nearly $800 million in new military aid, including at least a dozen Scan Eagle surveillance drones. Many observers see the current deadlock as beneficial to Ukraine, allowing it to get more state-of-the-art weapons from the West and prepare for new counteroffensives. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File) FILE - Soldiers who were recently mobilized by Russia for the military operation in Ukraine stand at a ceremony before boarding a train at a railway station in Tyumen, Russia, Friday, Dec. 2, 2022. Russia, which has suffered humiliating military setbacks in recent months, has called up 300,000 reservists to compensate for its heavy battlefield losses. (AP Photo, File) FILE - In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office on Friday, Nov. 25, 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy inspects damaged buildings as he visits town of Vyshgorod outside the capital Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that multiples waves of Russian strikes have destroyed half of Ukraine's infrastructure, urging the U.S. and other Western allies to quickly provide more air defense weapons to fend off the Russian attacks. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP, File)
Ukraine stalemate sets stage for possible winter escalation