Editor
DONETSK REGION, Ukraine — The ground below the Ukrainian positions was scorched black, burned by flares dropped from Russian jets. The green wheat fields beyond were pockmarked with craters gouged out of the earth by Russian artillery strikes.
“This was such a beautiful scene,” the unit commander said, looking out across the rolling countryside Friday morning, “and they ruined it, the swine.”
The commander, who asked to be identified only by his code name, Kandalaksha, leads a…
