This month I spent a week in Ukraine. Together with my expert colleagues, Oliver Carroll and Arkady Ostrovsky, and our podcast producer, Heidi Pett, we criss-crossed the country from near the front lines in the east to Kharkiv, Dnipro and Odessa. We went to places that I had hitherto known only as marks on The Economist’s frequent maps: Kramatorsk, Zaporizhia, Pavlohrad. I wanted to see for myself how Ukraine is faring. We spoke to politicians, military commanders and business leaders, as well as to ordinary soldiers and civilians fighting, and living, in the 32nd month of Ukraine’s full-scale war. I then spent a few days with colleagues in Washington, to get a feel for where American policy towards Ukraine is heading. 

The result is our cover story this week, and an hour-long episode of the Weekend Intelligence podcast that will air on September 28th. They are a sobering read and listen. It is crunch time in Ukraine, with its forces under pressure, winter approaching and the future of American support uncertain. We argue that both President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Western backers urgently need to change course. Greater honesty is needed about what is feasible militarily and the nature of the support Ukraine needs. 

Our Britain team travelled to Liverpool this week, to see the Labour Party’s first annual conference as a governing party for 15 years. It should have been euphoric. Instead, the celebratory mood was dampened by incessant rain and deep disquiet about the start to government that Sir Keir Starmer has made. Cabinet ministers gamely told fringe meetings how well things are going; Sir Keir told the conference that the criticisms were water off a duck’s back. But our cover in Britain argues that Labour is not suffering from a few local difficulties. Sir Keir needs a clear direction for his government and a willingness to confront the trade-offs that boosting economic growth entails.

Finally, I’d like to alert you to our latest newsletter, Opinion, which launches next week. It brings together the best of The Economist’s leaders, columns, guest essays and reader letters. If you are a subscriber you can sign up here.