Volodymyr Zelensky travels to Bakhmut, a front-line city in the Ukraine war
Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, paid a surprise visit to Bakhmut, a city on the front lines where Ukrainian and Russian forces have been engaged in a bloody, months-long struggle.
According to the president, he visited with soldiers and presented honors to the military.
Bakhmut has sustained severe damage and has been a major target for Russian forces in the eastern Donetsk region for months.
However, Ukrainian forces stopped the advance.
A visit is a powerful act of resistance and support for Ukrainian forces fighting in some of the bloodiest engagements in recent weeks.
His visit will be compare to recent public appearances by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin visited Minsk for the first time in more than three years on Monday to meet with longstanding ally and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
As rumors of a potential fresh attack on Ukraine from Belarusian territory arose, the two leaders talked about expanding their military cooperation. A few Russian units invaded Belarus during the invasion in February of last year, attacking Ukraine from the north.
It was reveal to the BBC by a senior US State Department official, nevertheless, that there were divergent opinions within the Russian leadership over the feasibility of a winter offensive.
Experiencing “extremely substantial” shortages of ammunition for Russian forces and the effectiveness of the people being “thrown into the combat” was restricted by the fact that they were into cohesive formations.
They “put constraints” on potential Russian actions. Mr. Putin, who arrive back in Moscow on Tuesday, encourage the security services to be more vigilant in exposing “traitors, spies, and saboteurs.”
He said that the situation there was “very challenging” and instruct them to safeguard the people in Ukrainian territory that Russia had illegally invaded in September.
”Internal light”
Mr. Zelensky wished his troops luck in a video on the Freedom TV channel on Telegram.
I believe that everyone should have what the heroes of Bakhmut have and that everything should be fine for their families, kids, and themselves, the man said. “I believe they ought to be healthy,”
“Since there is light both here and there, it is easy for me to wish them light.” The fact that there is an inner light is what matters most.”
He said that the Russians had already lost 99,000 soldiers in the conflict. This number, however, cannot be independently verified, and neither Russia nor Ukraine have provided information on the entire scope of their respective casualties.
Since May, the invaders have attempted to topple our Bakhmut, but as time goes on, Bakhmut is decimating both the Russian army and the Russian mercenaries that are arriving to take the place of the occupiers’ squandering force.
He was alluding to the enigmatic Wagner mercenary organization, which has combat operations close to Bakhmut.
Serhiy Nikiforov, the president’s spokesman, said that Mr. Zelensky had departd the area before his visit was made public.
The president has previously traveled to other recently freed cities, Izyum and Kherson.
