Hello Deep Dives platform! It's a beautiful day to share with you news concerning the war in Ukraine and the progress made to bring the 14 months war to an end. Stay tuned! Good evening.
As the day goes by, the war in eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut is becoming more fierce and intensed. This is because the area is the last held city in eastern Ukraine. Holding on to this city means a lot to both warring states, hence, both offensive and counteroffensive operations are being carried out by the military personnel of Ukraine and Russia.
Ukrainian and Russian forces battled on Thursday in the streets of Bakhmut, eastern Ukraine's devastated "fortress" city, and Ukrainian soldiers said they were ready to launch their long-anticipated counter-offensive once the weather improves.
On the diplomatic front efforts have been made and are still made to help resolve the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and most recently is the diplomatic meeting today by the French President Emmanuel Macron and China President Xi. President Macron has urged his Chinese counterpart to help play a role in resolving the conflict by talking to his ally Putin.
The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who was also visiting Beijing with Macron, said the EU expected China to play its role and promote a just peace that respects Ukraine's territorial sovereignty and integrity.
On the other hand, an adviser to Russian President Putin, said that the chances of attaining peace between Russia and Ukraine is at zero level. This on its own is a worrying statement which nullifies efforts of restoring peace to Eastern Europe.
The months-long battle for Bakhmut, one of the last urban centres in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk province yet to fall to Moscow, has proven one of the bloodiest of Russia's invasion, now in its 14th month.
The battles for Bakhmut continue," said Andriy Yermak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
"They are underway in the streets, enemy attempts to encircle the city are failing. Our command fully control the situation with the defensive 'fortress'," he said, using the nickname Zelenskiy gave to the city.
The leader of Russia's private Wagner militia, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said fighting was continuing in the west of the city.
Western analysts have played down the strategic significance of Bakhmut but Ukraine has framed its dogged defence of what is now a completely destroyed city as a way of wearing down Russian forces. Both sides have suffered huge casualties there.
"Bakhmut is performing the key task of inflicting as many losses on Russia as possible and, most importantly, to prepare for a counter-attack to take place in late April-May," Pavlo Narozhniy, a Ukrainian military analyst, told NV Radio.
One major truth about the ongoing war in Ukraine is that both soldiers of Russia and Ukraine are already tired of fighting but they're just holding on because they don't have options. The war has claimed many innocent lives and is still claiming more. Several war crimes have been committed by both warring states, people are now destitute in their homeland not to natural disasters but to war that many are cashing out from.
I'll conclude by saying that irrespective of their claims the warring states should give peace a chance in order to help citizens go back to their normal lives.
Peace is priceless, terror is senseless, let's give peace a chance.
Thank you!