Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has made an unannounced visit to the front-line city of Bakhmut, where fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces has been ongoing for months.
The President said that he met the soldiers and distributed awards to the soldiers.
For months, Bakhmut has been a key target for Russian forces in the Donetsk region, and has been heavily damaged.
However, Ukrainian forces have been able to stop the advance.
The visit is a significant show of defiance — and a show of support for Ukrainian forces engaged in some of the heaviest fighting in recent weeks.
His trip will be compared to recent public appearances by Russian President Vladimir Putin – who traveled to Minsk for the first time in more than three years on Monday to meet with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a longtime ally. .
The two leaders spoke of increasing military cooperation, amid the growing threat of another possible invasion of Ukraine from Belarusian territory. In an offensive last February, some Russian units invaded Ukraine from the north through Belarus.
However, a senior US State Department official told the BBC that there were conflicting views within the Russian government on whether to launch the winter operation.
He also said the U.S. was also seeing “significant” shortages of ammunition for Russian forces and said those being “put into combat” were not trained cohesive units, which led to them The effect was limited.
All of this puts constraints on what the Russians want to do, he added.
‘Inner light’
In video footage shown on the Freedom TV channel on Telegram, Mr Zielinski wished his troops well.
“I think that the heroes of Bachmouth should have what everyone else has, that everything should go well for their children, their families, that they should be warm and healthy,” he said.
“I would like to wish them light, but it’s a difficult situation that there is light and then there isn’t. The main thing is to have inner light.”
He said the Russians had already lost 99,000 soldiers in the war. However, this figure cannot be independently verified, and neither Russia nor Ukraine have disclosed the full extent of their casualties.
Mr Zelensky added: “Since May, the occupiers have been trying to break our Bakhmut, but time is passing and Bakhmut is breaking not only the Russian army, but also the Russian mercenaries who will replace the ruined army of occupiers. Come for.”
He was apparently referring to the shadowy Wagner mercenary group, which is active in the fighting near Bachmouth.
Presidential spokesman Serhiy Nikiforov said Mr Zelenskiy had left the city before his visit was announced.
The president has previously visited other recently liberated cities such as Khorsan and Ezeum.
