KYIV (Reuters) -Ukrainian forces have stopped Russian troops advancing in the northeastern Sumy region and are now battling to regain control along the border with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.

It is designed to make the West think a Kremlin victory is inevitable.

Military leaders and analysts alike are questioning whether any level of battlefield attrition can alter Russia’s efforts to occupy still more of Ukraine. Former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi admitted in November,