Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has pledged to lead Ukraine to victory as he visited recaptured towns in the country’s eastern Kharkiv region yesterday. That included the city of Izyum, which until this week was a key base for Russia before Ukraine launched a successful counteroffensive that analysts say has shown Ukraine could actually win the war. Russian officials claim they are back on track and now focused on recapturing the southeastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Following his visit, Zelensky narrowly avoided serious injury in a car accident – his people say “a car collided with the car of the President of Ukraine and escort vehicles”, but everyone survived. As for Russian President Vladimir Putin, he’s in Uzbekistan for a trade/security summit where he’s reunited with Chinese President Xi Jinping for the first time in a while. Putin has acknowledged Xi’s concerns over the Ukraine war as Xi described Putin as “an old friend”.