Two months ago, Ukraine was widely criticized for “indoctrinating” its children after a video circulated through mainstream media that showed Ukrainian children handling military weapons as part of a program that is designed to prepare them for the military.
On Saturday, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Russia’s paramilitary group Wagner, announced that his forces had taken full control of the strategic Ukrainian city of Bakhmut for Russia after months of intense fighting that had turned the city into a ‘meatgrinder.’
On Thursday, another Russian train derailed in Crimea in what many sources are describing as sabotage. According to a statement released by the Crimean Railways, the derailment was caused by “interference from outside persons.” No specifics of the alleged sabotage have been released.
This week Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba met with Chinese special envoy Li Hui to discuss both countries’ respective peace plans to potentially end Russia’s war in Ukraine. During the talks, Kuleba made it clear that any plan that required Ukraine to cede territory to Russia was a non-starter for Kyiv.
As the brutal battle for Bakhmut rages on, Ukraine this week has claimed that it has made significant advances around the ruined city in the Donetsk region, while Russia’s Wagner paramilitary group has said that its fighters have made gains as well.
On Tuesday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who has recently had ‘friendly’ relations with Russia, announced that both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have agreed to host a delegation of leaders from a handful of African countries.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky traveled to the Vatican Saturday and met with the Pope for the first time since the Russian invasion to discuss the “humanitarian gestures” of the Pontiff in assisting with the repatriation of Ukrainian children from Russia and Crimea where it is estimated that 19,500 children have been forcibly held since the start of the war in February 2022.
As Russia’s relations with Poland continue to race to a new low due to the war with Ukraine and a U.S. and NATO military build-up along its borders, Moscow is considering taking drastic diplomatic measures as punishment against Warsaw for its outspoken stance against the war caused by Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s campaign to get Western leaders to provide Kyiv with fighter jets got a promising prospect on Monday when French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France has “opened the door” to training Ukrainian fighter pilots. The announcement came the day after Zelensky visited Paris as part of a broader tour of Europe. Macron also vowed to send more tanks to help with Ukraine’s defense against Russian aggression.
Russia has said that its forces destroyed a U.S.-made Patriot missile defense system in Kyiv Monday night during an immense missile attack. The reportedly destroyed Patriot system was worth $1.1 billion.