ISLAMABAD/NEAR KREMINNA: President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said that Ukraine’s future hinges on the outcome of battles in the east, including in Bakhmut and with both sides describing brutal fighting in the besieged city as Russia intensified a winter campaign to capture it.
The ruined mining town of Bakhmut has become the focal point of Russia’s invasion, with the months-long fight for it becoming Europe’s bloodiest infantry battle since World War II.
“It is tough in the east, excruciating,” Zelenskiy said on Monday in a video address that he has held nightly since Russia launched its invasion more than a year ago. We have to destroy the enemy’s army power. And we shall destroy it.”
ICC’s stance
Separately, in what would be the first world war crimes cases emerging from the invasion, the International Criminal Court (ICC) is expected to seek the arrest of Moscow officials for forcibly deporting children from Ukraine and hitting civilian infrastructure, a source told Reuters.
Russia would be sure to reject arrest warrants against its officials. Still, an international war crimes prosecution could deepen its diplomatic isolation over a campaign that has killed thousands of civilians and driven millions from their homes.
Russia appeared on the cusp of one long-sought diplomatic breakthrough, with sources telling Reuters that China President Xi Jinping could visit Russia as soon as next week.
