A resident pushes his bicycle past “hedgehog” tank traps and rubble in Bakhmut, eastern Ukraine, January 6, 2023 (Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP)

Ukrainian journalist Marichka Padalko and I joined Claire Byrne on Ireland’s RTE Radio 1 on Tuesday to analyze the latest developments in the Ukraine War, including Russia’s last-gasp offensive in the east.

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I discuss the state of the 8-month Russian assault on Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, and why Moscow persists despite the reduced strategic importance of the area.

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Then I turn to the longer-term significance of increasing Western millitary aid — including the possible supply of heavy battle tanks — to Ukraine.

Padalko describes the current situation in Kyiv amid recent Russian missile and drone strikes, and I explain how those strikes are having diminishing effects.