Has Ukraine's counter-offensive failed?

Chatham House

Independent Thinking is back after a short summer break for the start of Season 2 of the podcast. This week, for our first episode, we’re returning to the much-discussed topic of Ukraine’s counter-offensive. Since June, the Ukrainian armed forces have been fighting hard to breach the defensive lines established by the Russian army in the east and south, the so-called ‘Surovkin Line’. Two months on the pace has been slow and the fighting intense. We discuss the current state of the offensive, what this means for Western support for Ukraine and what may happen next if the frontlines remain in their current shape. Joining Bronwen Maddox on the show this week are Christopher Miller, the Ukraine correspondent for the FT and Ulrike Franke, a Senior Fellow with the European Council on Foreign Relations. Joining them in the studio here in London are James Nixey and Orysia Lutsevych, the director and deputy director respectively of our Russia and Eurasia programme.