The Communist Party of Ukraine has been targeted by successive governments through decommunization laws, smear campaigns, and repression

Paradoxically, the long war in Ukraine could only work to Russia’s advantage and the West’s over-extension may be its own undoing

Russia has been warning that the West’s military supplies to Ukraine will only prolong the war in the country, and may cause grave consequences. Russia has repeatedly accused NATO of fighting a proxy war against it at the cost of the Ukrainian people  

The US and its allies have imposed unilateral sanctions on Russia following its attack on Ukraine in February. They have also accused Russia of preventing the export of food grains and fertilizers from Ukraine

While Ukraine refuses to engage in talks, Russian forces scored a major victory in Donbass following the surrender of hundreds of Ukrainian forces in Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant earlier this week

Recent media reports indicate that the West pressured Ukraine to stop the ongoing negotiations with Russia, which led to the collapse of the talks being held in Istanbul 

In this episode of Mapping Faultlines, NewsClick’s Prabir Purkayastha talks about the face-off over energy in the Ukraine war. He explains the implications of Russia’s decision to stop supplies of natural gas to Poland and Bulgaria

In the past, Ukraine has denied several Russian proposals to conduct the evacuation through humanitarian corridors, leading Russia to accuse it of using civilians as human shield  

Russia alleges that the US and NATO are pushing for the continuation of the war by supplying heavy weapons to Ukraine and pressuring its president to backtrack from the promises made during the talks earlier  

Putin claimed that until Ukraine recognizes Crimea as part of Russia and the independence of the Donbass republics, “no progress could be reached in the talks”

The testimony of the neo-Nazi Azov solidier in Greek parliament following the address of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been widely condemned

Russia has alleged that Western countries and media have deliberately ignored the facts that deny its involvement in the Bucha killings for the sole purpose of derailing the progress made in the peace talks so far and prolong the war