BATTLE GETS BLOODIER

WASHINGTON – The White House relented Wednesday after months of pleas from Ukraine for the Pentagon’s most lethal armored vehicle: the Abrams tank.President Joe Biden announced the transfer of 31 Abrams to thwart an anticipated Russian spring offensive and galvanize European allies.Fighting this winter has been described by a senior U.S. military official as “savage,” likening it to World War I trench warfare. Analysts expect Russia to mount what could be a fierce offensive in a campaign to end Ukraine’s string of battlefield successes in recent months and reverse the heavy troop and territorial losses Russia suffered in the first year of fighting.Ukrainian servicemen attend combat training in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023.Since the war began, the White House and Pentagon have sought to supply Ukraine with the weapons it needs to resist President Vladimir Putin’s aggression without sparking a wider war in Europe. Yet Biden’s announcement Wednesday also signals that the war, launched with a militarily unprovoked invasion and soon to enter its second year, shows no sign of ending.After more than 100,000 casualties on each side, it’s about to get even bloodier.“From a military standpoint, this is a very, very difficult fight,” Army Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said recently. “This fight stretches all the way from right now … from Kharkiv down to Kherson, and there’s significant fighting ongoing.“How did we get here?In the fall, Ukrainian forces, using sophisticated, accurate rocket artillery supplied by the Pentagon, chased Russian forces from large portions of land seized in the early the war. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed Congress in December, thanking the United States for its contributions but stressing more was needed. Abrams tanks have been near the top of the Ukrainian wish list.Some in the Biden administration had resisted sending the tanks, fearing it would provoke Putin, said Seth J …