Ukraine Tries to Make the Case That It Can Win, Citing Recent Strikes
Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, carried the message personally to Washington on Wednesday, making a rare appearance before Congress by a foreign first spouse. She pleaded for more weapons, saying Russia was “destroying our country.’’

Despite the Ukrainians’ renewed optimism, military analysts and Western officials say it’s far too soon to forecast a turn in fortunes, and that a long slog seems likely. And they caution against hanging too many hopes on particular weapons amid the chaos and fluidity of a front line that winds hundreds of miles from Kharkiv in the north to Mykolaiv in the south.

“We are now achieving what we have not achieved before,” said Taras Chmut, the director of a nongovernmental group aiding Ukrainian soldiers. “But there was no breakthrough at the front. There is no panacea, no magic wand, that will lead to victory tomorrow.”

Still, in interviews in Kyiv this week, senior Ukrainian security officials projected optimism.

“The faster our partners supply us with weapons, the faster we will end this war,” said Oleksiy Danilov, the head of Ukraine’s national security council. Ukraine has no intention of ceding territory in a negotiated settlement, as some in the West have suggested, he said. “This is just a question of who beats whom.”

Ukraine received affirmation of its strategy from the United States on Wednesday, when the Pentagon committed to supplying four more HIMARS rocket launchers and other potent weaponry, including two NASAM air-defense systems to help Ukraine protect against missile strikes. And Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III offered a more optimistic assessment of Ukraine’s chances.