Ukraine’s river ofanguish

Members of Ukraine’s elite 126th Territorial Defense Brigade returning after a 12-hour nighttime training exercise in the Kherson region. — ©2024 The New York Times Company

LATE at night, half a dozen Ukrainian infantrymen leaned over a map spread on wooden pallets inside a building. Within an hour, they would embark on one of the most dangerous deployments of the war, a night-time operation across the Dnieper River.

Vyshyty, 27, a company commander, was issuing orders for an operation last May. The unit would be providing support for assault troops, he told them.