War in Ukraine Enters Second Year: What Zelensky Says:

By Anya B

President Zelensky has addressed the ongoing situation in the city of Bakhmut, in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. For over six months now, Russian forces have attempted to take over this Ukrainian city which has seen the brunt of the fighting since the war began last February. It is currently under Russian control, with “practically all roads … under [Russian] fire control”, as said by Denis Pushilin, who has been the acting Head of the Donetsk People’s Republic since Russia annexed the DPR in 2022.

Russian military has imposed “the most prepared assault units” into Bakhmut, however there is currently no sign of Ukraine’s forces withdrawing from the area. President Zelensky gave an address on Monday, remarking that the attempts to defend the city are being challenged by the Russian forces’ new advancements.

The US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen paid a visit to Kyiv last Monday and announced that $1.25bn will be transferred as economic aid to Ukraine given the circumstances; she also noted that despite Russia’s economy maintaining its strength even with the numerous sanctions from Ukrainian allies, the decline of the economy is imminent and to be expected. Her words act as the small beacon of hope in the seemingly dark future for the war in Ukraine.

While Ukraine is being supported financially by numerous countries around the world, including many of the Western powers such as the UK, USA, Canada and Germany, recently the Chinese government has shown signs of considering the supply of ammunitions for the Russian forces. While this has been denied by the Chinese government, diplomat Wang Yi and Vladimir Putin met in Russia’s capital city of Moscow last week, which many have taken to mean a potential collaboration between the two countries.

While the nature of the war in Ukraine in the near future is unforeseeable, the Press Secretary of the Kremlin Dmitry Peskov has stated that Ukraine must acknowledge and accept Putin’s annexations of Ukrainian regions, such as Donetsk, in order for negotiations to be made between the two countries. Zelensky has refused to recognise Russian control of these areas. As the war in Ukraine enters its second year, the Ukrainian President joins the sorrows of many people around the world in agreeing that the situation appears to be ongoing and expresses his gratitude for “each and every person who is heroically holding” the country together.