News analysis
Russia's attack on east Ukraine may give Putin long-awaited win
Kyiv must decide to move against incoming troops or focus on stopping territorial gains
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The long-expected Russian military assault on Ukraine's eastern provinces is now unfolding, with Russian troops launching a concerted attack along a broad front in the Ukrainian region of Donbas, and across a front line of almost 500km.
Over the past two weeks, since Russia publicly announced it was abandoning its initial objective of taking over all of Ukraine and concentrating instead on seeking to occupy strategic positions in Ukraine's eastern provinces, Russian commanders have worked feverishly to restructure their fighting units.
