Donetsk

The Donetsk region, long coveted by Moscow, is emptying out again. Vladimir Putin is said to want full control of the eastern Ukrainian province in exchange for freezing the war. Russia already holds about 70 percent of Donetsk and nearly all of neighboring Luhansk, advancing yard by yard.

In Dobropillia, just five miles from Russian lines, the front feels perilously close. I travel there with two humanitarian volunteers, part of a small mission to move the sick, elderly, and children to safer ground. Their armored vehicle hums at 80 miles an hour, its rooftop bristling with drone jammers. Tall green …