Battles rage across the western front as the Ukrainians press on, despite heavy losses, with their summer offensive. But after a month of fierce fighting the Ukrainians have got little to show for their efforts apart from a few front-line villages in the south of little or no strategic value.

Now the Russians are massing a new strike force in the Donbas whilst using their overwhelming air superiority to attack strategic targets throughout Ukraine.

The Russians have beaten off all Ukrainian attempts to break through their lines, but they are now bracing themselves for an even bigger second push that the Zelensky regime hopes will give them the victories they need to please their imperialist masters before the forthcoming NATO summit.

Back in Ukraine, the Kononovich brothers say their lives are again in danger. The two leading members of the Leninist Youth, the Communist Party of Ukraine’s youth movement, were jailed in March 2022 on trumped-up charges of spying for Russia. But after world-wide protests they were later placed under house arrest. Now they are in renewed danger following death threats on the social media.

The city of Kramatorsk in Ukrainian-occupied Donbas was rocked when a missile struck a hotel and pizzeria used by senior Ukrainian officers, NATO advisers and foreign mercenaries last week. The puppet regime says 13 people, including three children, were killed in the restaurant and 60 other civilians, including three foreigners, were injured. Other Westerners spotted on the sight were called “tourists” and “journalists” in the Ukrainian media. But the building that housed the restaurant and a hotel was, in fact, the temporary deployment point of the command staff of the 56th Motorised Infantry Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. And Ukrainian officers were meeting foreign mercenaries when the missile struck. Several known foreign mercenaries were spotted at the site of the strike and the tattoo of a wounded man, seen on video, revealed that he belonged to the 3rd battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment of the US Army. Another video shows a man in uniform with the emblem of the US 101st Airborne Division.

Foreign journalists and three Colombians on a “solidarity” mission, including the writer Hector Abad, were in the Ria Pizza when Ukrainian big push falters while it was hit. Abad escaped unscathed but the Ukrainian writer and “war-crimes researcher” Victoria Amelina was fatally injured when the restaurant was hit.

Meanwhile, China’s solutions in safeguarding genuine multi-lateralism and promoting dialogue and negotiations in solving disputes and conflicts have been the focus at this year’s World Peace Forum in Beijing last weekend.

People’s China is ready to work with other countries to safe-guard world peace and security, seek global development and prosperity, advocate exchanges and mutual learning among civilisations, and share the fruits of human development, security and civilisation, Chinese Vice President Han Zheng said. Han stressed that Chinese modernisation follows the path of peaceful development and that China will unswervingly advocate, build and uphold world peace.

The Russia–Ukraine conflict has weakened global security. It has also led to a series of unprecedented changes that have been reshaping the global pattern such as a resurging Cold War mentality, slowing down and unbalanced economic growth and intensifying competition as well as confrontation between the major powers. This has led, as some members of the forum said, to increased instability and unpredictable situations throughout the world.

Editor: Zhong Yao、Zheng Yifan

From: http://www.newworker.org/archive2023/nw20230707/ukrainian_big_push_falters_while_china_calls_for_peace.html（2023-07-07）