The sound of a large explosion reverberated around the port city as the Ukrainian president and the Greek prime minister ended a tour of the war-ravaged city.
There are fears of further Russian aggression on its eastern flank,but NATO’s preparedness remains in question.
Ukraine’s president warned that the toll will rapidly rise unless promised military aid makes it to the front line soon.
“We will win,” Ukraine’s president told a ceremony attended by four Western leaders as he pledged that his forces would overturn recent battlefield defeats.
Belief among Ukrainians of an eventual “victory” remains strong but opinions about what that means and when it will happen have begun to diverge strongly.
As Russia elevates its war effort to an industrial scale of horror,the US,Europe and Australia have been slow to respond. They could learn a thing or two about will from Ukrainians.
Forrest said the Australian public would begin to doubt if the US was a reliable ally if American leaders were seen to side with Russia on the issue of funding for Ukraine.
The timing is critical as Russia is looking for a morale boost ahead of the second anniversary of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
The move follows months of speculation about a rift between President Volodymyr Zelensky and army chief General Valery Zaluzhny.
To oust one of the most popular figures in Ukraine would be deeply controversial,and would mark a pivotal moment in Ukraine’s conflict with Russia.
The former British PM says Trump’s success in the polls has “driven some people to the brink of virtue-signalling derangement”.