Russia’s offensive in eastern Ukraine appears to be faltering , as its troops suffer battlefield losses and logistical and morale problems similar to those they faced in the war’s first phase, Western officials and analysts say. As Russian efforts to encircle Ukrainian troops in the east by attacking from three sides seemed to stall in recent days, Ukrainians managed to retake a small town near the northern city of Kharkiv. Russia was relying on artillery to pound Ukrainian forces along the 300-mile-long eastern front, but it only managed to make incremental gains, a senior Pentagon official said. […]