Ukrainians thinking the unthinkable

Razor wire and anti-tank “dragon’s teeth” on a Ukrainian line of defense in the Donbas region. Ukrainian law prohibits ceding territory that had not been occupied by military force. — Tyler Hicks/The New York Times

KHRYSTYNA Yurchenko worked hard to build a life in the eastern Ukrainian region known as the Donbas, where she pours her energy into the popular dance studio she owns.

But she would give it all up, she said, for lasting peace. Yurchenko is among a growing number of Ukrainians who say they would hand over the part of the Donbas still controlled by Ukraine to Russia if that would end the war.